To See A Miracle

Jake's Story- Staying Strong

"Mom, what is wrong with Jake?" I asked leaning on the kitchen table.

"Well," My mom replied while chopping carrots, "He has Cerebral Palsy.  That just means it's harder for him to walk then other children.  You need to make sure you are extremely nice to him at church."

"Yeah, I know, Mom.  I've been helping him with his walker for the last couple of weeks.  He can't move it very well."

"That's a very nice thing of you to do!" Mom praised. 

Feeling overly happy, I walked back into the living room without giving our conversation another thought.

"Can't I stop now?" I asked quietly trying to hide my pain.

"No, not yet." My therapy instructor, Becky, commanded. "You're getting so much strong, just a little more!"

Trying not to grimace, I continued walking the slow pace the treadmill was going.  It should not have been hard for a normal person, but for me, it was.  It was hard at school.  The kids laughed at me all the time. 

A couple minutes later, I tryed again.  I was breathing hard, and I'm sure my face was bright red.  "Can I please be finished now?" I huffed out.

"Yes, good job!" Becky praised me.  "You're getting stronger by the day!  I'll see you again on Monday."

"Ok.' I said with a small wave.  Then I grabbed my walker and slowly headed to the door where I knew Mom was waiting for me.

The pounding pain in my legs was a good thing, they said.  I sure hoped it was worth all the trouble I was going through.

"What's your favorite song?" I asked my Sunday school classroom looking for hands to shoot up.

I watched as Mitchi put her hand up timidly.

"What is yours, Mitchi?" I asked glad she was participating.

"Still." She quietly replied.

I immediately knew what song she was refering to as our church sang it quite often.

"Good!" I said encouraging more hands to go up. 

One by one I went through the entire classroom until I got to my very last student, Jake. 

"What's yours?" I kindly asked him thinking of the poor boy's disorder.  It was so sad that he couldn't live a life like regular children.

He replied strongly, "Step by Step.  I really like that song."

I had to fight back tears as I taught the rest of the lesson.  Afterwards, I mentioned it to the worship leader.  From then on, we made a point to sing that song at least once a month.

Years later, I watched Jake, almost all grown up, walk into the church building with no difficulties. 

Sure, there was still a small limp, but as he stood in the front singing "Step by Step" with the rest of the congregation, one would have thought it was just a recent football injury at most.  I looked up with tears in my eyes and whispered, "Amazing, isn't it?  To see a miracle."