KIRSTEN BENDER
I have a very special cross. It was made by hand for me by a very special person that the Lord chose to use as an instrument of his goodness and glory.  This cross is made of a rare type of wood called zebra wood.  This is where my story ends.

My name is Kirsten Bender and I was born with congenital dislocated hips.  I was in casts and braces as a young child and the doctors thought they had corrected the problems with my hips.  However at the age of 13, I began experiencing more pain and difficulty with my hips.  I was sent to Children's Memorial in Chicago and was told I would be unable to walk after the age of 20 if they did not intervene.  I had 6 surgeries over the next two years.  I was 14 and 15 years old. 

The following years were good but I was on and off crutches at least at some point in time almost every year.  I suffered subluxations of my knees multiple times. 

I went on to college and met my husband and became pregnant with my first child.  I did not have any problems with my first pregnancy.  However, during my second pregnancy I began having pain in my hips and difficulty walking.  By May 10, 2000, I was unable to walk without crutches and by July I was confined to a wheelchair.  Since I was pregnant there was nothing the doctors could do without harming the baby, so it became a waiting game.  During this time I experienced terrible pain and had to be in traction at home.  My beautiful baby boy, Luke, was born on September 18, 2000. 

After his birth everyone expected that the doctors would find a quick solution to my hip problems and I would be on my way.  However, this is not what occurred.  After a few months of doctor visits and physical therapy, I had made very little progress. 

I went to a physician who told me that there are horses and zebras in the medical world and medicine can treat almost all the horses.  "You, my dear, are a zebra and Mayo Clinic specializes in zebras." 

So we were off to Mayo Clinic.  After a two week trip and many tests we were told there was nothing they could do for me.  That was a difficult point for my family and me.  I continued with doctors without any significant success.  On Tuesday July 30, 2002, I had seen my doctor again and we had discussed terminating visits since nothing seemed to be working.  I was still on crutches and using a wheelchair at this point in time.

On Friday August 2, 2002, I went to a church conference.  One evening following communion, I was overcome with a need to pray.  I went off to the side of the church and prayed to the Lord, tears streaming down my face.  I asked the Lord to help me embrace my physical disabilities, to truly embrace them, not just an acceptance.  I prayed to unite my suffering with Christ's and to be in complete acceptance of God's will for my life.  I SURRENDERED!  What a difficult but wonderful thing to do. 

During this time a gentleman came and asked if he could pray with me and I said yes.  He kept leaving and coming back and leaving again and finally he told me he had received a vision for me...he saw the hind quarters of a zebra.  A zebra!  I understood, and I cried and cried.  I took this as a confirmation of what I had just been able to do, to surrender. 

I needed help actually getting into my wheelchair and my friend and I went back to the hotel room for the evening.  We decided to go down to the hospitality room for a snack and Michelle told me that I seemed to be having a really rough night physically.  As we were headed downstairs this same gentleman approached me and asked if he and some of his friends could pray over me.  I said yes. 

When we arrived I was asked three questions.  Father Fontana said, "Do you believe in Jesus Christ?"  I said, "Yes!"  "Do you believe that Jesus heals?"  I said, "Yes!" "My child, in the name of Jesus Christ, stand up and walk" and I did!  I have been walking and talking ever since.  Praise Jesus!!!

Richard, the servant of the Lord, that received the vision for me of the hindquarters of a zebra coming to life, made this beautiful cross for me out of zebra wood.  It is a tribute first and foremost to the Lord Jesus Christ and second to his healing power and grace.  I will treasure this cross for the rest of my life and what it represents.  Jesus thank you for all that you have done for me and for never abandoning me.  Praise God!  Praise God!  Praise God!