IBC Blog

Posts by Amy%20Owen

  • The Thrill of Hope & Power of Prayer
    Formed

    The Thrill of Hope & Power of Prayer

    Has there been a time in your life that God and His hope felt so far from your reach? He’s always near, but we don’t always feel it, do we? I was in constant pain starting in the 5th grade. It was not supposed to be that way. It was great pain, and when it wasn’t, it was a constant dull pain, never far from coming back with a vengeance. I had scoliosis and as I was growing rapidly, the curve in my spine was following suit. The doctor put me in a back brace to wear 23 hours a day… for my 6th and 7th grade year. As if junior high was not awkward enough! I did, however, get a waterbed out of the deal which delighted me to no end. (Hello, 1990s. Do they even make those anymore?!)

    Unfortunately, the brace didn’t keep my curve from getting worse like they hoped. By 8th grade, at 13 years old, I needed major back surgery to fuse titanium rods and hooks to my spine to straighten me out. The final straw was that my ribcage was turning, which could puncture a lung, which could kill me. Kill me? Hard to hear as a 13-year-old.