Be Healed! Really!

I had been to a parish meeting where the priest invited a Lutheran minister to speak about healing through prayer. As a Catholic, I knew people were healed at places like Lourdes and similar places. However, this minister, Pastor Erwin Prange (above), was speaking about people just like us who were praying for healing and some were being healed. I didn't know if I believed that.

The following week, my Grandma Harp was in Union Memorial Hospital with a heart attack. She was out of intensive care, but still not doing well. The doctors had told my mom that Grandma, or "Mosnee" as some of us called her [1], would be there for several weeks. 

I went to the hospital to visit her, and as I walked into the lobby I saw Pastor Prange on his way out. He seemed to recognize my face, so I spoke to him and told him where he had seen me. I asked if he would come up and pray with my Grandma, if she would give her permission for that. He said he would, and Grandma said yes, she would like him to pray with her. Pastor Prange prayed a simple prayer, placing his hand on Grandma's arm asking Jesus to heal her. After the short prayer, he left the room. The next day Grandma felt better and the doctors were amazed at the change in her. She was sent home three days later.

Larry and I then began to pray with each other and with our children when we were sick. To this day, we pray for each other in difficulties and illnesses, and our children ask for the family's prayers for in-laws and friends, as well as extended families. If you are reading this, know you are prayed for daily.

[1] Since Grandma Harp was of German descent, we referred to her as "Gross-mom" (not "gross" in the modern English sense, but "great").  When my young daughter Anne tried to say "Gross-mom," it came out "Mosnee," and that's what much of the family called her from then until her death.