—Hayley Mullins, True Woman Blog Manager
At the age of ten, Katie began to experience serious health problems, including debilitating headaches, joint pain, and fatigue. Her parents took her to multiple doctors, but they received little help and no answers. As time went by, Katie’s symptoms worsened.
When Katie became a teenager, her family turned to a clinic for people who had exhausted all conventional medical options. But while Katie was hopeful the treatment would help, she found the environment to be difficult.
Steel walls. No fragrances or electronics. Nothing from the outside could be brought in. For eight hours each day, Katie sat on a metal stool. Every ten minutes, she walked to the front of the room for an injection, then went back to her stool and waited another ten minutes for the next injection. Hour after hour, day after day. No books, no music, little human interaction. Just waiting . . . and loneliness—lots of loneliness.
Katie describes this time as “miserable.” And though she was a Christian and believed in the goodness of God, she had a hard time applying it to her own situation. “I knew God was good,” she said. “I saw that in others. But I didn’t think God was good to me.”
For so long, Katie had put her hope in doctors, thinking they would make her well. But every treatment failed. In desperation, Katie cried out to God. “I remember begging Him to show me if He was good and if He was trustworthy.”
Her answer first appeared on a little white slip of paper.
A Unique Prescription
After a few weeks of the clinic’s monotonous routine, one doctor gave Katie a special prescription: He wrote a note allowing her to take an iPod into the testing room. That iPod put Katie on the path to finding her true hope in Jesus Christ.
Katie had heard about Revive Our Hearts, so she downloaded all the programs she could find. As she waited for injections, she listened to Nancy teach. Through these messages, God began to show Katie His goodness.
“As I listened, it allowed me to realize this was the place God had me,” she said. “And if He had put me here, then it was with great purpose. At a point when I had no other hope, the messages gave me Christ . . . and He was everything.”
Ultimately, the clinic’s treatment didn’t work. And after a decade of searching, Katie was finally diagnosed with Lyme disease. Though things are still difficult health-wise, she wants to give Christ’s light to others who sit in darkness, just as Revive Our Hearts did for her. Now in her late twenties, Katie is a teacher to kids in the hospital and desires to use what she learned through her own experience to help them.
“For years, all I was chasing was a cure or even a diagnosis. I thought if I could just be well, then my life would be fulfilled. But through Revive Our Hearts, I realized that if I have Christ, I’m okay.”
Get more True Hope from Katie’s story. Our team has put together a video of her testimony (with some great animation!).
Revive Our Hearts is all about helping women find True Hope in Christ through our blogs (like this one!), radio programs, conferences, and more! If you’ve also found True Hope through our outreaches, would you consider giving a financial gift to help others discover the hope of Jesus in 2019? And . . . through the month of December, your gift will be matched by generous friends of the ministry. We’re grateful for you, our reader, and your partnership.
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