From the Archives: Winter 2011

Written by Martha Crosswell

In my life, three of the greatest lessons I’ve learned about God are that He saves, He promotes, and He heals.

He Desires a Relationship with Us

My nursing career started in 1975 after I graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill School of Nursing. I started my career at Watauga Medical Center (known then as Watauga County Hospital) in 1975 and, except for brief stint when we moved away from Boone, I have worked there ever since.

I grew up going to church, but, after I was married, my husband and I drifted from it. My sister, Sarah, urged us to attend her small church. My life changed when I started attending this church, with its altar calls and salvation message. It was then that I realized I had just been going through the motions.

I had been in church all my life and thought I was going to heaven. As I listened to the gospel for what seemed like the first time, I came under conviction that I had never been born again. So at almost 30 years old, I was saved. How grateful I am to God for saving me and to my sister for her prayers and influence on my life.

I believe God wants me to let people know that there are a lot of people in church today who are just like I was: a faithful church attendee but not born again. I sat there lost as I could be, thinking I was okay because I was going to church. God wants a true relationship with His children. He came into the world not to condemn us, but to save us. He wants to love, nurture and cherish us, and this is often seen in the way that he promotes us.

He Lifts Us Up

God is also a God who promotes. After being saved, I noticed an immediate change in my performance at work. My organizational and management skills increased alongside my clinical skills. My supervisor and other administrators noticed, and I was promoted to director of the Birthing Center at the young age of 29. I held that position for several years and experienced a wonderful time of God’s grace in my life.

He Heals Our Wounds

I have seen God heal not only from a medical and physical standpoint but from a supernatural one as well.
About six years ago, I began having pain in my back that became severe. An MRI determined that I had a protruding disc at L4. I prayed about the pain, and the Lord instructed that He did not want me to have surgery. My question to Him was, “How am I going to do this?” I couldn’t understand how I was to care for patients while struggling with constant pain and difficulty walking.

Jesus impressed upon me that I was going to “walk it out by faith.” So, my faith walk began with a limp. Although it was tough emotionally, everyone was wonderful in helping me. Some of the doctors assisted me too with lifting or transferring patients. I “walked out” my faith for about a year, and gradually my back was completely healed without medical intervention.

My final story of healing is the healing of my precious husband, Joe. A little over three years ago, Joe was bush hogging my dad’s land, behind Tweetsie. He had almost finished when he saw a small area he’d missed. The patch of land was on an incline and, while he was working, the tractor rolled over him.

Joe’s leg was nearly cut off, so he tied something around the wound to stop the bleeding. After the tractor stopped running, my uncle heard Joe yelling and called 911. When the EMT’s got there and saw Joe’s condition, they called the Johnson City Medical Center flight crew. (We found out later that Tweetsie is the second approved site in the county for helicopter landings, so God was with us even in that small detail.)

Joe was in the emergency room in Johnson City before I even knew anything had happened! My dad called with news of the accident and told me that Joe would probably lose his leg. I was home alone and sitting in a chair in our living room. I stood up in shock and grabbed my Bible. I said to the Lord, “I have to know something Lord, I have to have a word from You!” I threw open my Bible and laid my hand down on a verse. It was Psalms 112:7 which says, “He shall not be afraid of evil tidings, his heart is firmly fixed, trusting in the Lord. “ My heart found peace in this verse.

I was too shaken up to drive, so my son came from Mountain City, TN, to take me back to see Joe in Johnson City. When I got to the ER, the floor was covered in blood, and I very calmly asked the doctor if that was my husband’s blood. He replied it was Joe’s. I am used to seeing blood and I wanted to know what happened. My poor son, on the other hand, said, “Mom, I need to get some fresh air!”

Joe has gone through five surgeries on his leg. Besides being nearly severed, it was broken in 150 pieces. I couldn’t believe my eyes when the surgeon showed me the x-rays. He also had a broken arm and a cracked pelvis.

Every time the PA came in to tell me that Joe might lose his leg, I went back to that verse that the Lord had given me. It got me through many a hard day and night. We spent nine days in the trauma unit and the rest of the month in rehab. When we came home, Joe was in a wheelchair for seven months and stayed in a hospital bed in our living room. I had favor with the staff at both hospitals in Johnson City and was allowed to stay with Joe 24/7. I was told this would never happen, but God’s grace was with us.

My husband is a big guy, and one day the supervisor at the rehab center said, “How are you getting him up by yourself? It takes four of us to get him up!” (Not only was my back supernaturally healed, God’s grace was there when protection and extra strength were needed.)

The medical teams, our church family, our co-workers, and our neighbors have been wonderful during this major trial of our faith. Today, Joe is working and able to go whenever and wherever he wants to go. God’s grace always provides just what we need, when we need it. Joe and I are living proof that God saves, God promotes, and God heals.