Epiphany Stories: Leigh
For me, 2020 was a year of miracles. Despite the negativity we’ve all been faced with everywhere, in hindsight, I now know God was moving and working in my life to manifest Himself in a mighty way. There would be joy!
In early spring of 2020, I was approached with an idea, a vision of a free farmers market. I was invited to meet with Lena Van Wyk and Gia Lineberry (NGP Farm Director and Business Manager, respectively) and while I sat and listened to the ideas and vision for this market, I was both excited and apprehensive. As the three of us began to brainstorm this free market, it was difficult for me to see how we would pull it off, and soon found myself playing devil’s advocate and honestly, becoming more skeptical by the day.
Leigh Wills and Tammi Marohn helping out at the free farmers market in November
What if it doesn’t work? What if it does! How do we reach folks we want to serve? How do we feed them all? Where do we begin? What about the logistics in the midst of a pandemic! The answer came fairly easily: we can’t. But, God can! These two young Christian women put their heads together and came up with a beginning. And so, they stepped out in faith, and I followed, into what I like to call my season of miracles.
Miracle one: we received a grant for nearly $30K which we used to purchase produce, meat, eggs, and herbal teas and tinctures from other local, organic farms and vendors. A second grant of $3K was for materials… signage, supplies, tables, etc. And the vision grew! A prayer table was added, as well as breakfast, coffee, and a cider and lemonade stand.
By the second market day, the teams assembled worked together like a well-oiled machine and everyone who participated—teenagers, fellows, farm workers, parishioners, priests, prayer warriors, and even community volunteers—was thrilled and amazed at the outpouring of food, fellowship and love. Oh, the friends we made, the bonds we set, the prayers we prayed. Another miracle!
So, now that I’ve set the stage…as if the market story isn’t miracle enough, this story—this Epiphany story—is about me. It’s about my very own miracle, eh-hm, miracles!
The table where Leigh and many others came to pray with Redeemer’s prayer team.
A few weeks into the market and as chance would have it, rain was in the forecast. Miracle one that day? The rain held off until the market was nearly over! The walk-up market became a drive-thru market, and once again the team worked seamlessly to take orders, pack and deliver food to waiting customers, and even to pray.
I’ve suffered from back pain since I was 15. After two, largely successful back surgeries, the third, was to remove a bone fragment stuck in my spine during the second surgery. Afterwards I still suffered with infrequent bouts of back pain and nerve pain. On this particular Saturday at the farmers market, I was struggling to even walk.
It was a slow day for the prayer team, so I took the opportunity to ask them to pray for my back. As Jim Godfrey (the leader of intercessory prayer at Redeemer) and Mercy Ogunjobi laid hands on me and started praying, I began to feel the pain in my back start to ebb, like a weightlessness or a cooling sensation coming over me. I began to pray out loud as well! There we were, the three of us, praying, praising God, and recognizing the Holy Spirit and Christ! It was incredible. My pain disappeared! I felt amazing. I felt healed! Another miracle.
The family in the cemetery where Leigh’s son Jon is buried, laying his grave blanket down just before Christmas. L to R: Nora (Leigh’s daughter), Sabrena (granddaughter), Leigh, Lindsey (daughter), Beth (daughter-in-law)
But something even more amazing happened more recently, just two days before Christmas. Having lost my only son in a car accident nearly 15 years ago, when I received that phone call Wednesday morning from my daughter’s mentor, I knew something was terribly wrong. And I was right.
My daughter Nora is an apprentice; training to become a Home Inspector. That Wednesday morning was very cold and frosty and her team had a 7 a.m. inspection at a commercial strip mall. She was coming off a 3-story roof when she slipped on the stationery ladder and fell 30 feet to the asphalt below. When I got the call, the EMTs hadn’t arrived on scene yet. Though conscious, she was bleeding profusely from her nose.
As I write this, Nora is recovering at Wake Forest Medical Center. She suffered a shattered right hip, elbow, foot, and both wrists. She has some nerve damage in her right leg and foot, but she is scheduled to come home January 14, three weeks after her fall. This would-be tragedy is a miracle!
God performed a miracle that morning. Not only did He save my daughter’s life, He firmly and finally confirmed in me that He is active, present, and purposeful, in every day, every hour, every moment of my life. He performs, what seems to me, miracles all the time. But to Him it’s just, well, it’s just who He is!
Leigh and her daughter Nora
Things just happen. All things work for good to those who are the called…nothing happens without Him. He is my source of strength, of courage, and of unrelenting faith and peace. And no matter what I may face, my 2020 season of miracles has given me my Epiphany.
-Leigh Wills
