Get On The Ball!

By Kay Heitsch

When the box arrived, I wondered what could be in it. I waited a day; then I asked my husband. "Oh, this is for you; I sent for it," Bill replied. I tore open the box. In the box were some videos, a pump, and a deflated ball. "What on earth is this?" I asked. "Oh, it's some videos to exercise with. You do the workouts on the ball," my husband explained. "Well, I don't know who's going to use this unless you are. I certainly get enough exercise every day," I responded irritatingly. In my mind, I was thinking, "I certainly don't need this. Good grief, I only wear a size six petite. He should be happy I look this good for 54 years old."

Over the past five years, I had been having terrible pain in my fingers, wrists, arms, and shoulders. I had worked at a job displaying jewelry and had quit because of the pain. I cried out in pain at night if I moved wrong in bed or bumped my hands or shoulder. Several people were sure I had carpal tunnel. On their suggestion, I wore a wrist brace for a while. It didn't help. I took massive doses of vitamins and Advil. I went on the Internet and found some exercises for the hands and arms. Over and over, people would share stories of family and friends who had had surgery, but they still were in pain. Then I developed a sciatic nerve problem in my hip. I prayed many times about this. I needed some relief from this constant pain. I didn't seem to be receiving much help in what I had been doing.

The ball sat in the box for a few days. One day, I decided I would "get on the ball" and take a look at one of the videos out of curiosity. "This looks like it may be fun. After all, good money had been spent on this, so why waste it," I told myself. I worked out on the ball for several weeks. I found that the more I worked out on the ball, the better I began to feel. I found that the stretching at the beginning and the ending of the workouts seemed to bring relief, not only in my arms, wrists, elbows, shoulders, and hands but also in pain in my hip. As time went on and I worked out faithfully on the ball. I was able to start holding a book and using the computer with less pain.

Finally it dawned on me, my prayers for healing had been answered. Little did I know that the Lord would answer my prayer for recovery using a ball, but He certainly did.