My Revealing Faith: One Woman's Story of Faith, Hope, and Inspiration

By Elizabeth Beulla

Elizabeth Beulla was told from an early age that she may not live—let alone walk.

As an infant, doctors broke the news to her mom that she had brain damage. She was placed in an incubator but her mother talked to her continuously, knowing that if she heard her voice, she’d fight.

Diagnosed with cerebral palsy, doctors said Beulla would not live a normal life. Today, however, she lives a life similar to everyone else, which she credits to having tremendous faith and a wonderfully supportive family.

My Revealing Faith is a story that walks you through Beulla’s life of proving naysayers wrong and achieving what even those close to her doubted was possible.

In sharing her story, she also recalls the pain of seeing her parents divorce as well as devastating family tragedies.

Through it all, her faith picked her up and urged her to keep fighting.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Archway Publishing
• Release date: Feb 10, 2021
• ISBN: 9781480898028

Elizabeth Beulla

Elizabeth Beulla enjoys sharing seasons of her life. Through faith, she braves each hardship that comes her way. Beulla’s wish is for each person who reads her stories to find the strength to keep going when times get tough. This is her fourth book.

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Copyright © 2021 Elizabeth Beulla.

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brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author

and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of

the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of

people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

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Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New

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Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible,

English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing

ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-4808-9801-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4808-9800-4 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4808-9802-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020920466

Archway Publishing rev. date: 02/03/2021

Contents

Dedication

Prologue

Preface

Jesus Saved Me

1 I am a Miracle

2 The House Fire

3 Foxy

4 My Tricycle

5 Shriners Hospital

6 Life in a Cast

7 A Whole New Experience

8 Coolest Teacher Ever!

9 The Big Change

10 Mrs. Williams

11 And then High School Came

12 The Fight into Driver’s Training

13 Because I knew I could

14 Teaching Poetry

15 Onto College!

16 Interview After Interview

17 One Heck of a Surprise!

18 And I found a Winner!

19 Living Life the Best Way I know

20 My Friend Amy

21 Loving the Person for Them!

22 Another job, a New Adventure!

23 Now a Lunch Aid?!

24 The Unexpected Meeting

25 Time to Go On

26 My Father

27 Live With Faith

28 An Answered Prayer

29 Keeping the Faith

30 An Adventurous Trip

31 Unexpected Struggles

32 Now What?!

33 Jasmine Eats Junk Food!

34 The Baby Arrived!

35 The Family Nightmare

36 Basia’s Story

37 That Darn Cat!

38 A Beautiful Awakening

39 I am an Overcomer

Epilogue

Dedication

I dedicate this book to the parents of children who have a disability. While doctors offer a medical opinion, I am grateful for my mother’s educational approach to my condition and my family’s consistent support. It is my hope that you’re inspired to keep fighting for your son or daughter, regardless of what anyone believes. I also dedicate this book to those who have faced unexpected hardships. Through faith, I survived each battle.

Prologue

M Y REVEALING FAITH IS about a woman named Elizabeth, who has a neurological condition, Cerebral Palsy. In the early days of her life, it was uncertain if this person was going to live due to devastating medical complications. Even though she made miraculous improvements, doctors still believed she would never live a regular life and suffer from brain damage. Through tremendous faith and a wonderfully supportive family, Elizabeth lives a life similar to everyone else. My Revealing Faith is a story that walks you through Elizabeth’s life beginning as an infant through adulthood.

Due to having cerebral palsy, it was a continuous battle, not only physically with having balance and coordination issues, but also cognitively in some areas such as reading comprehension. Elizabeth was fortunate to have both parents present in her life. When divorce hit, however, life shifted for not only Elizabeth, but her brother, Billy, who yearned to have a father-figure in his life. Later, Elizabeth describes the devastating family tragedies that took place. It was her faith that picked her back up. This is a true story told by a woman who picked herself up over and over again due to her strong faith.

Preface

M Y REVEALING FAITH WAS inspired by a woman who wanted to give hope and inspiration to others. Elizabeth Beulla’s accomplishments were achieved by having others in her life that gave her the confidence to strive always to do her best. Through experience, she discovered what her strengths were, and what a gift that still is today.

Jesus Saved Me

Even when times get tough and hard to bare,

Jesus is always near, what a testimony to share.

I was created by Him and put on this Earth.

I say thank you, thank you.

Times were tough, experiencing the struggle and fighting the fight.

Easy it was to be discouraged at life’s uncertainties.

Nothing other than a miracle can the situation be described.

The Lord’s mercy is the reason, reason I survived.

The reason I am alive is He, the one who created the world.

The fight was won.

A miracle I am, a miracle.

I was created by Him and put on this Earth.

Overcome many complications, horrifying conflictions.

Fought the battle for what it was worth,

Blessed I’ve been since birth.

Such a miracle, the glory is His.

Left with only few challenges.

He, the Lord has and still opens doors.

A loving father, I could not ask for more.

I say thank you, thank you.

Here I am alive and well.

As an infant, then a child I grew.

Now I am an adult,

Yes, this is true.

In awe by what He has done.

Nothing is too much for the One.

I was saved by the one and only, Christ the Lord.

Blessed I’ve been since birth.

