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CBN.com – "Going to sleep, getting comfortable, and waking up sometimes, I would just have excruciating lower back pain," says Carla.
Carla McDowell was born with scoliosis. Doctors were sure she would grow out of it, but over time, her spine progressively twisted into an S-shaped curve. This left her with severe chronic back pain.
"It would be like sharp needle pains, and sometimes it would be like an aching pain," says Carla. "It started in my lower back first. That's where the degree of the curvature was most prominent."
After high school Carla decided to join the Army. Although her spine was severely deformed, she passed the physical exam. Carla didn’t look at the potential health risks.
"In the military it was hardest for me because of carrying the rucksacks, having to suck up the pain and keep going and marching for 12 miles," she says. "I found ways to deal with it, but it always wasn’t the best way because I would always end up suffering in the end."
After four years in the Army, Carla was given an honorable discharge. Soon afterward, she fell in love and married her friend from college, Alonzo. But running for miles and carrying 60-pound rucksacks had taken their toll on her health. At times Carla was completely unable to move.
"The one thing that really hurt me a lot was that no matter how much I said 'It’s going to be OK, and I love you, what can I do for you,' no words could comfort the pain that she was going through," Alonzo explains. "The only thing I could do was just take her hand and pray."
Carla’s doctors told her that the only way to alleviate her condition would be to undergo very risky surgery. Instead, she got a second opinion from Dr. Art McCaulisse. After a series of X-rays, he had another perspective.
"Carla was considering surgery to put in what are called Harrington rods, which are to anchor the spine," says Dr. McCaulisse. "I thought that I could handle this in a more conservative manner without being so invasive."
Carla continued to believe God for her healing. One day she tuned into The 700 Club. As Carla had always done, she began praying with the hosts for the needs of others.
"Soon enough I heard, 'There is someone living with scoliosis.'
That day when Carla tuned in, Gordon Robertson had a word of knowledge.
"There’s someone with scoliosis of the spine," Gordon said, "and it’s causing tremendous pain. God is just doing a tremendous miracle as He begins to straighten out those vertebrae right now in Jesus' name. Receive healing."
"I just claimed it," Carla recalls. "I ran around the house. I went into the mirror and I tried to look at my back, and I could actually see the redness."
Carla went back to her doctor to re-affirm the fact that God actually healed her from lifelong scoliosis.
"After measuring it all out, it had decreased by nine degrees, which is very significant," Dr. McCaulisse states. "That intervention is nothing short of a miracle."
Carla and Alonzo’s faith in God has increased. They now know that nothing is impossible if they put their trust in God and wait on His perfect timing.
"By faith He was there for Abraham, Moses, and everybody else," says Alonzo. "He’s here for us. He truly blessed us. By our faith we believed that she would be healed, and she was healed."
"He just changed my life, and I can’t thank Him enough," says Carla. "Every day knowing you’re a walking miracle, you kind of walk like, WOW!"
A caring friend will be there to pray with you in your time of need.
