Three Faces of a Miracle

Miracle Number One
God's Special Touch

by Evelyn Harper

"The telephone is ringing early this morning," I said to myself as I walked over to answer it. It wasn't really early but it took me so long to get started in the morning.
If I had known the wonderful miracles that would result from that call, I would have run to answer it. For it was
the beginning of a plan that God had already conceived for healing me and my identical twin daughters - Jeanne Zeman of Bartlesville, Oklahoma, and Joanne Davis of Lubbock, Texas.
Looking back, I can see that God had a heavenly plan for us, although we were completely unaware that He really
cared so much for us.
"Hello," I answered rather weakly.
"Mother," ( It was Jeanne) "would you like to go with me to a Kathryn Kuhlman meeting at the Civic Center, in Tulsa?"
"Who is Kathryn Kuhlman?" I asked.
"She is an evangelist, and miracles occur in her services."
Being a Baptist, and having heard about miracle services, I didn't want any part of one; though theoretically I did believe in miracles. So I said, "No, I don't feel like going."
"Well, I have three bus tickets reserved," Jeanne said, "but I guess I can f nd someone else to go with me."
On second thought, but with some doubt, I relented:
"All right, Jeanne, I'll go with you."
Several days later we decided that Joanne should fly in from Lubbock to use the third ticket. Thus began a series of events which were to change all our lives, not only physically but also emotionally and spiritually.
For twenty-five years I had been suffering from an inherited form of arthritis (only recently named "Anky­
losing Hyper-osteosis). Every joint in my body ached constantly. The arthritis had started during my pregnancy

birth. I never really recovered from the complications that developed during the pregnancy -cut short by a two-month premature delivery. We hired a full-time nurse for the first three months after the twins were born, so that I could rest, yet the arthritis worsened. Suffering constantly from pain, I became nervous and depressed, developing constant headaches. I did not know what was happening to me, but I decided to ignore the illness as best I could. I thought that the symptoms and the disease would disappear, but they never did.
Ten years after the birth of the twins, I decided to go to an arthritis specialist. Because many of my relatives had one form or another of crippling arthritis, I had concluded that the cause could possibly be emotional, especially since I didn't have the obvious crippling, and my headaches were becoming unbearable.
Therefore, I told the specialist that I would see a psychiatrist if he advised it. However, after a thorough examination, he told me that the arthritis was causing my headaches, thus a psychiatrist would not help. Arthritis had settled in the upper spine, causing pressure in the back of my head.
With prescribed medication, I began to feel somewhat better. Because I lived far away from the specialist, I stop­ ped seeing him. Had I continued, perhaps he might have prevented, through medication, some of my later problems.
Although I failed to recover from the arthritis I never had time to pity myself. I worked hard, still believing that somehow, some day, the problems would leave. I awoke each morning exhausted and went to bed in the evening with a never-ending headache. Because all my joints ached con­ stantly, my nervous system was on edge, and I was not the easiest person to live with.

MY SEARCH FOR TRUTH-

Spiritually, I could not reach God. The Bible seemed a closed book to me. Although my father was a Baptist min­ ister, and I remembered the beautiful experience of being "born again" at the age of twelve, I lacked the power to overcome my problems. Often I thought, "Surely, there is more."