I was born with cerebral palsy and hydrocephalus. The former is a physical condition that causes disability in parts of humans specifically movement. I have a very mild but still prominent case. I walk with a bit of a limp and my right arm is weaker then the left. My whole right side is actually.like, I said:very mild but still enough that it's given my issues through my life. the latter is an excess amount of fluid in the brain which causes damage (hence the cp). Both these things have been a thorn in my side, but as it says in Second Corinthians 12:7:"in order to keep me from being conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of satan, to torment me". While torment me it has, draw me closer to God it has as well.
I have learned the value and necessity of living go together; to not be afraid to ask for help and know that there is no shame in asking someone to help carry the cross you bear;to know that you know where your heart is at and it matters not what others think (we'll never really know that anyway, so why assume?) and that God is in control and he knows exactly what he is doing.
He healed me of my hydrocephalus in spring of 210. It all started in January. He spoke to me: "this is our year. I will show you things that you never thought you'd ever see and our relationship will be solidified". This just pumped me up. to start things off, he gave me my now best gal friend, Ashleigh, but the best and mind-shattering was yet to come.
I used to have a pump in me that regulated the fluid in my brain, but once god took away the hydrocephalus, it had nothing to do,but turn on me. I started feeling awful around march. I had a feeling like my head was in a vise and i just wasn't myself. I couldn't go to school and could barely sleep. I was confused about what was happening for about a month. Then, it hit me: my shunt was failing. This had happened several times,before but this time I knew it was worse. I knew we had to go to stanford and get it out. Turns out this was a very astute observation. When I went to the local hospital they found three abscesses inside of me as well as a malfunctioning pump. They rushed me to stanford. I was there for several weeks. They first removed all the machinery from my body. This first week is a bit fuzzy cuz I was in and out of the er and was on quite a heavy amount of sleepy time drugs. However, the second week was the big one. The doctors told me that I may not have hydrocephalus anymore. They ran some tests and after a week I was shunt, pump and hydrocephalus free! So cool.
During this time, I had an amazing support system. My church prayed like crazy over me and my pal Ashleigh and along with several others came to visit me . I was very surprised by that. I expected it to be just my family (I had and still have fam in they bay area). They (along with my folks) had been there most of the week so I guess a change was more then appropriate. Then I got some other surprises from friends who were in the area. My community had already been amazing up until that point,but now it was like wow! i had no idea how much I meant to people. Christ's love is amazing. After I got out of the hospital, God just drowned me in people. It was darn cool,but God still had one last shocker.
God led me on a train trip through California, Washington and Oregon. This was important because it made me even more dependent on God. He really grew me on that trip,but I will save that for my next blog post. It's a story in itself and I think this post has gone on long enough.
Thanks for reading everyone!
In Christ,
Garvey
