Thanksgiving and Testimony
First and foremost, I'd like to wish all of you out there who listen to my joys, my gripes, and my tales a very Happy Thanksgiving. I am thankful for you all and your contributions to my thoughts as well as my life. Now onward--I wrote my testimony out tonight on suggestion from my Mom, and thought I'd post it here. It's long, but it pretty much tells my tale through and through, and might let you know a little bit more about me (if you already don't know enough, that is!)
CARRIE’S TESTIMONY
For those of you who may or may not know me, I’d like to tell you my tale; a tale I’m positive I would not be able to sit here and tell you today without the Grace of God. When I was born 26 years ago, doctors soon discovered I had a complete cleft palate. Because doctors wanted to wait until I was two to perform my palate construction, my mother had great difficulty feeding me. My Grandma worried I would not live two years; keeping food down after feedings often took my mother several attempts. None of the feeding options for babies with cleft palates seemed to be working effectively for me, so one evening my mother was inspired to go to the hospital and get a ton of premature bottle nipples. She lined those up all over the counter that evening and poked various sizes of holes in them until she got the one that worked. Needless to say I made it to my second birthday. My doctor performed the surgery, and my parents were told I might have to have more than one corrective surgery and might even need speech. Instead I had only the one surgery to construct my palate and never had any speech issues at all.
As a child I had several other medical conditions. I had several sets of tubes in my ears because my ear canals were formed differently due to my cleft palate. I had what doctors believed was a heart murmur and had two heart catherizations only to reveal that I simply had a space between two blood vessels that made my heartbeat sound slightly different. I did not walk until I was eighteen months old, when I was put into some corrective shoes.
But my story doesn’t end here with all the ways in which the Lord healed me, in which He provided ways for me to overcome my challenges. At the age of eight, my parents noticed that I was walking on the sides of my feet. This was apparent enough that my mother took me to the same doctor who had placed me in corrective shoes; he believed something deeper was going on than orthopedics, so he suggested she take me to a nuerologist. The nuerologist ran many tests: an EKG, EEG, CatScan, and so on. Something was different, but no one could put a definite finger on the what it was. I had no heredity for any nuerological disorder.
The closest diagnosis doctors could come to was Charcot Marie Tooth disease, a nuerological disorder in which the myelin sheath, which acts around the nerve as insulation would act around a wire, was not developed. The result of this condition was that nerve impulses travel more slowly to the peripheral nervous system, causing the body to confiscate for inadequately delivered nerve signals. This confiscation results in deformities of the hands and feet, which explained why my feet were turning.
When I was ten years old, doctors performed tendon transfers on my feet and placed me in plastic braces to correct my walking. For a time, this surgery was successful, but then my feet began to turn once more, and my big toes began to pull up as I walked forward. While God had answered our prayers for healing repeatedly in the past, this time He seemed to have another plan in mind. I went in for another surgery when I was twelve years old, and this time the doctor fused bones in my feet, and corrected my toe. I was tired of leg braces that did not seem to hold the results of the surgery from when I was younger in place as they should have, so I made the decision to trade the braces in for good pairs of shoes with supports for my feet. I have had no more surgery on my feet to date, and no progression has appeared. While the neuromuscular disease causes me to tire more quickly in my hands and feet, I have been able to learn to play flute and marched in both middle school and highschool band in competions. I entered a community college on a music scholarship and began a track for music education. Throughout all the trials, God’s hand was always there, and He always lead me through the obstacles.
My sophmore year in college, I was convicted that I wanted to do something more with what the Lord had given me than just teach students to play instruments. I looked into the Music Therapy after it was suggested to me by others, and fell in love with the program at Florida State University. The only thing I wanted to do with my life was bring music—the music that had encouraged me to continue on and push throughout my life—to others who had special needs. I felt that God had allowed me to succeed in playing flute and being admitted to Florida State so that I could do just that, so that I could somehow show little ones with special needs the love and comfort of God by reaching out to them and teaching them through song.
However, when I graduated with my Music therapy degree, I still could not find my place. I knew I wanted to do music therapy and teach children with special needs, but no jobs seemed to be available for music therapists in Jacksonville. I was wondering if perhaps there was more that I still had to do and find out. I was wondering if my calling was not simply music therapy but also special education.
So now I find myself at University of North Florida pursing my Masters in Special Education. I’m on a long road still, but I am certain of one thing. God lead me through so many trials throughout my life, either by healing me or by allowing me to cope with my challenges, for a reason. My heart would not have the desire to work with special little ones today as much were it not for what I have faced myself. God has used the trials in my life to help me reach out to others, and I know as I continue to seek His will He will continue to use all my trials and experiences to touch others for Him.
Only recently have I had the blessing of working with one of my daycare students who has suffered from encephalitis. Working with her through music therapy and special edcation has reminded me of just how awesome my God is. He has lead her through much of her disability already, and He has lead me, through working with her, to be convicted that working with children with profound physical and mental handicaps is part of the reason I have had disabilities of my own.
Although the statement may seem unusual, my disabilities have truly been a blessing rather than anything else. They have allowed me to know the Hand of God and to see Him working in my life, and they have motivated me to help others who have similiar conditions. I pray that, as I continue to seek the Lord’s will, that He can continue receive glory in my weakness. Without Him, I could have acheived none of this; the glory is His and His alone.
