The woman crippled by a demon

A couple of months ago, I read the book Who Does He Say You Are? by Colleen C. Mitchell. Through scripture, prayer and reflection, Colleen focuses on twelve women of the Bible and how Christ transformed their lives and how He can transform ours.

I used to identify with "the woman of Samaria" or Martha and Mary of Bethany, but while reading Colleen's book, the story of the woman crippled by a demon (Luke 13:10-17) spoke to me. It inspired me so much that I drew the picture you see with this article.

The woman crippled by a demon by Pam Spano

Looking at my own drawing, I realized how crippled and bent over I had become.

How did it happen? It was gradual for me. Over a period of time my job performance began to suffer and I lost all confidence in my abilities. I believed the low, whispered lies in my own voice inside my head that I wasn't good enough or smart enough to do the job.

I started to pray every day. I spoke with my boss about the difficulties I was having. She didn't have time to help me. When I started to become ill every morning before I left for work, I knew it was time to quit.

There were other factors that played into my decision to quit my job. My pay was very low and I'll be making more money a month when I start to draw Social Security!

Now what do I do? I started the healing process by attending daily Mass. I heard God's words and I began to stand upright:

"Stand up and go; your faith has saved you." - Luke 17:19

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Now I "stand tall in Christ," as Colleen puts it. I'm aware of my posture throughout the day and make sure I'm not slumping. I haven't heard the low whispers since I quit my job and if I do, I know my faith is strong enough to silence them.