Epilepsy

Chris, my third son, had epilepsy as a young child. He would have grand-mal seizures while he was sleeping. Therefore, I was not able to discover this until he was considerably older. Many times I would wake up in the middle of the night and hear strange noises in one of my son's rooms, but by the time I checked on all four of my sons, they were sound asleep, as if nothing had occurred. The only thing I noticed was that Chris drooled a lot when he was sleeping because his pillow was frequently soaked. Since there is nobody in my side of the family with epilepsy or Brian's that he was aware of, I was not able to figure out was going on. Chris never has seizures during the day. As far as I can recall, he has had seizures since he was at least five years old.

Then one night, when Chris was eleven years old, he came to me before bed and told me that something strange happens to him while he is sleeping, but he couldn't explain it. I asked him if it was nightmares and he said, "no". He didn't know what it was, but the feeling he experienced frightened him. I was perplexed, a bit concerned, but not worried. I asked more questions, but he was unable to answer them. Then one night, I was having difficulty sleeping and awoke at the time when I heard those familiar noises. I yelled out with concern, "Who is making those noises? Nobody answered, so I immediately got up and instinctively checked on my youngest son, Matthew, who was sharing the same room for the first time with his brother Chris. I had already woken Matthew with my yelling, so when I checked on him, he said, "It's not me, Mom! It's Chris! I looked over and saw Chris for the first time having a grand-mal seizure. I was shocked. I went over to Chris and talked softly to him, reassuring him that I was there. I can tell you that it is a horrible feeling for a mother to watch her child have a grand-mal seizure. I felt so helpless and just as frightened. I was extremely worried that he might choke or suffocate. I made sure his head was turned to the side. Then I was thankful that all the times he experienced these seizures that he didn't die from choking or suffocation.

Then came the doctor visits, the trips to the pediatrician and the tests. It was later determined that Chris was having three to four seizures a week. I felt bad for Chris because he was a competitive athlete and the drugs to control epilepsy would slow down his motor skills considerably that he would no longer be able to compete. We decided with the pediatrician's approval to forgo the drugs for now. We then began to pray to God for a miracle. Chris continued to be competitive in track and field, swimming and basketball.

It wasn't long after this that I heard about a missionary from Mexico coming to our town for camp meetings. Apparently, he had an amazing healing ministry that God had given him. There were incredible stories written about some of these miracles, almost unbelievable. Limbs appeared where they were once amputated and the dead became alive again. Many of my friends refused to go because they thought he was probably a fake. I will admit, that thought did come to my mind when I read some of these stories, but I was going to check him out anyways. I figured it certainly wouldn't hurt and if it turned out that it was true that this man had indeed been given the gift of healing from God, then Chris would be healed. After all the Bible does say that God will give the gift of healing to some of His followers.

"For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and another the word
of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit,
and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, and to another the effecting
of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of
spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the
interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works
all these things, distributing to each one individually
just as He wills."
1 Corinthians 12:8-11

At the first camp meeting, my three sons and I arrived early. We sat in the front row. Daniel was working at the time and was unable to come. When the missionary came on stage, I knew instantly the presence of God was upon Him. We all felt it very strongly that we shook uncontrollably. I guess we sat up too close! We listened to him preach and tell mind-boggling stories of God's miraculous power. Then when he had the altar call for anyone to come up that had an incurable illness, Chris went up immediately. The man prayed a simple prayer and Chris felt fire go through his entire body. He was completely healed from that moment on. Never again did Chris have another seizure.

I took this picture of Chris yesterday with his new camera:

I told you he looks like his father.

Today, Chris wears a purple bracelet for awareness of epilepsy. He does this so if anyone questions him about the bracelet, he testifies to them about God's miraculous healing power. Praise be to God!

There were so many people in the Bible days that refused to listen to Jesus and believe in His miracles. They thought he was a fake and a heretic. Later they crucified him. These same people persecuted and killed many of Jesus' followers afterwards as well for preaching the Word of God and performing miracles with the power that God had given them. I am glad that I decided to see for myself if this missionary was from God before making accusations. Now my son, Chris, is a testimony of God's healing power!

For those who do not know Jesus, study His Word, the Bible, and then pray to Him. Don't make assumptions based on what others have said in the past. Decide for yourself.