It’s us against the world!
Yes, I’ve said it, and at points in our lives, I could have even convinced myself that it’s true. It is just too easy to be naïve and charge forward, thinking you can do this life alone. But it is far from reality. Truthfully, we need more than just us, more than Josh and I, and more than what is under our roof. This life is better lived by surrounding yourself with others. I have prayed continuously that God surrounds our family with His faithful people.
We do not walk alone.
This past year has made it evident that many people care and love us. We may have traveled different paths to get to where we are, but, in the end, our lives have intersected. We are intertwined, which has brought so much good in turn. We wanted a way to speak of those who have come to be by our sides. This is the first in a series of posts highlighting those on the journey with us. We are grateful for you.
I have always been drawn to Elizabeth. The way she speaks, the things she says, her outlook, I see God.
She is someone who embodies faith and grace. It’s not something she tries to do; it’s just who she is, faithfully walking with the whole Armor of God. Ephesians 6:10-20
Elizabeth and I crossed paths about six years ago. Her son Mason and Rush are the same age and have been on many sports teams together. I knew right away I liked Elizabeth. She is funny, low-key, and has excellent hair. We were not particularly close but always enjoyed running into one another. Fast forward to 2020, Elizabeth and I, embracing 40, find ourselves both expecting. We welcomed baby Ryan Kate & Fisher in April and October 2020; instant connection! We both became chatty on social media (remember this is during Covid).
I watched and prayed as she and Brandon faithfully walked through life-changing news regarding Fisher. We all watched firsthand God’s miraculous healing power; Fisher is perfect.
Elizabeth Grumbles – My Testimony
Looking back, I could see dysfunction. My dad was in the military and married for the third time in 1995 to a Korean woman 20 years his junior. This woman knew my mother, whom I believed, from the age of 6, had abandoned me. We instantly did not get along. I think she saw me as a nuisance. The physical, emotional, mental, verbal, psychological, and spiritual abuse immediately began from her and my father. As a teen, I sought affirmation and attention from anyone because I genuinely was starved of those ways at home.
No soft place to land
Home was hard, very hard. Every day I was shamed and blamed in some form. My home was not a soft place to land. With the ramping up of my rebellion and desperation came the equally matched ramping up of violence in my direction. I had no one on my side. My father did go to jail once, but nothing came of it as CPS, police, and school counselors never followed up. My feeling of hopeless isolation increased.
I thought college would be my out. Despite being accepted to many out-of-state schools, my father forbade me from leaving DFW or living outside his home. I settled on UTA, and during my freshman year, I finally turned 18. Over the course of a month, I packed my belongings in garbage bags, threw them over our fence in the cover of the night, and friends would come by and pick them up to hold on to them for me. I was a “runaway,” but I was also 18, and I would never have to return to the world my father had me in. My dad would stalk me, but I was free.
Still in bondage with my trauma
Through a friend’s connection, I began serving alcohol at gentlemen’s clubs to continue to pay for school. I made more money than I needed. I also started selling ecstasy at raves with a boyfriend. He was abusive, just like my father. I met another man while bartending. I got pregnant and married him several months later. He was addicted to pornography and would squander money. We divorced in 2006. Looking back, I am forever grateful to him because he gave me my sweet Army and was the reason I left that industry.
Still searching
When Army was with his dad, I would go to clubs looking for someone to make me feel whole, accepted, beautiful, worthy, and safe. After one night, I ended up in my apartment fully dressed, barely on top of my bed, wreaking of cigarettes and cotton candy body spray. I woke up jolted by a man’s voice saying, “Get up!” No one was there, but something strange happened. I got up and started to get ready, against my will. Where am I going?
You’re just in time; I have a seat just for you.
I got in my car, and my spirit told me I was going to church. I pulled into Compass Church, which I had passed a thousand times before. What I was doing here was all I could think; I was not controlling my body. The greeter greeted me with the most loving smile, and I wondered, “What’s their problem.” This was a large church, and it took several minutes to reach the sanctuary. A round man with gray hair, whose name I remember to this day – Jay Franklin, opened the door and said, “You’re just in time; I have a seat for you.”
Agape Love
The message that day was a concept I had never heard before but something I had been seeking my whole life - Agape Love. God has an unconditional love for you called Agape that will fill any void in my heart. That message broke through all of my hurt and insecurities. It jerked me into the arms of Jesus. A divine voice yanked me out of a hangover slumber and drove me to church. From that day forward, I have followed Jesus with a gentle spiritual walk, not the rigid religious task-oriented march I grew up with. That was a pivotal moment for my faith.
