From the book ‘Fifty things that really matter to Latter-day Saints.
Alisha Geary wrote:
Breathe, Don’t panic. My chest heaved as I frantically tried to get enough air. For the last three nights I had battled respiratory infections and asthma attacks. Now I had pneumonia pleurisy, a serious illness in which the lungs fill with fluid and become inflamed.
Just the night before I had coughed so hard that I truly thought I was going to die. At the moment of my deepest panic my father flew up the stairs and came to my bedside. He placed his hands upon my head and commanded me in the name of Jesus Christ to sleep. The panic ebbed. I fell asleep. I don’t remember the end of the blessing.
Now it was the darkest part of the night and the wheezing panic had returned. Every coughing fit increased in intensity; and fear roiled within me. Tears streaming down my face, I pleaded with my Heavenly Father to please let me breathe. As I ended my prayer, Dad entered my bedroom. “May I give you a blessing?” I could only gasp in relief; I knew I would be healed by the power of the priesthood.
Again placing his hands on my head my father gave me one of the most beautiful blessings I have ever received. In the blessing he explained the Atonement and how Jesus Christ knew my pain. I would be able to learn from this illness. He never said anything about being healed. My courage quelled. After closing the blessing, I leaned into him and we cried. He told me that he had fully intended to walk into the room and heal me, but the Spirit of the Lord had constrained him from ending my torment. “She has something more to learn,” it had told him.
Through the rest of the month, as the pain and coughing kept me awake long into the night, I prayed fervently to understand what I needed to learn. I read my scriptures about the Atonement. I studied the Savior’s life and His healing of the sick. I knew I had the faith to be healed, but I still was not. Slowly, I started to understand the blessing that I had received—what Heavenly Father wanted me to know.
My prolonged illness had humbled me. I knew I had to depend on the Savior for every breath. I had to reaffirm faith every day, every second, as I fought to breathe. Because of my experience, I knew that my Savior was with me and loved me more than I could ever know. Now as I face adversity in my life, I have a sure knowledge that the Lord will be with me. I understand the Atonement more. I can say for certain that “He lives and grants me daily breath.” BY ALISHA GEARY, Fifty Things that Really Matter to Latter-day Saints (Leatherwood Press books are available exclusively through Deseret Book Distributors, Salt Lake City) 79-81