Isaiah 40:31 Those who wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not grow weary; they shall walk and not grow faint.
CARRIE’S TESTIMONY
For those of you who may or may not know me, I’d like to tell you my tale; a tale I’m positive I would not be able to sit here and tell you today without the Grace of God. When I was born 26 years ago, doctors soon discovered I had a complete cleft palate. Because doctors wanted to wait until I was two to perform my palate construction, my mother had great difficulty feeding me. My Grandma worried I would not live two years; keeping food down after feedings often took my mother several attempts. None of the feeding options for babies with cleft palates seemed to be working effectively for me, so one evening my mother was inspired to go to the hospital and get a ton of premature bottle nipples. She lined those up all over the counter that evening and poked various sizes of holes in them until she got the one that worked. Needless to say I made it to my second birthday. My doctor performed the surgery, and my parents were told I might have to have more than one corrective surgery and might even need speech. Instead I had only the one surgery to construct my palate and never had any speech issues at all.
As a child I had several other medical conditions. I had several sets of tubes in my ears because my ear canals were formed differently due to my cleft palate. I had what doctors believed was a heart murmur and had two heart catherizations only to reveal that I simply had a space between two blood vessels that made my heartbeat sound slightly different. I did not walk until I was eighteen months old, when I was put into some corrective shoes.
But my story doesn’t end here with all the ways in which the Lord healed me, in which He provided ways for me to overcome my challenges. At the age of eight, my parents noticed that I was walking on the sides of my feet. This was apparent enough that my mother took me to the same doctor who had placed me in corrective shoes; he believed something deeper was going on than orthopedics, so he suggested she take me to a nuerologist. The nuerologist ran many tests: an EKG, EEG, CatScan, and so on. Something was different, but no one could put a definite finger on the what it was. I had no heredity for any nuerological disorder.
The closest diagnosis doctors could come to was Charcot Marie Tooth disease, a nuerological disorder in which the myelin sheath, which acts around the nerve as insulation would act around a wire, was not developed. The result of this condition was that nerve impulses travel more slowly to the peripheral nervous system, causing the body to confiscate for inadequately delivered nerve signals. This confiscation results in deformities of the hands and feet, which explained why my feet were turning.
When I was ten years old, doctors performed tendon transfers on my feet and placed me in plastic braces to correct my walking. For a time, this surgery was successful, but then my feet began to turn once more, and my big toes began to pull up as I walked forward. While God had answered our prayers for healing repeatedly in the past, this time He seemed to have another plan in mind. I went in for another surgery when I was twelve years old, and this time the doctor fused bones in my feet, and corrected my toe. I was tired of leg braces that did not seem to hold the results of the surgery from when I was younger in place as they should have, so I made the decision to trade the braces in for good pairs of shoes with supports for my feet. I have had no more surgery on my feet to date, and no progression has appeared. While the neuromuscular disease causes me to tire more quickly in my hands and feet, I have been able to learn to play flute and marched in both middle school and highschool band in competions. I entered a community college on a music scholarship and began a track for music education. Throughout all the trials, God’s hand was always there, and He always lead me through the obstacles.
My sophmore year in college, I was convicted that I wanted to do something more with what the Lord had given me than just teach students to play instruments. I looked into the Music Therapy after it was suggested to me by others, and fell in love with the program at Florida State University. The only thing I wanted to do with my life was bring music—the music that had encouraged me to continue on and push throughout my life—to others who had special needs. I felt that God had allowed me to succeed in playing flute and being admitted to Florida State so that I could do just that, so that I could somehow show little ones with special needs the love and comfort of God by reaching out to them and teaching them through song.
However, when I graduated with my Music therapy degree, I still could not find my place. I knew I wanted to do music therapy and teach children with special needs, but no jobs seemed to be available for music therapists in Jacksonville. I was wondering if perhaps there was more that I still had to do and find out. I was wondering if my calling was not simply music therapy but also special education.
So now I find myself at University of North Florida pursing my Masters in Special Education. I’m on a long road still, but I am certain of one thing. God lead me through so many trials throughout my life, either by healing me or by allowing me to cope with my challenges, for a reason. My heart would not have the desire to work with special little ones today as much were it not for what I have faced myself. God has used the trials in my life to help me reach out to others, and I know as I continue to seek His will He will continue to use all my trials and experiences to touch others for Him.
Only recently have I had the blessing of working with one of my daycare students who has suffered from encephalitis. Working with her through music therapy and special edcation has reminded me of just how awesome my God is. He has lead her through much of her disability already, and He has lead me, through working with her, to be convicted that working with children with profound physical and mental handicaps is part of the reason I have had disabilities of my own.
Although the statement may seem unusual, my disabilities have truly been a blessing rather than anything else. They have allowed me to know the Hand of God and to see Him working in my life, and they have motivated me to help others who have similiar conditions. I pray that, as I continue to seek the Lord’s will, that He can continue receive glory in my weakness. Without Him, I could have acheived none of this; the glory is His and His alone.
Isaiah 40:31 Those who wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not grow weary; they shall walk and not grow faint.
posted by StargazerGirl at 2:21 AM
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