The Last Dance Miracle!

Our churches are full of gold.  When speaking of gold I am referring to rich, treasured stories of God's working through the lives of the people in our congregations. And when you hear a great story the discipline comes in discerning the right placement of it in a specific service.  Sometimes we sit on a story for over year in our attempt to share the story for optimal results.  Such is the case of this my journey segment by Jon Davies who has been a part of our church life since day 1.  

Here is his journey that he shared in our services this past weekend.  You might want to get some tissue before you read.  Enjoy!

Hi my name is Jon Davies and this is my journey.

A miracle could be defined as an event which cannot be created or manipulated by human hands or intellect but orchestrated by God to give honor and glory to Him alone.  That is what I experienced and many witnessed on August 12, 2007 when I was the father of the bride on that day.

Charcot Marie Tooth and Parkinson’s disease has taken its toll on my life and as a result on most days my ability to walk is limited and I get around using my wheelchair or my Segway, or crutches or even on my hands and knees.

But my conditioned paled to the one thing that had consumed my heart outside of the Chargers loss to the Patriots in Jan 2007.  On my daughter’s wedding day was I going to be able to walk her down the aisle of the church and give her away and would I be able to dance with her.

I was going to miss out on an event that could never be repeated or experienced in any way.  .  Without a miracle by God Himself,  I would have to  watch as someone else walk her and indeed miss that last chance to dance with her and whisper in her ear how much I loved her and how proud I was of her on her day.   

I shared my dilemma with any who would listen.   And I found many people whose hearts were full of compassion and hope and encouragement.  I pleaded for prayer hoping for a miracle, but my faith was weak, as my body typically would not offer me the same hope.  

And as time went on…  people would encourage me to expect a different.  My best friend Dave and I prayed together every week and implored God to allow me this desire.   My home group was praying.   Our new in-laws were praying.   People I did not even know were praying for me… and it was quite humbling.  

As the days got closer to “the” day my daughter asked me the dreaded question,    “Dad, are you going to be able to do the dance?”   Tearfully I did not know how to answer.

The night of the rehearsal came and at that point we had several plans in place for the walk down the aisle.  It was then my emotions began to take over and I began to tear up…  (which of course started the girls crying)  

One option gave me some hope.   This was a pretty large church and with a long isle even under the best of circumstances it was unrealistic to think I could walk the entire way alone.   So perhaps I would ride the Segway halfway (to the back of where the people were sitting) and get off and walk the remainder of the way.   

The wedding arrived and I needed to pace myself to conserve energy.   I arrived at the church an hour before the ceremony and began to move around in the waiting area as much as possible to get limbered up and see if I could coax my legs to move …..   but they were not responding..  15 minutes before the wedding a young man named Ben came up to me and out of the blue told me he had been watching me for a few days and had compassion and asked if he could pray for me.    I knew at that moment there were many others praying as well.  It was at that time my son Tim approached me stating that riding the Segway all the way would be lame ….   So I made the decision based on faith and not by sight.   We are going for it

5 minutes ago I could barely stand up and now I am telling the beautiful bride that we are going to do it….WOW…. and …HOW?

I was extremely nervous as I was rolling down the isle on the Segway… aiming for the last row of guests.   I arrived there, got off and Kristen put her arm in mine and we walked and walked all the way to the front of the church where I proceeded to pump my fist in the air for God had done a miracle!

At the reception the moment fast approached where I would share our special dance.  Again things were iffy but I was not going to miss this for anything.   My daughter chose Bette Midler’s “You’re my Hero”.   As the music started, I shuffled to the edge of the dance floor and we began to rock back and forth.   My legs began to move slower and slower till they could not move any more.  I felt like Cinderella at midnight.    I did not want to let go of the moment… and soon we were standing in one place swaying to the music and as our time ended we embraced and I had to be helped off the floor by Kristen and the DJ.    Another miracle had taken place!  I will never forget that night and what God did.

I still cant walk…. But for a few brief moments…..  I did. 

My name is Jon and this is My Journey.

Comments

[Rod Kaya]

Angela,

thanks for taking time to comment. Yes God did an incredible work -- there were so many other cool details that needed to be edited for time sake. Yet I believe it captured how gracious our God is.

I hope all is well.

Rod

[Angela Yee]

Wow! That is sooo cool! Praise God!!!!!