You may be familiar with Stella and how she got her groove back. It’s the story of a successful black woman in her forties who finds love in the islands after a friend encourages her to “get back out there, date, have some fun.” Stella sets her sights on a younger man then soon realizes the need for balance between love, companionship, and responsibility in life.

While Stella found her groove in a guy, I found mine in Jesus. This is a story of healing and restoration, of how Jennie got her Jesus cape.   

In 2013 a tragedy devastated my left arm. The arm, as it was affectionately known, was completely useless. I could not move it, could not use it. I could see it there. I could feel its existence, but I could not do anything with it. My left hand was rendered useless as well. I could not move a single finger, make a fist, grip, or pinch. It was like the power to my left arm had been shut off. I wondered if maybe it would be paralyzed, be lifeless forever. 

Disclaimer: If you are in the early stages of grief, click away from this post. This post is for people who have been grieving for a long time and are stuck in their grief. 

Are you stuck?

Stuck in the pit? 

The pit of grief?

Oh fellow griever, it’s time. It’s time to move forward. Notice I didn’t say move on…. that’s not what we’re working toward here. We’re working toward forward movement. I want you to know joy again.

Read John 5: 1-9

This passage of scripture spoke to me like none other in my grief journey. God pulled the scales off my eyes as I was reading, and I thought, “THIS. This explains my responsibility in my becoming healed.

When we begin reading, we see that Jesus was back in Jerusalem and at the pool of Bethesda. We also learn that there were a lot of sick people by the pool. According to different studies, it was believed that an angel would stir (or trouble) the waters, and only the first person into the pool was healed.

At the time of the man’s encounter with Jesus, he had been lame for 38 years. That’s a long time, my friends. Now comes the interesting part. Let’s look at what Jesus says to him in verse 6:

Curiosity killed the cat. While this isn't biblical, it sure fits nicely in the opening chapters of Genesis where Eve stumbles and falls and takes her husband down with her.  Moreover, there is much to learn from our Lord's wise warning in Genesis 2:17,

"You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die."  

Why do we feel the need to know? Better yet, why do we feel the right to be informed? How much heartache and misery we could be spared if we truly heeded God's warning

Fourteen is rough. So are fifteen and sixteen. Now that I think about it, thirteen should have been the clue--the clue that my son was changing. 

His dad had told me this would happen. "No, not Jacob," I thought. "He's so sweet. He's different." Well I was wrong. Jacob is not different. He is normal and just like most teenage boys I have encountered. 

I'd watched the Biggest Loser over the years but wasn't an avid fan. As I watched contestants sweat profusely, vomit, and pass out, I thought, "Man, that looks hard."

It is.

I thought maybe we'd ease into the workouts. I mean they had told us we were not just obese; we were MORBIDLY obese. Obese as we were, we were jumping into the deep end with the first workout.