Elizabeth & her boys; Army, Mason, and perfect baby Fisher.
Our prayer warrior
Once Elizabeth learned about my diagnosis, she leaped into action, praying for miraculous healing from the same God that wrapped his arms around her with Agape Love. The day that brought her to Compass Church was the start of her journey that would eventually bring her into our lives. Our paths crossed for good.
She was one of the few people I spoke to in the hospital. I needed her faith. She has prayed many prayers on my behalf.
The following was sent to me by Elizabeth. I have prayed it countless times. It is beautiful, and I will cherish it always.
“Hello, my precious friend. I love you. I am sorry this has happened. Please read this aloud as many times as you can think to do so while placing your hands on your head and chest. It is powerful to put words into the air. If we keep these private, the enemy cannot hear our commands and rebukes.
Lord, thank you that you are a good father. Thank you that you can only speak the truth. Thank you that your word says you did not give us a spirit of fear but of power, love, and a sound mind. With the spirit of POWER you have given us, we speak life into Karly’s body. You know how you formed her. You know the inner knitting of her entire being. We rebuke the spirit of infirmity. We rebuke the spirit of fear. We bind them up and cast them into the pit where they came from!
We know you are not the author of infirmity, disease, sickness, or any cancer. We speak to everything in Karly’s body, every single cell and system, to align with Christ. Be healed! Be free from disease! Your word says that everything will bow to Christ. And your word is true.
Breathe your life, creating breath in her. Let the room be saturated with Your breath and presence. No demonic foul spirit can be where you are. We claim that Karly is only surrounded by commissioned warring and healing angels. So many angels are filling the room that no foul spirit can take a foothold on Karly.
By all 39 stripes on Jesus, we claim Karly is being healed right now! We stand in FAITH on your word! Your word says in Luke 18:42 Jesus told the blind man to “GO AHEAD and SEE! Your FAITH has saved and HEALED you!”. We stand on your word now IN FAITH!
Matthew 17:20-21 says we don’t need more faith or less faith… we just need the smallest amount of FAITH to tell any mountain to MOVE AND WILL MOVE!! We speak in FAITH NOW to the infirmity.
In Mark 5:34, Jesus, you told the woman with the blood issue that her FAITH made her HEALED & WHOLE. WE ALSO HAVE FAITH LIKE THIS WOMAN! We are reaching out to touch your garment… out of faith; we don’t care if we look weird or strange or if we feel weird or strange… lifting my hand (raise your hand Karly) in the natural now believing that we are touching your garment in the supernatural.
Luke 5:20 Jesus, you were teaching, and so many were there to hear you… and your word says that the power to heal was with you, but I can’t help but notice that Luke the Doctor didn’t mention anyone getting healed UNTIL the paralyzed man was lowered from the room by his friends… impressed with THEIR FAITH, the man was healed. It wasn’t even the man’s FAITH but his FRIEND’S FAITH THAT HEALED HIM. I attach my faith to KARLY’S FAITH & I declare her faith is attached to mine. LET HER USE & ACCESS MY FAITH! I believe YOU CAN HEAL! I have seen your healing! I have heard testimonies of your Miracles in my lifetime!
I INTENTIONALLY PLACE MYSELF IN THE GAP AND INTERCEDED ON KARLYS BEHALF. WE BELIEVE. NO ONE CAN TELL US ANYTHING ELSE, LORD. YOU ARE JEHOVAH RAPHA!!! Let all reports baffle the physicians! This is the only way that the TESTIMONY AND GLORY CAN BE YOURS!!
I see that with every deep breath Karly takes, it is your breath that has been filling the room. Your breath is life, not death. Inhaling life right now. Exhaling everything that doesn’t belong to you… including demonic, foul, thieving spirits. I see warring angels with swords drawn and ready to fight. I see a blood transfusion with Jesus’s blood… powerful and restorative! I thank you for KARLY’S FAITH! She said she believes in SUPERNATURAL HEALING AND THAT YOU CAN DELIVER! Her FAITH is building my FAITH!!!! Let my FAITH BUILD HER FAITH!!! I also petition that only FAITH BUILDING people will surround her!!!
I have read and prayed these words countless times over this last year. Elizabeth’s words, faith, and friendship have provided me with beautiful reminders that we are not alone; God loves me, He sees me, and He is surrounding me with faithful support and His Agape Love.
