Here I sit in the Denver airport waiting for my flight to whisk me away to Vancouver, BC. I am tickled to pieces that there is FREE wifi in the airport – wooo hooo! Does it get any better than that? For those who might be thinking, “Gracious Linn you are addicted” well you are right. I can’t help myself and although there are probably 12 step programs to get over my addiction as I understand it I think you have to want to get over it for the 12 steps to work. And the odds of me wanting to are not looking good anytime soon.

As I was walking through the airport this morning I was overwhelmed with God’s goodness to me. Only 3-1/2 short years ago this trip would probably not have been possible or at least I would have not attempted it.

Back in 1988 I had my first symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis. I woke up one day and jumped out of bed only to find that there was absolutely no feeling in my legs and I fell in a heap beside our bed. Dw had to come around and lift me into the bed. Later that day my legs felt normal again and although I couldn’t imagine what was wrong, I never mentioned it to anyone. From that day forward it would randomly happen. I remember at one point asking Dw if his legs ever felt like they were “empty” (fully expecting him to say “of course they do”) but instead he said he had no clue what I meant.

Over the next few years as this happened I still never mentioned it to anyone, until 1991. We were visiting sweet friends of ours in Gaithersburg, MD and the hubby was, at the time, in Medical school to specialize and become a Neurologist. I thought I would mention it to him. So he gave me a little evaluation in their family room and at the end I said, “So Stuart what do you think it is?” He said, “Linn, I think you have Multiple Sclerosis.”

WOW! I had thought he would say I had arthritis or something (Biology was never my strongest subject in high school) like that and so I decided that right then and there that we were not going to talk about that anymore. I never told Dw what Stuart had said and Stuart never mentioned it again. Whew! Denial is so much more fun at times!

Over the years the MS would ebb and flow and eventually there was no denying it. I ended up in a MS specialists office in Miami, FL. My symptoms were now very aggressive and I could no longer walk without a cane and at times was even in a wheelchair (affectionately named Charlie by me). At times I would tell the kids, “Charlie’s gonna’ have to go with us.”

Eventually my right arm and hand trembled 24/7 with never a break and I had exacerbations that affected my speech (slurred like I was intoxicated), my eye, etc. It was really not all that much fun.

So as the years had progressed so did my balance issues and I would even fall in public. My legs dragged and I fought to not use a wheelchair. Somedays I had to climb in Charlie, but if at all possible I would just drag my legs wherever I went.

This morning as I was hastily walking my now-healed legs through the airport I was struck with God’s amazing love for me. He healed my arm instantly on January 10, 2006 and He slowly healed my legs over the next 6 months of that same year. I was healed so that I didn’t need a cane anymore and haven’t used one since July 2006. I tell our church that my instant healing of my arm/hand trembling was God’s “microwave healing” and my legs were much slower and I call them God’s “crock pot” healing.

So with the MS aggressive just three years ago I would have had little courage to head alone to the cruise ship. Having fallen in public on several occasions my guts had waned and I preferred staying close to home.

BUT GOD!! He is Jehovah Rapha and He has healed so much of my life. He has healed me physically and He has healed me emotionally from the sexual abuse that was part of my past. He is always faithful!! There has never been a moment in history that He has removed His faithfulness from my life.

So as I embark on this great adventure it is with utmost humility remembering “from whence I came” and with complete gratitude that the God of the universe should care about me enough to touch my life with His Jehovah Rapha power.

They are about to board – I need to RUN to the gate!! =) Thank you Jesus!!