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Sophie’s Miracle
by Lynne Cook

Sophie was diagnosed with scoliosis at her five-year-old check up.  "Yep, she's got scoliosis," her pediatrician said, just like you'd say, "Yep, she's got blue eyes." 
 
I'm one of those moms who doesn't just take whatever the doctor tells me at face value.  So during our first orthopedic appointment, I asked quite a few questions about the diagnosis and the prognosis, and have kept track of what's going on year after year.   I have had many years to wrestle with the Lord over His plans for Sophie's life.  If she is truly His, then He will shape her as He sees fit.  As a Mom, I must trust and accept whatever He chooses.  I have prayed often for strength to endure and wisdom in pointing her to Him.
 
Before our first appointment, I believed one could "outgrow" scoliosis, but this is not possible.  Scoliosis does not retreat, it stays the same or advances.  Many who are diagnosed as children do not progress significantly, thus they live with a not-straight but not curved-to-the-point-of-impairment spine.  
 
Each year Sophie's scoliosis has progressed.  Last February, her degree of curvature was 17, and her lower spine began to twist forward.  One of the standard measurements when this happens is from an upper vertebra to the center of the hips, and Sophie's measured two centimeters to the right.
 
Between 18 and 20 degrees of curvature is when they start wearing a brace.  It does not cure scoliosis, it stops it from advancing further.  Given the history of Sophie's progression, I started worrying a few months ago about whether or not that time had come.  This is a 24 hour, seven days a week (for several years in a row) undertaking.  When I mentioned my worries to my husband, John, he felt led to have Sophie anointed with oil, with hands laid on her for prayers of healing.

 A Whirlwind of Fire
Several Sundays ago we took her to Pastor Ray.  John had spoken to Pastor Gary beforehand, so they were ready.  As Ray anointed Sophie, he explained why oil was used in Biblical times and now.  He told her we were going to pray for her healing, and we did.

Standing in that circle, with Sophie gripping my hand so tightly, I felt as if I were in a whirlwind of fire.  Ray had his forehead on Sophie's, and every cell of my body was focused on his words.  Most precious to my heart was his prayer for her spirit; he asked that the Lord would give her a joy and lightness in her walk. Since she has long been weighed down by the diagnosis, I decided afterwards that if the Lord saw fit to answer only that portion of our prayers, it would be enough.

 This presented an opportunity to confirm with our kids about how God answers prayers:  "Yes, No, and Maybe." Sophie and Will were hopeful that the Lord would heal her, and understood that if He chose not to, it was because His reasons are always best for us.   Casey weighed in that he didn't think the Lord was going to heal her, he just didn't think God did that type of thing any more.  That, of course, gave me several opportunities to explain to him that the same Jesus Who walked on this earth is the Jesus Who listens to our prayers, Who lives in our hearts, Who cares so very much for us, and Who can, absolutely, should He choose to, heal our bodies, since He was the One Who made them in the first place.  I began then to insert into our nightly prayers:  "Lord, if You want to, You can heal Sophie's back.  We pray for Your will to be done, and that we would have peace and accept whatever You choose, because we know You love us."

Scoliosis does not retreat!  
Last Friday was her annual appointment.  The whole family went, because there would be a lot to talk about, either way.  Degree of curvature:  9.  Vertebra to hip measurement:  less than 1/2 centimeter.  The doctor talked about "margin of error," "spontaneous resolution," and similar rationalizations - looks from the Cook family were flying all over that exam room.
Scoliosis does not retreat!  When I asked Sophie, casually, as we were leaving, "Why was your measurement 9?"  She replied quietly, "Because God said 'Yes.'"
 
Although 9 is livable, doable and nothing too concerning, we believe the Lord will take it all the way.  When I brought the x-rays home two weeks before the appointment, I told John I thought it looked better, but it was still curved.  "It wouldn't surprise me if God didn't straighten it overnight," he answered.  "He may very well choose to bring it back degree by degree until it is straight again."  We both believe that if the x-rays had been taken a few days (rather than a few weeks) before her appointment, the curvature would have been less still, especially given the vertebra to hip measurement.
 
Perhaps best of all, when we were having dinner with Grandma that night, Casey told her that God had brought Sophie's spine back to 9 degrees, and he bet that next year, it would be zero. 

"Did you hear your son bragging on the Lord?"  I asked John later, since we're not a quiet family, and there were many conversations going on at the time.  "I honed right in on it," he affirmed. 

A Wellspring of Joy
My Mom's fiance, a retired Lutheran pastor (not sure what he thinks about all this), told Sophie she looked tired.  "It's not every day you receive a miracle," I said, as she laid her head on my shoulder - a burden has been lifted.
 
I've often wondered what parents in the Bible felt when their children were healed, or raised from the dead.  I always assumed it would be an exuberant celebration; a wellspring of joy that could not be contained.  When I called my sister, her reaction was like that:  she started crying, and said, "Look what God did!  Look what God did!  Oh, praise the Lord!" over and over again.  I will tell you that it is indeed a wellspring of joy, but one that waters the deep places of my soul.  There is unending wonder, and gratitude, that God, Who can do all things, would grant such a request to me.  It is a touchstone for my faith, there for all eternity.  There is blessed assurance that He is greater than all things, and nothing surpasses following Him.  Who else can make the impossible common, or bring the sacred from the vile?
 
"But as for me, I would seek God, and to God I would commit my cause - Who does great things, and unsearchable, marvelous things without number."  - Job 5:8-9 
 
Praise the Lord and rejoice with us!
 
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