What would it be like to be an elderly person caring for a seven-year-old child that 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 one of my mission trips in 2011. Her daughter and son-in-law were killed in a car accident when their son was 2-years old. She had been raising him since that fateful day five years ago. When he was three, he became very sick. No doctor could tell her what was wrong with him, but he reverted to an infant state and lost all motor skills.
The poor boy would cry and wail at the top of his lungs all day long. It never stopped. Her neighbor heard that chiropractors were providing care for the people in town, so she quickly told the grandmother. The grandmother immediately collected her grandson and her neighbor and left to see the chiropractors.
I remember hearing them approach the church we were adjusting at that day. The boy’s cry was loud and mournful. It never stopped. It took an hour of them waiting in line to get to see us. We were so busy that day. Dr. John, from Australia, was the chiropractor that first adjusted the boy. The boy shifted from crying to screaming when the grandmother stepped away. Those moments between the grandmother stepping away and the adjustment were unbearable with his screams. But afterward, he calmed down and only whimpered. That alone was a huge change from the wailing!
The next day, I was manning the table when they arrived. The most noticeable change was that he was not screaming, crying, or wailing. Only a few times did he make any noise at all. When he got to the table, he mildly protested his grandmother stepping away, but did okay. I adjusted his atlas, the first cervical vertebra, and let him lie there a few minutes. When I came back over, I saw peace in his eyes. My heart stirred, and I knew it was time for him to start to walk again. 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 not steady. His previously unused legs looked like twigs under his thin-framed body, but they somehow coordinated and held his weight.
His grandmother has not seen what was happening until her neighbor told her to turn around. She ran over and started shouting, “Jesus!” She knelt and hugged him, took his hand, and led him to a seat. There were tears of joy flowing all around. Dr. John went over to him and sat him on his knee and held him close. He held the boy so close for an hour. You would have thought he was his father! Both were beaming ear-to-ear. Please allow me never to 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 that which is broken or old.
What do you have to lose? What do you have to gain? Of course, there are times we all need encouragement and help. This boy needed two adjustments! But have faith and see who rallies to your side to be with you. I have seen too many miracles happen not to believe.