Elizabeth Beulla

1

I am a Miracle

M Y NAME IS ELIZABETH, and I have mild Cerebral Palsy. As a baby, the odds of survival were against me due to health complications; however, I kept fighting to survive and won the battle. From the time I was an infant, my mother talked to me. When a baby is born, typically, there are feelings of excitement. However, in my mother’s case, it was more nerve-wracking than anything. I was her fifth child she had given birth to, and each one before, she always said she wondered why she put herself through such distress but had a change of heart once the baby was born. However, in my circumstances, the only thoughts going through her mind were hoping to survive her pregnancy. After two weeks of being overdue, my mom’s water broke, then the nightmare began. Due to being two weeks overdue, she had to have an emergency C-section. I weighed a whopping 9.1 pounds and was born blue. My oxygen levels were low, and my blood pressure was out of control. Before speaking my first word, I had spent more time in a hospital than some people do in a lifetime. Moments after being born, I was placed in the intensive care unit inside an incubator, which supplied my primary oxygen source. I also had a medical port going from my body’s left side under my arm to my heart to alleviate any excess pressure from my brain.

My mother believed that if I continued to hear her voice that I’d continue fighting to live. The doctors said I had severe brain damage, but my mother knew the doctors were wrong since my eyes were wide open, and I was always alert. My mother has a lot of faith and believed that I knew she was by my side. She talked to me while rubbing the top of my hand in the incubator. After about a week, since I was still turning blue, doctors decided it was best to send me to a hospital specializing in caring for infants and children. Due to severe circumstances, the hospital sent a helicopter to fly me directly to the children’s hospital. Once there, I was placed directly back into an incubator. Doctors and nurses rotated through each day and night, keeping an eye on me and giving me medication when needed for my blood pressure.

Many tears were shed, along with countless prayers shared by friends and family. After a month of continuous care and medical treatment, I finally got released to go home. It was a very stressful time for my family due to my health conditions. Reading my story, you will learn about how I overcame the obstacles of having Cerebral Palsy and live a life just like anyone else. My parents were together, but my father ran from the stress leaving my mother to care for me. Luckily, my grandmother helped out and would watch me, just so my mom could catch up on sleep. This was a blessing in itself. Everyone else was afraid to babysit. Even though I was home from the hospital, the nightmare didn’t stop there.

Growing up, I faced several battles, but one of the hardest was learning to walk. Doctors kept telling my family that walking was impossible. However, my mom believed where there is a will; there is away. Doctors thought she was in denial for her positive spirit, but that made her even more sure of herself. Despite the negative medical statistics, my mother simply chose not to listen and kept believing that I would beat all the odds. Later on, others began to notice that her stubbornness and determination had rubbed off on me.

From time to time during the first year of my life, I continued to turn blue around my mouth from a loss of oxygen in my body caused by high blood pressure. However, after a year, my second kidney started working just enough to where I no longer needed to take blood pressure medicine. Though my medical condition was no longer life-threatening, doctors failed to recognize I had Cerebral Palsy until a year later when I was still unable to sit up. Cerebral Palsy occurred due to the placenta detaching, which cut off oxygen to my brain.

From the age of two, I wore the most uncomfortable braces on my feet to help correct my feet from pointing inward. Also, my hands were positioned into fists due to my muscles not contracting correctly. At the end of six months, however, I was able to open both of my hands, yet I did so in a screaming battle. My stubbornness made the therapists’ job challenging. I would cry, yell, and refuse to do anything before I was ready. Once my hands were opened, the next step was to get me to walk. Doctors told my mom repeatedly that she should put me in a wheelchair, but she refused. Walking was a huge goal that seemed impossible. The therapists even had doubts. My mom was told by many that she was in denial and needed to develop more realistic goals for me.

My family consisted of three sisters, a brother, my parents (primarily just my mom), and myself. While I was the youngest of my siblings, my oldest sister had died only a few days after birth, leaving me with two sisters I grew up with. My brother, who is almost seven years older than me, was a lot of support in getting me to walk. He made up a bridge game by sitting on the floor and lifting his leg (pretending to be a bridge). Day after day, he’d do this, and nothing happened until one day when I got tired of sitting and got up to walk! I stumbled all over but took my first steps at almost three and a half years old. My mom was so excited that she called everyone she knew to give the miraculous news. I used a walker to help me with my balance, but that didn’t slow me down. Before long, I was off and rolling! By age two, I had already spent an abundant amount of overnight visits in the hospital and was a survivor. Regardless of what my critical situations were, I was blessed to have a strong mother who kept her faith from the beginning. When the time came for me to start school, excitement filled my heart. It didn’t take me long to make new friends. I was racing little Johnny in his wheelchair down the halls after one day. From using my walker, I gained enough balance and strength in my muscles to get around with the other children in my preschool.

I wasn’t any different than any other child. My favorite thing to do in my walker was to throw everything out of the garbage onto the floor. I would hang on to the walker with one hand and toss with the other. My mom placed two separate bins in the kitchen. The first bin was beyond my reach for garbage and the other container for newspapers and junk mail. It’s not that she allowed me to go through the trash, but I would be so fast that I’d get into it before she had time to stop me. Another odd thing I loved to do was dip my bangs in the toilet, so she had to keep it extra clean.

It’s many parents struggle to potty-train their child. In my case, it was on the dangerous side. My mother did what most mothers do when it comes to potty training; she placed me onto a toddler-sized toilet seat in the bathroom on the floor and then walked away. Leaving the bathroom door open, my mom walked around the corner to the kitchen table to wait. To her surprise, I used the restroom and decided to stand up on my own.

After standing from the toilet seat and pulling my pants up, I hustled towards the kitchen to let my mom know I was finished. Then, all of a sudden, Bam! My mom came rushing into the bathroom to see what was the matter to find me lying on the tile floor. Strangely, I recall having white socks on with ruffles along the edges, which caused me to slip. As my mom bent down to pick me up, she instantly noticed blood running down my lip to my neck, then quickly picked me up off the tile floor. Without thought, my mom carried me outside into her car and drove to the nearest doctor. Luckily, she knew of a place around the corner from our home. She drove through the neighborhood to the