Healing of My Speech Impediment

When I was a very young girl God healed me of a speech impediment. A few days ago a long-time friend asked me to write out the story so she could share it with someone, and I also want to share the story with all of you.

When I was around 5 or 6 years old my parents and others began to notice that I did not speak clearly. I had an impediment. Whenever I’d speak the consonants S, Sh, Tr, Ch, or J, along with those sounds appeared a “nasal snort”. It was a very unpleasant sound.

Had I been in a public school setting I am sure I would have been sent to Speech Therapy, but my parents and I were living an unusual life at the time. Mom and Dad were song evangelists who would travel to churches and camp meetings all over the United States. We were in a different city every week, lived in a travel trailer, and I was homeschooled by my mother.

It became apparent that I needed help. I was becoming very self-conscious and embarrassed due to this, and was becoming quite withdrawn in public.

My parents considered that perhaps they should settle down from their living on the road, to find a permanent home so that I could get the help I needed. Yet, they knew that they had a call from God to do what they do, and didn’t take that call lightly. Also they had received a call for some meetings in Florida during the winter of 1971, and they had never been/always wanted to go to Florida, and decided to remain in this work until after that, then make the decision as to what to do.

Meanwhile, my parents took me to Detroit Michigan to Ford Hospital to see a speech therapist there to try to get some help. The therapist assigned me speech exercises and asked for me to return a few months later.

All during this time my parents were requesting prayer from everyone they could, all over the country. They had a lot of friends, and every week in their meetings would meet more and more people who joined us all in prayer for my healing and for direction for my mom and dad to know what to do.

The meetings in Florida in the winter of 1971 were behind us, and in March we were in the car, travelling north to return to Michigan. We soon would have the follow-up appointment with the speech therapist, so my mom suggested, as we were going down the road, that I should use the time to practice my speech exercises. I had been playing with my doll in the back seat of the car, so just then, I looked at my doll, and to the doll (who apparently in my make believe world, was crying?..), I said “Sh”. And I said it NORMALLY! (no snort!...which I had NEVER done!). My mom heard this and whipped her head around and said “What did you say?”, and I replied, “Sh!” – again, clearly!

So that day was a joy-filled day for sure! I was able to say not only the “sh” sound, but also “tr” and “ch”. So I’d read the road signs and truck logos and anything I could with these sounds in it – and we’d laugh and praise God and rejoice!

The “J” sound didn’t come until a few weeks later. During our family devotions, the Bible reading was from the book in the Bible: 1st John. My mom asked me to read the Bible that day, and she told me the passage was in 1st John….and I repeated the reference after her, saying “1st John…” – and this time I said J correctly! Once again this turned into a time of hilarious rejoicing! I was able to speak all the sounds correctly, which had before been accompanied by an obnoxious nasal snort. God healed me completely!

Praise Him!