When All Seems Lost
“People often ask if I ever had a moment of true despair in the wake of my stroke. I think the answer is Yes AND No. If I truly despaired, I don’t think I’d be here today, but the closest I ever came was about 6 months after I had survived.
It was a few days before Thanksgiving in 2008. I was very, very bad off still, recovering in a brain rehab surrounded by death and tragedy and a growing awareness of the horror of my new normal. I had taken my ninth swallowing test which I felt deeply assured I would pass as a gift from God entering the holiday season. I failed it and was thus slapped with the reality that I could not eat, could not walk, could barely talk, could hardly hold up my own head, let alone play, engage or take care of my one-year old child. If I was gone, the burden of caring for me and the sadness that came with it would be lifted off the people I loved most in the world. Jay could re-marry an able-bodied woman, and James could have a “normal” mommy. Clearly God had made a mistake by letting my live.
Casa Colina field trip with Sarah and James
Just as these thoughts began to wash over me, flooding into the deepest places of my broken heart, they were overwhelmed by—I was overwhelmed by—one of the most unusual and life-changing experiences. Though it wasn’t an audible voice from God, it was an awakening of scripture, a vibrant reminder of all the truest things about me and about God, things I had known my whole life but that came to my mind in the moment I needed them most with more clarity and purpose than ever before. I recounted this “epiphany of hope” in my book, HOPE HEALS. I believe these words were for me in that moment, but they are for you too…
‘Katherine, you are not a mistake. I DON’T MAKE MISTAKES. I know better than you know. I’m God, and you’re not. Remember that you were fearfully and wonderfully made in your mother’s womb, and that is when the AVM formed in your brain.
Katherine's first Mother's Day, May 2008
There is purpose in all of this. Just wait. You’ll see. There is no replacing you! Jay could never, ever marry a woman as amazing as you. James could never have a mommy like you. Think about what this will mean for his life. Mommy’s stroke will always be a part of his story. That is a gift to him. It will inform his life. Let him consider it pure joy as he grows. All of this will teach him in ways beyond anything you could say or do.
Trust Me. I am working out EVERYTHING for your good. Don’t doubt this truth just because you are in darkness now. What’s true in the light is true in the dark.
Katherine at swallowing Therapy at Casa Colina
I know you can’t fight this. That doesn’t matter. All you have to do is be still and let Me fight for you. I will complete the good work I began when I gave you new life. I will carry it on to completion. Believe that. My nature is to redeem and restore and strengthen. This terrible season will come to an end. You will suffer for a little while, and then I will carry you out of this.
You will see My goodness in the land of the living. Lean into this hope. Let it teach you how special you are. Most people will never go through this kind of hell on earth. I have chosen you. Live a life worthy of this special calling you have received.’ “ (pg. 164, HOPE HEALS by Katherine and Jay Wolf)
*reprinted with permission from Zondervan Publishing House and Katherine & Jay Wolf, copyright 2016.
For more on the Wolf's story and the ministry of “Hope Heals” go to www.hopeheals.com
Biography
Katherine & Jay Wolf are survivors and storytellers, advocates and evangelists. In 2008, at the age of 26, Katherine nearly died from a catastrophic brainstem stroke. Her survival and recovery, not to mention that of her marriage and family, have been nothing short of miraculous. Katherine and Jay are in full-time ministry together through HOPE HEALS, leveraging their story to encourage those with broken bodies, broken brains, and broken hearts. Engaging both faith-based and secular communities, they seek to bridge the gap between those disabled on the outside and those disabled on the inside with the hope that Jesus brings healing to the deepest pains we all carry. They co-authored their first book, HOPE HEALS, published by Zondervan in April 2016. They currently reside in Los Angeles with their two sons, James and John.
*Biography taken from the Passion website.
