Look UP!

The story of hope for me began with other people planting seeds of HOPE. And, as challenging as this was for me to walk through, I would not change a thing. The trials that I faced have helped me to grow into who I am today and have taught me invaluable lessons about how to be an overcomer in life.

Hope arrived for me through people who planted SEEDS OF HOPE into me. 

My first glimmer of hope came from a seed that was planted when I was in the hospital, during the first weeks after being diagnosed with RA. It took a few years to take root, but it was planted by a visiting doctor who came into my room – only one time. He must have noticed how sad I was — a new mom in the hospital, separated from her newborn baby girl. I had just given birth to Ashley, two weeks prior. My hospital stay had consisted of dozens of doctors coming in and out of my room and multitudes of tests being performed. So the mention of this, speaks to the importance of being a HOPE BROKER. It speaks to the power that our voices have when we use them to offer someone hope. 

The voice of hope came in the form of these words the doctor spoke to me: “MY PATIENTS WHO HAVE FAITH HAVE A FAR BETTER PROGNOSIS THAN THOSE WHO DON’T. Have faith and believe you will get better.”

At the time he shared these words they did not take root for me, but over time this seed of hope began to grow. His words came back to my remembrance quite often, yet I had no idea how to act on what I was feeling or how to stir up my faith to help myself. He made me think differently. I recall thinking: “There must be something to this faith he talked about”.

It was two and a half years later that this seed sprouted for me. I was at what I thought was a “regular ole music concert” but it ended up being so much more. While listening to Phil Driscoll play his trumpet I was ushered into the presence of God. I felt this warmth and love that I never had experienced before and went up front to receive Jesus as my Lord and Savior that day. This day was the beginning of a radical new journey for me.

A few short weeks after beginning this beautiful new relationship with Jesus I had a woman come along and water the seed planted through the doctor’s words spoken at the hospital. Her name was Judy and she told me: “You don’t have to live like this Pam.” I had no idea what she meant, but I liked that she saw a hope and a rainbow in my future. She invited me to her house with a few other women from her church and they prayed with me.

What I experienced that day at her house was the truth of the spoken Word of God. I met HOPE Himself. I encountered God. 

The women told me that God was a healer and that His healing power was available to me if I wanted it. With this seed of hope I had been carrying, I was filled with faith and totally believed for my miraculous healing and received it! I was healed of RA, panic disorders, anxiety and a chronic skin condition. Judy was just one person, but she was one person who reached out and changed my life!

I had been raised Catholic and had never heard about the healing and transformational power that was available for those who believe and have faith! It surely was made known to me that day!

I am beyond grateful for the impact and power that these two people had in my life. It is a powerful testimony of speaking life into someone else when they don’t know how to speak it for themselves. I know that the life giving words spoken by the doctor breathed hope into my spirit, until Phil Driscoll and my friend, Judy, were used to water this seed and help it to grow and take root in my life. 

The doctor was right when he said: “those who have faith have a better prognosis”. I know his words planted a seed in me that increased my faith for healing years later. What seemed like a random comment made out of the blue, is now part of the symphony of my life.