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Former Cross-Country Hiker Now on the Road to Recovery
CHICAGO, IL (August 23, 2003) - Five years ago, Judy Howard Peterson was
walking across North America taking a year-long break from her studies
at North Park Theological Seminary (NPTS) to learn more about God.
Since completing her walk, she has spent a lot of her time talking to
churches and groups, while finishing her seminary education, starting a
new marriage, and beginning church ministry at Arbor Covenant Church in
Madison, Wisconsin.
In February 2003, however, Judy wasn't walking or talking much at all.
After discovering she had a rare illness, Peterson was confined to a
hospital bed for almost two weeks as doctors tried to figure out how to
treat her.
Peterson's spiritual walk has taken a different pace in recent months,
but it is clear that her passion for Jesus Christ hasn't waned. She
plans to discuss the latest part of her journey next summer as one of
two primary speakers for Triennial XI, "Meet Me at the River," a
Covenant Women Ministries (CWM)-sponsored event scheduled for August
12-15, 2004 at the Doubletree Inn in Portland, Oregon.
Although her physical problems began in 2001, Peterson said that they
were hardly noticeable at first. She had finished her master of divinity
program at NPTS, gotten married to Jeff Peterson, who works at Chicago's
O'Hare Airport, and mixed in many speaking engagements with work as an
associate pastor at Arbor Covenant, a church of around 100. This past
January, however, she discovered that her nagging pain was more serious
than she thought.
"About two years ago, I had this crazy pain in the front of my neck - it
was painful to the touch - and my doctor said to take some Tylenol," she
said. "I had periodic pain, but one day I had trouble sleeping and the
next morning I was fighting for words. I checked with our parish nurse
at Arbor Covenant (Susan Corrado) and she took my blood pressure and it
was high. I went to my doctor and she sent me to the emergency room and
they diagnosed me with what's called a carotid dissection. The inside
wall of my carotid artery was pulling away from the outside.
"None of my neurologists had ever seen the symptoms without someone
having come in with a stroke first," Peterson continued. "The great
thing was that it provided me with an opportunity to talk about God's
provision. I chalked it up to being blessed."
On May 11, 1998, Peterson began a walk of more than 4,000 miles that
stretched from one coast to the other and ended on May 15, 1999. She
wore out 11 pairs of shoes, traveling 20 miles per day on average, and
endured numerous blisters while learning how to "be with Jesus." The
blessings from that trip, she said in an Internet biographical sketch,
included the joy of a simplified lifestyle, a desire for a more
disciplined approach to faith, and a realization that the Christian
journey isn't an overnight flight across the country but a seemingly
mundane step-by-step trek.
The lesson Peterson learned while spending a year on the road helped her
deal with her illness. While in a Madison, Wisconsin, hospital, she was
given MRI tests every four hours and doctors told Peterson it was
imperative that she keep her blood pressure down. That meant few walks
and conversations and a lot of alone time. There were tear-filled
moments, but also opportunities for silent reflection that have
strengthened her faith.
Although she had to curtail some speaking engagements for a time,
Peterson said that she's living a pretty normal life now (albeit with a
few extra medicines to take each day) and taking on speaking engagements
each month while serving in Wisconsin. However, her perspective has
changed, and she said much good has occurred in spite of her illness.
For example, her doctor now attends Arbor Covenant and Peterson has had
many meaningful conversations with other medical staff as she has
interacted with them during her recovery.
"Before this (illness)," she said, "I would have said (to some people
needing pastoral care), 'Buck up trooper, walk it out.' Now, I feel I'm
more understanding of chronic illness and what that does to somebody.
And that has made me a far better pastor because I have found my own
limitation and can have compassion on others' limitations.
Peterson continued, "There aren't any givens, except that God is good
and he's doing stuff I don't understand. But when you're rich and
healthy you get this illusion that you're under control. But God's
purposes are beyond me. So I believe that anything that helps us see
that we're not in control is a good thing. When something happens, it's
not a bad thing or a good thing. It's a thing and we get the choice to
see it as a good thing or a bad thing."
Triennial XI brochures have been mailed to all Evangelical Covenant
Church congregations and retirement communities. Additional forms are
also available through the Covenant Resource Center free of charge.
Beginning September 15, women will be able to register and pay by credit
card online via the Triennial XI website, www.triennialxi.org.
For more information about CWM and Triennial XI, call Ruth Hill or
Suzannah Worl at 773-907-3332.
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