What would it be like to be an elderly person caring for a seven year old child who was unable to walk or feed himself, go to the bathroom and only wail all day long? Can you imagine the emotional and physical turmoil you would face every day? How would you be able to get anything done? I met a grandmother like this in Takoradi, Ghana during a missions trip.
Her daughter and son-in-law were killed in a car accident when their son was two years old. She had been raising him alone since that fateful day. When he was three, he became very sick. There was not a doctor who could tell her what was wrong with him, but he had reverted back to infancy and lost all motor skills. The poor boy would wail and cry all day long. It never stopped. Her neighbor heard that chiropractors from Epik Missions were providing care for the people of her town, so she quickly told the grandmother. They immediately left to see us.
I remember hearing them approach the church we were adjusting in that day. The boy’s cry was loud, continuous, and mournful. They waited in line for an hour to get adjusted. Dr. John, from Australia, was the chiropractor who first adjusted the boy. The boy began to scream before the adjustment because the grandma stepped away. His screams were so loud during his adjustment that it was impossible to think! But after the adjustment, he calmed down and only whimpered. That was a huge change from the wailing!
The next day, I was doing the adjusting when they arrived. The most noticeable change was that he was no longer screaming. In fact, it was only a few times that he made any noise at all. When he got to the table, he mildly protested his grandmother walking away, but responded better than the day before. I adjusted his atlas and let him lie there for a few minutes. When I came back over, I saw peace in his eyes. I knew it was time for him to walk. I helped him sit up. I looked him in the eyes and said, “Walk.” I held his hands and he squirmed off the table.
He was certainly not steady. His previously unused legs looked like twigs under his thin-framed body. His grandmother had not seen what was happening until her neighbor told her to turn around. She ran over and started shouting “Jesus!” She knelt down and hugged her grandson, took his hand and led him to a seat. There were many tears of joy shed by the friends and family during the next hour. Dr. John went over to him and sat him on his knee. He held the boy for nearly an hour, as a father would hold a son. At a glance you would have thought that he really was his father! Both were beaming ear-to-ear.
Please allow me to encourage you to never underestimate the power of the body to heal. Never lose hope in what is possible. Never accept anything but excellence from your inborn ability to renew. What do you have to lose? What do you have to gain? Of course there are times we all need a little extra help. The boy needed two adjustments! But have faith and see who rallies to your side.