My guest today is Timmy Stauffer… the son of our good friend from high school, Wayne & Debbie Stauffer. I was drawn to learn more about Timmy when Wayne posted on FB, that his son had never wanted to pray for healing from Cerebral Palsy.  He has always believed that God will use it for His glory in not only his life but everyone his life touches.  This is Part 1 of 3 stories this week.  The first today, and the 2nd on Wed. are Timmy’s testimony.  Friday, I’ll be sharing with you a letter that Wayne (his dad) had published a few years ago.  Happy Treasure Hunting as your read and if you want to learn more about Cerbral Palsy- click on the following link. CP link

Part 1

Things Only Known, My Life Testimony- by Timothy Stauffer

 My whole life has been a testimony to the power of God.

On July twenty-seventh in the year of my Lord, 1998, I took the next step or “roll” in my case, in my journey with God.  When I was fourteen, I gave Him my life, but His work in my life didn’t begin that day.  His hand came into my life on the day I was born, June 22, 1984.

Due to a birth accident and a lack of oxygen, I was born with cerebral palsy.  The doctors said that I also had a heart condition, an ASD (aortal septal defect) and a VSD (ventricular sepal defect).  They offered my parents little hope for the first eleven days that I would even live.  Then the doctors said if I lived, I would spend the first year of my life in the hospital. God’s work began then and I went home on the same day that my twin brother did…28 days later!

Ten months later, I was scheduled for strabisimus surgery on my eyes, but two weeks before the surgery, my parents moved to Houston.  When my mom took me to a doctor in Clear Lake to have me cleared for the same surgery in Houston, the Doctor told her to take me to Texas Children’s Hospital immediately.  You see, my heart problem had been misdiagnosed, and if I had had the eye surgery, I would have died. I needed a balloon catheterization done on my pulmonary valve before I could get eye surgery. They fixed the 80% blockage, and then did surgery on my eyes.  The doctors were amazed that I had lived a whole year with that kind of pulmonary stenosis.  They said if I had not had cerebral palsy, which slowed me down, I’d probably have died.  When I was three I began going to Shriners and, at age six, they did hamstring-release surgery on my legs.  I had what seemed like unending therapy after that which was anything but fun or easy.  Later they put me in long leg casts, which was very painful, but God got me through it all.

I know no other life but this….

Medical stuff aside, my story continues just like so many others.  I‘ve been raised in a Christian home and like my Cerebral Palsy, Christ has been the only thing I’ve known all my life.  In spite of it all life has been wonderful at times.  I’ve always considered myself a believer and I always knew I wanted to give my heart to God, but I also wanted to really understand what that meant before I did so.  I still don’t know why it took me fourteen years, but when it finally happened, I knew with all my heart that it was the right time. On the day I died with Christ I threw off my rags and put on the white robe of Christ.  I know this robe is covered in the blood of Jesus and that God sees only the sinless life of His Son when He looks at me, but what I still don’t understand is when some people come up to me when I am sitting around minding my own business and tell me what a wonderful person they think I am and how they can see Christ in me.  I don’t know what to say when they do that because daily I still see my beautiful white robe stained with sin.  I know the words of 1st John 1:9 are true, “If I confess my sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive me my sins and purify me from all unrighteousness.” I still don’t see how they seem to only see Christ in me while not looking at my past when I know I don’t always lead the kind of life I should. (to be cont.)

Join us Wednesday for Part 2 of Timmy’s Testimony

Surprising Treasure:   2 Corinthians 12:9
Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.