HE HEARD MY CRY

Do you want to know something?

God answers prayer.

Yes, He really does.

How can I know that, you might be asking? I know because He has answered many of mine just this week. Let me explain.

As I have written about on this platform, I have been in a season of suffering. For the second time. It has been since February 5, 2020. And now we are eight months later. In all this time I have been in agony. Lots of sleepless nights, lots of pain, lots of tears, and lots of prayer. And lots of doctors’ visits and unexplained symptoms.

I cried out to God so much. My family has cried out to God. We knew, I mean KNEW, He would answer. We just did not know when. If we did, then we would be God. And we are not.

NEVER STOP PRAYING. 1 THESSALONIANS 5:17

Paul wrote these words. Of course, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, but he wrote them, nonetheless. And for someone who writes a lot of words, I cannot honestly write words without having lived them first. Paul knew these 3 words (it’s two in the Greek) inside and out. He knew the key to having an intimate relationship with God. He knew that by spending time in prayer he was not as much concerned with his agenda as he was with God’s. And I think that is the answer.

Prayer is God’s design to be in community with Him. Living day in and day out. Talking all the time. Sharing ideas, thoughts, hurts, joys, and every little thing that comes in our day. I have found that the more time I spend with God I am more interested in worshiping Him and pleasing Him than I am with my list. And I do have a list. A long one. But that list becomes secondary somehow.

We have been praying for my feet for these eight months. Most of the prayers were centered around a diagnosis and relief from the pain. All this time I did not have an accurate diagnosis. No doctor agreed – I have three. Plus the radiologist. And a physical therapist (and I give her a major pass because I did all of my visits online and was not ever able to get into her clinic. I was scheduled to go in, but we had a COVID scare, and then I had a new doctor visit this week.) So, we waited. I guess I should really say that the DID agree on something. My problem was rare and unique. And deep within my feet. If you were to ask my family, these words – rare and unique would describe my life in so many ways, my feet are no exception. So much frustration. So many unanswered questions. I had every test and nothing showed up. And mind you, this is all happening during COVID, and we live in an area where there is a disproportionate amount of cases.

Every single MRI/X-Ray came back negative. Not even arthritis, for which I am grateful. So, we soldiered on. We kept praying. I would go weeks without any medical attention because my situation had not changed. But then, I would get desperate because I just knew that by not doing anything I was jeopardizing my feet for later on in life. I even told my doctor this week that I did not want to be ten years from now with massive problems – in the form of amputation. My feet had started to turn purple this last month. When I stood, and when I was sitting certain ways. That cannot be very good.

I pray that your love would overflow more and more and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. Philippians 1:9

I constantly prayed that I would grow in knowledge and understanding. I want to know Christ. I want to have a vibrant relationship with God and my role is to please Him in all that I do. So, if I were to grow in knowledge and understanding, my love has to grow as well. Ouch. Because this means that I have to love things I do not even like. And, there

is always room to grow in this category and it is something that God expects of me. He expects me to love others as I love myself. He knows it is impossible, so that’s why He gave me His Spirit to accomplish this love. On my own, it’s impossible, with God all things are possible (Luke 1:37).

This brings me to this week. We had been praying, crying out and had come to a place of trust and peace. I had made this appointment over a month ago because I had a change in my symptoms – the purple feet. And swelling that did not make sense. However, I was walking more and was able to be out of my cumbersome boots more. So, I went back to the doctor who was sure I had Rheumatoid Arthritis. Now, to know me is to know that I will do research. And I have done tons of research on feet and I still do not know very much, but I do know that RA is not me.

As I was waiting at the doctor’s, I texted my family as well as my sister that I was way more nervous than I should have been. This was not my first rodeo. But, nonetheless, I found myself rather nervous and my blood pressure showed it. My sister sent me back – Be anxious for nothing, but by prayer and supplication, let your requests be made known to God (Philippians 4:6). Boy, that really helped. I started doing just that and I forgot all about the nerves. After X-Rays, I had a long visit with the doctor. Basically, he assured me it was not a mechanical problem, so therefore he could not help me as an orthopedist. I repeated the question about impingement or tarsal tunnel syndrome. No, neither. And, definitely RA was off of the table as there was NO evidence of arthritis. He was stumped and frustrated and let me know it. And one point he got really hot under the collar because I was not wanting to leave without a clear diagnosis. He recommended that I search for a pain specialist and go from there. I did share with him that I was going to see the PT specialist right after I left his office. I went with his blessing as he offered no hope.

At Lino’s I heard another story. He was incredulous that a doctor would say it was pain and only pain with no root cause. And the more I explained the more he started putting pieces together. He then poked my foot at the exact epicenter of all my pain. Nice. Yes, this is the spot. He started pulling and told me to relax. Right. After some very hard pulling of my foot, he had me walk around. Yes, the pain was different and in a different place on my right foot. Now on the inside ankle rather than exterior. He mumbled under his breath, it’s the cuboid. I thought he was speaking a foreign tongue, and then he went off to get a skeleton foot. Turns out my cuboids were dislocated on each foot. See the picture in case you don’t know where the cuboid is located, like I didn’t. He had to put them back in place and it took some more manipulation before he was done. After my left foot was worked on he had me walk around and then I lost it. I bawled.

I had been through so much, heard no answers, or wrong answers, no hope, and lots and lots of pain. Now to be done. I cried like a baby. After a bit he gave me a hug. He is so kind and compassionate. He assured me that I was going to be alright. I believe him.

While I was there I had him adjust my old affliction because it was giving me fits and that was because of my feet. As he was pulling and prodding, I asked him how he knew what NO DOCTORS knew. TWICE. Now, Lino is a very humble man and he simply stated that since he trains doctors all over the world, he has to know more than they do as they try to discredit him from the very first sentence. I believe it - that he knows a ton about bio physics how the body functions.

All the way home in the car I was in awe of God. He heard my cry. He answered the longing of my heart and the heart of my family. He has His reason and His timing for why it took so long for this diagnosis to come to fruition. I had called Lino three other times in the last 3 months, but did not have a peace about going. There is no looking back, I have got to go forward.

My entire problem was/is dislocated cuboids. And, I had all the classic symptoms, and he told me that it is rather difficult to detect, so that’s why it was not seen on all of the diagnostic tools.

I crossed a finish line two days ago. Praise God and halleluia. I am so grateful to God who answers prayer. I did not stop crying out to Him, and I am so thankful for the lessons He taught me during this time. And the main one was perseverance. Because God will deliver. He does answer. It is His character.

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