Testimony - Chapter 3

(Tyson here...I'll be narrating chapter 3.)

If you haven't yet, please read chapter 1 and chapter 2 first.

Winter had passed and Spring of 2008 was upon us. It had been several months since our latest doctor visit, and nothing had changed. We felt discouraged but hopeful, and were blessed to be surrounded by loving friends, family and church leaders.

As April arrived, we had become ready to try the prescription given by Sarah's doctor. The Lord reminded us that all healing is from Him, and often times He does use a doctor and common medicine. We felt that if that's what God wanted to do, even though we were still uncomfortable with it, we should not box God in. We became spiritually prepared to start medical treatment soon.

The first week of April, I (Tyson) was planning to travel to Searcy, AR for a Camp Wyldewood benefit golf tournament over the weekend. Record rainfall ensued the 4 days prior to the tournament, and the forecast was even worse for game day. I was all but certain that my travel plans would be canceled. In the three days leading up to Friday, Searcy received over 5 inches of rainfall, and yet to my amazement the tournament was never canceled. On Thursday evening I shrugged, grabbed my clubs and hopped a flight into Little Rock. In the 6 hours after I touched down, Searcy received over 3 inches of rain. The tournament was canceled first thing Friday morning, leaving me in Searcy with nothing to do for two days. I called the airline, but no early flight was available back to Dallas.

Realizing that I had better make good of a bad situation, I decided to try to touch base with some old friends from camp, Michael and Shelley Lincoln. I was happy to catch Michael on the phone, and we quickly met for ice cream and caught up with each other's lives. Within minutes, he had called Shelley and insisted that I join them for dinner and stay the night with them. Of course I was happy to do so. These are dear friends that Sarah and I consider in many ways a third set of parents. The Lincolns have fed us, employed us, counseled us, worshiped with us, cried with us, laughed with us and most of all blessed us with a clear example of a Godly marriage and family.

Later Friday night at the their house, I began asking for their prayers for Sarah and I and our attempts to conceive a child. Of course they agreed, and each began talking about their six-year experience with natural healing instead of medical doctors, and how they frequently visit a man in Rose Bud, AR who owns a herbal supplement store called "Remedies".

The Lincolns had plenty of testimonies of how they had used herbal supplements and natural remedies to cure common ailments, from common colds to athlete's foot and back pain. Shelley went on to tell me that Barry, the owner of Remedies, had mentioned to her earlier in the week that he had helped 125 women get pregnant. She didn't understand his comment at the time, calling it "random" and out of context. Shelley started to believe that maybe she was told for our sake, and she asked if I would like to go talk to Barry in the morning.

Now...needless to say I was a little uneasy about the thought of seeing an "herbalist". I'm generally skeptical about things like that, as most people are, I think. But Michael and Shelley told me that they believe Barry has "a gift from the Lord", and he often knows his patients even before they disclose any information about their lives. Because of our relationship, I knew the Lincolns would never recommend anything that they didn't believe was firmly in the will of God. I agreed and Shelley and I planned to go see Barry first thing in the morning.

On Saturday morning, Shelley and I made the short drive to Rose Bud (population 429). Barry was in, and after a short wait we joined him in a comfortable living room adjacent to the store. He asked how he could help, and I gave a 30-second recount of our attempts to get pregnant and the doctor's diagnosis of Sarah's condition. Barry took a 4x6 note card and began to write on it.

"Tyson, has anyone in your family had thyroid issues in the past?" he asked. Uh...wait a minute here. I came to ask about Sarah, and he's asking about me! In fact, my Mom has had thyroid trouble her entire life, but I didn't know how that was relevant. I answered simply, "yes, my mother has." He went on to explain that I also had thyroid problems that caused a low body temperature. He said it would be hard for us to get pregnant unless my body temperature was closer to normal. He jotted down on the note card some information about something called Wilson's syndrome, and told me to pray about taking a specific amino acid supplement for 60 days.

Now, I had just had a physical exam a few months ago with complete blood work and tests, so I was a little suspicious about the beginning of this conversation, but the fact that he knew about thyroid trouble in my family caused me to stay locked on his words. Nevertheless, I never remembered having a low body temperature.

"Sarah," he continued, "has two cysts on her left Fallopian tube. This is why she hasn't had a period on her own." Barry went on to explain that for both males and females, the left side of the body is responsible for reproduction. Left testicle, left Fallopian tube, left ovary, etc. On a new note card, he jotted down an herbal supplement and handed me the note card, saying "pray about this, but I think it will work and you should be pregnant in 60 to 90 days."

So there I was...holding two note cards and overwhelmed with emotion. Is this crazy? Is this real? Does this guy know anything? He just sat there and looked at me...how can he know anything? I thought back over the last 48 hours, wondering how I had even come to this point. 48 hours ago I was certain I would not be going to Arkansas, and yet, for some reason, I got on a plane, flew north and ended up sitting and talking to a guy from Rose Bud named Barry who seemed to know more about our situation that our doctor or even ourselves.