by Joy Horsley
I become a Christian when I was young. I believed in God, but my knowledge was through learning than experiences. Since 2012 though, I have gone through many trails, and have become more dependent on God alone.
2 Corinthians 12:9 has been very appropriate. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”
In 2012, I had a severe stroke. October 13th I started coming down with the flu and the next day, it was much worse. I couldn’t keep water down, so my husband Shem drove me over to Olmsted Hospital, and I felt better by the afternoon. On October 17th, a few days later, I had a severe stroke. Here’s how the evening went:
In that evening, my husband Shem got the same flu, I had earlier. I was trying to help Shem feel better, but he was in the same spot. As I was getting ready for bed I stared feeling bizarre. Even though my husband still felt ill, he realized within a couple of minutes I had lost my ability to talk so he called 911. Initially, the ER didn’t recognize that I was having a stroke since I was so young, and thought I was depressed from a miscarriage earlier in the year. The ER could tell though, when I had a CAT scan, and I was moved immediately into Neuro critical care.
By October 19th I went downhill quickly, and needed an emergency surgery. I was rushed to the operating room to relieve the pressure that was building up in my brain. The doctors removed a large piece out of my left skull.
The original prognosis was not good. Doctors didn’t know if I would survive, and if I did survive, what would the rest of my life be. The originally thought was that I would be paralyzed on my right side, and would spend months in a nursing home. The first few days had no changes, no changes, but then, with patience, I slowly started to heal. About a week later I started to regain mobility on my right side.
Several days later, I was moved from the ICU to Domitilla at Mayo. This was a good step, however, Shem and my family were still very nervous. I could hardly say anything correctly at all. I didn’t know how to say the words of simple things like “tree” and “plane”. The easiest words that started were “yes” and “no”, and face expressions. I had a long road ahead. I worked through Occupational Therapy, and Physical Therapy, and the longest time was a year and a half on Speech Therapy. It is hard enough to learn the skills as a child, but strange to have to relearn language as an adult. Patience!
On February 22nd in 2013 I turned 31. It wasn’t a enjoyable birthday, but pretty important! This day I had a surgery at Mayo to have my bone flab reattached.
I had a long road to recovery but God walked with me. My recovery was a miracle! I still have some language issues, but nothing compared to the problems at the beginning. And my right side is still numb the further it goes. So I have to drive with my shoes off!
In 2016, following years of rehabilitation, I had a season of life and death. As I mentioned earlier, before my stoke I had a miscarriage. We were really hoping to start a family. I had a second miscarriage, and then finally a healthy pregnancy in 2015 which was a huge blessing!
On August 5, 2016 Grace was born. The active labor went faster, and less painful then I had even hoped for. However, my mom was staying overnight at Methodist as well. Not to visit, but for a test surgery she needed. Less then a month before, my mother discovered she had a very rare type of gallbladder cancer. It had already gone through her lymph nodes and into her liver before she even felt ill. Despite being treated, she passed at the end of August. My mother had chance to meet her granddaughter though. That was God’s Providence beyond any debate. Mayo decided to have my daughter born a little earlier as my amniotic water was too low. Had my daughter been born at the expected date, my mom wouldn’t have met her!
Since then, life has continued with both blessings and difficult seasons. In 2019, my husband Shem and I were blessed with having our second daughter, Faith. But just a short while later, Shem’s father passed away from cancer and then Shem had a heart attack and miraculously survived.
I have learned we all have trials in life. There will be a time when the streams rise, and the winds blow. I keep learning though that God is the solid rock, and that’s it! Everything else is really drifting sand. I can lean more to Christ or let my own efforts blow away.
I still have worries, but my worrying has become less and my trust in God is more! I’ve realized so much that God has plans in life. Even when I don’t know ahead, God does!
I’ll end with a verse, Matthew 7:24-25. “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.”
Joy Horsley is happily married to her husband Shem and is blessed to be a stay-at-home mom with two daughters Grace and Faith. She enjoys journaling, traveling, art, walks with her husband, going to Renovaré, and devotions every bedtime. The Horsleys started going to Calvary in 2021, and became new members in 2023.
1 thought on “Fruit of the spirit: patience”
Dear Joy, I have had the privilege of hearing this story from you before, and it is a miracle of God’s grace! Thank you for sharing it here, and I loved seeing the accompanying photos. Praise God — His ways are perfect!