Something really amazing has happened. But before I can tell you, I have to go back. The backstory and backdrop of something often tell us the landscape we’re dealing with and why something is so amazing. 

In March 2017, my husband stepped off of a stump at work and hurt his knee. He had been working in tree service for many years. When I met him in 1997, he was a groundsman for his company. He took a break from it for a couple of years but would go back to working outdoors in the elements. By the time 2017 rolled around, his shoulders were pretty beat up. It was a real struggle to put his arms over his head for any length of time. The cartilage in his knees was virtually gone. He often complained about hearing his knees clunking together. His body was pretty well beaten up. 

At the beginning of 2017, I was at a retreat with our church staff. We were re-evaluating our 2016 year. I had written down 3 things that I was still carrying in my heart. One of those things was a desire to see my husband move on to new work. Back to March 2017 – like I said, my husband stepped off a stump at work and hurt his knee. His knee buckled and he hit the ground. He told his co-workers, “Help me up, get me up.” They got him up but the pain was excruciating. He came home that day and I remember hearing this barking sound coming from out in the yard. I looked out the window and saw my husband using a walking stick and hobbling around. After a doctor’s visit, he sat down. That is where he stayed for some time. Like months. When this happened he was still on partial unemployment as they were not quite back to work full-time. It was still early in the season. He ended up not being able to return to that job. He was in a lot of pain and it took a long while before he was able to get moving again and it still was not full strength. 

Life went crazy for a while and my husband had been out of work for more months than he has ever been. He had put in applications. He had been to interviews. But Nothing. It was a very humbling season. We had some money put away in the bank for times like this since we are pretty conservative people. Friends and family had helped us out by giving my husband odd jobs and such. He is really good at fixing small engines. Some people just brought over groceries and handed us checks. We were floored and in awe of the love and faithfulness of the Father through His people. One weekend, we got a haul of apples from a friend. So hubby started canning as he usually does. We were out of money and with no job on the horizon we decided if God gave us apples then we would do something with those. So we put out an offer on Facebook to see if anyone would be interested in canned apples for “a blessing” donations. We figured if God provided apples then this was how we would pay our mortgage in November. We would use what we had and do what we can. We were able to pay our mortgage and buy some groceries, thanks to the generosity of God’s people who blessed us generously.

Then in the last week of November, he had an interview and they didn’t hire him. We really were at a loss as to what we were going to do. That week on a Thursday, I came to a prayer group at the church and asked for prayer. One of the ladies’ voices rose above the others, as she declared a stop to unemployment and began to speak forth that God has something “tailor-made” for my husband. I felt hope rise in me. I came home and told him and he said to my surprise that all he has heard from the Lord since he hurt his knee in March has been “Hold onto your shorts, I have something “tailor-made” for you.” Then that same company called him back the next week and said, “Would you consider coming back in? We think we have something in mind for you.” He went back in and the job they offered was an outdoor road tech position. This job had medical, dental, vision, 401k, and many more benefits. It would have been the first time in his life having that kind of job. He has all the skills to do the job. He started on Dec. 11th 2017. He troubleshoots issues. Has his own work truck and drives all over eastern Iowa as he works on heavy equipment. This job is demanding. It is mostly outside in the elements and his body was still his body, in pain all the time. But this man is tough as nails, doesn’t give up easily, and just keeps getting it done. 

Now, jump to Saturday, July 8, 2023 – 6 yrs and 4 months later to the day – My husband woke up to a buddy of his knocking on the door. His friend brought a mower over to him to see if he could fix it. His buddy can’t talk but he can respond due to a life-threatening aneurysm he had several years ago. He doesn’t have use of his arm on one side and his leg is in a brace. After playing charades for a bit we figured out why he came over. 4 hours later My husband came into the house pretty happy that he was able to help his friend. As the day goes on, he starts pulling out items from the cupboards to make thumbprint cookies. He is an awesome baker. As they are baking, he decides he will go downstairs to the freezer to pull something out for dinner. When he is down there I hear, “UH!” and the thud of the freezer close. He comes upstairs quickly and is just standing there, staring at me with surprise and sort of “what the heck?” look on his face. I ask, “What’s up?” He says oddly, “My knees don’t hurt.” We both frown a little and he shrugs a bit and gets back to what he was doing. Suddenly, he is standing in the doorway again, staring at me. I look over my glasses and say, “Are you ok?” He says, “I just got down in front of the refrigerator to get something and didn’t use the door to get up.” I say, “ohh kaay.” He says, while pointing double handed “Starla, my knees don’t hurt!” He comes into the living room and squats down in front of me, smiles a bit and says, “Nothing! No pain.” 

Now at this time, we are starting to freak out a bit. He has me put my hand on his knees. No grinding. He says, “What the heck!” I said, “Praise the Lord!” 

Throughout the rest of the day. He realizes that he can put his hands over his head with ease and no pain. He does squats, jumps, push-ups, and runs. No pain. Now he is starting to get emotional as he is realizing what is happening, that God has healed him. As relief and joy is setting in, he also realizes that the fireball in his back that has been there from an accident in his childhood is gone. He just weeps. God healed his body! His whole body. 

The excitement just got more wild when my son got home and he began to show him. He’s running down the sidewalk. He’s grabbing branches and snapping them in half like he used to in his 20’s. My son was staring at him in awe. He told his daughter the next day at church. He’s putting his hands over his shoulders. He’s squating. They just cried together and she convinced him to share what had happened with the team that was serving that day. Everyone in the room was weeping and rejoicing at what God had done. 

It wasn’t until the next day when I said, “I think God healed your shoulders first and you didn’t know it. You worked on a lawnmower in the back of a truck with your arms held out in front of you for 4 hrs and didn’t come into the house in pain and talking about how your shoulders were screaming.” He just looked at me in awe. 

It’s September 8, 2023 as I am writing this and this week I only put vitamins in front of him as he ate breakfast. I had been putting a small pile of ibuprofen or acetaminophen in front of him every morning for 6 years. And as I reflect, I remember after the flood of 2008, as we were waiting for the all clear to go back home I had written in my journal what God had said as I prayed through it all. He said, “I will build your house, and so much more.” and a much earlier prophetic word that was spoken over me, “Trust me, I will restore.”  Our God is awesome. He is in the business of restoring His people. If he can do it for my hubby. He can do it for you! Can you believe it?