remember my foot?

ok, so i have tried reeeeaaaallllyyy hard to keep the whinning about my foot to a minimum over the past few years.. but now i need to. it all started back here in the summer of 2007. yeah, thats a long time. i spent 13 months on crutches, wore an ankle brace for much longer, and have had a constant level of pain bad enough to make things... difficult (understated). then there were the bad days... the days i walked too far or stood too long (more than 5 minutes was uncomfortable, more than 15 meant swelling), or slept on it funny (even though it was wrapped in a down comforter for support), or the weather was changing.... on those days, the pain was so bad, i couldn't manage even the most routine things. like walking to the bathroom instead of crawling. there were often weeks when the foot would swell up after having overdone it (again, with basic daily things) and i'd resort to the crutches again. and on the worst of those, the pain affected my mood pretty bad, making me bitter and bitting, and i'd have to lock myself away to not offend people- or let them see the tears of pain i couldn't fight back. people who barely know me know i can't walk. in karlsruhe and leipzig people just accepted it for who i am, because they didn't know me differently.

so i tried to keep this out of my reports, mentioning it on the side, as a prayer request scantily formed.. and had long since given up the hope of anything changing. even the doctors said a surgery would have only about a 30% chance of helping.

so here's the reason i am bringing it up now: despite my conviction that i was just going to have to tough it out and bear it, God healed me. its been six weeks now. At freakstock people kept praying for it.. which is nice.. but also kinda annoying when they stop you alot and pray "for nothing." it gets old. like, what's the point? and it starts to rub a bit on faith... but i won't go into all the issues that it raises at this point.. anyway...

the last night of freakstock i pulled an all-nighter talking to a good friend of mine in the tea tent. at about 5 am an american doctor (who is kinda a mentor for the jesus freaks) came in.. we chatted for a few minutes and, as usual, he said, "well before i go let's pray together for cate's leg." my friend wasn't an advocate of faith healing prayers, and the doc himself had already prayed for me ten times over the years at least.. and i was tired and not really in more pain than usual... and just kinda figured "let him pray quick and get it over with, then we can go back to the conversation." and so they prayed while i watched the people across the room tell jokes. i think the prayer was about two sentences.

so the morning after freakstock i woke up. oh.. thats unusual- to sleep all night without waking up from pain. and then to not have pain in the morning. any pain. not even that constant companion pain i had grown so accustomed to. and i was skeptical at first...

but it;s been 6 weeks. i bike reeeaaalllyyy long distances, stand around talking, go for walks, climb stairs.... basically, i act like a normal slightly lazy human (yeah, my foots fine, but i am still outta shape).

anyone want to go hiking? or maybe start jogging? (oh, i dont have any shoes for that.. i had to wear ones with ankle support for so long..) or just talk about how great God is (preferably while standing)?