Healing Journey with Faith: Lessons from a Three-Legged Dog and the Holy Spirit

In the weeks following December 29th, my world had grown very small. I had been home with what I came to call the flu 5.0, a virus that settled into my body, clouded my thinking, and drained my strength in ways I wasn’t prepared for. Some days the brain fog was so thick I had to read the same paragraph again and again, determined not to let the words slip away from me.

Other days, simply standing up felt like a decision that required negotiation.

In the midst of that healing journey with faith, I could hear my mother’s voice saying, “Pam, you have to get up so the bed doesn’t zap your strength.”

This kind of exhaustion made me feel like a three-legged dog.

Not long before, I had watched a three-legged dog stand at the edge of a busy road. He paused there for a moment, staring across the traffic, fully aware, at least in my imagination, that he ought to have four legs, but only had three. I found myself thinking, I bet he’s wishing for that fourth leg. But the fourth leg wasn’t coming back.

So he did the only thing available to him. He calculated. He waited. And then he moved efficiently and deliberately, using the three legs he had to get safely to the other side.

Someone might ask, If you only have three legs, why not just stay on that side of the road?

It was a good question, except life doesn’t stop presenting intersections. Even on that side of the road, sooner or later, there would be another crossing. And once again, the dog would have to ask three legs to perform like four.

Quitting was not an option for my three-legged K-9 friend. And quitting was not an option for me.

When the Spirit Steps In During Your Healing Journey with Faith

As I sat quietly with the image of that three-legged dog, there came a moment when thinking gave way to listening. In that stillness, I heard the Holy Spirit say, “Come to Me. I am your fourth leg. I will give strength to do what you need in this moment and every moment.”

My spirit leaped with a Hallelujah praise.

In that instant, I was reminded that this crossing was never meant to be made by sheer effort alone. Some journeys are not powered by willpower, muscle, or determination but by Spirit, by a strength that meets us exactly where we are and carries what we cannot.

The pressure to perform like I had four legs lifted. I was simply asked to move with what I had… and trust what I was being given.

Healing in Real Time

I tried every home remedy I knew, castor oil, Vicks Vapor Rub, warm broth, mushroom and red onion soup, apple cider vinegar, and lots of hot lemon tea with Manuka honey. I sat in the sun when I could. And when it became clear that rest alone wasn’t enough, I made the choice to go on a three-day water fast, trusting my body to do what it was designed to do: to clear out what no longer belonged.

I was determined to get better.

What surprised me most was how closely that season mirrored the work itself.

I was preparing to embody Zora Neale Hurston, a woman who lived boldly inside a body that knew hardship, while my own body was asking me to slow down, listen, and cooperate with healing.

There were moments I couldn’t rehearse standing up, so I rehearsed lying down. I couldn’t project my voice, so I let the words settle into me quietly instead.

This is what I want you to know: I wasn’t just preparing a show. I was living the lesson inside it.

Determination doesn’t always look like pushing through. Sometimes it looks like staying still in the presence of the Divine, long enough for strength to return.

I was grateful, deeply grateful, to share that season. Not as an update, but as an invitation into the family of those who keep going… even when going through looks like resting.

I was reminded that wellness isn’t always about doing more; it’s often about listening better.

Here are the gentle practices I carried with me during that time: The Acceptance Practices That Helped Me

• I honored my body’s language. Fatigue, fog, and frustration were not failures, they were messages.

• I turned to warmth for healing, warm foods, warm sunlight, warm baths.

• I rested without apology. Rest was not quitting. It was cooperating.

• I released what didn’t belong, through fasting, prayer, stillness, and breath, making space for my body and spirit to let go.

• I accepted help, both Divine and human. Some seasons require more than willpower. I let strength meet me.

That season taught me profound lessons, and I continue to carry them forward.

Ready to reflect on your own healing journey with faith? Share your experiences in the comments below.

If this message resonates with you, I invite you to explore the Go Thru It movement. Whether you're dealing with inherited trauma, systemic injustice, identity reclamation, or the weight of untold ancestral stories, there is a path through it. And on the other side of that path? Resilience. Peace. Healing. Freedom.

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