God has seen me through so much in my life, but I will start with what He brought me through so far in the 21st century. I suffered a stroke in May 2000 when I was just 32 years old and had a 3 month old baby. I was paralyzed on my left side, so I couldn’t walk or use my left arm. I was going through therapy to learn how to walk and was assigned a “well-meaning” nurse who constantly urged me to resign myself to life in a wheelchair. I told her that I don’t believe that God blessed me with a baby that would never see me run around or teach my child to walk. Her words depressed me until one day I was wheeled into my room after a very difficult therapy session. As soon as I looked into the hospital room that I had grown to dislike, a calm came over me and I knew that I would walk again. I tried to make myself worry to try out this new sense of calm that God gave me, but I couldn’t. I knew I would walk again, and that that same nurse would see me walk out of that facility. Sure enough, after 3 months, I was finally discharged and I did walk out of the front door, right pass that nurse who said I needed to resign myself to my fate. It took another 3 months to recover the movement in my arm, but I did even though I am not as fluid in my leg, arm and fingers as I was before the stroke, I am able to walk unassisted, and have even volunteered many times at the then 3 month old(now a bright high school sophomore) as well as receiving my Associates Degree via an online college. God has given me joy through my sorrow, because I was disabled and unable to work, which meant that I was able to care for my mother rather than put her in a nursing home during her illness and subsequent death. He’s further blessed me with a grandchild who will soon start kindergarten. I helped her learn to walk as well as dance.