GRANTSBORO – On Dec. 10 of last year, Jerry Casey turned the lock of a small closet-like office at his used car lot on the corner of Hwy. 55 and Hwy. 306. He remembers thinking to himself “This is enough,” with the implication being that he did not expect to return. A prostate problem and related bladder ailment were not responding to prescribed medication.
“I was taking some pretty strong medicine,” said Casey, “and I really should have had someone with me when I started taking another type of prescription.”
As it turned out, Casey spent all of Christmas and New Year’s by himself – alone in his home. At one point, he found himself on the floor, barely able to dial 911 or to even open the door for the ambulance crew. “I had crawled to the front door, and fortunately, my son Allen, who lives close by, had a key.”
He was in bad shape. His eight days “on the fourth floor of CarolinaEast” remain a miserable blur to him. In a recent interview, Lydia Allen, who is a good friend, said “Jerry called me and he was about as low down as anyone can get.”
“At that point, I just wanted to go ‘home,’ said Casey, using ‘home’ as a term for heaven; and, also adding,“I accepted the Lord in 1986, but back then I thought all of that stuff was crazy.”
Discharged from the hospital, Casey ended up at Grantsbrook Nursing & Rehabilitation, where he encountered a random act of kindness, compliments of Hattie Credle, a seven-year staffer.
“Let’s put it this way,” chuckled Credle, “Jerry was not a happy camper.”
Nevertheless, Credle had something up her sleeve, which she felt might speed Casey’s recovery. Her motivation?
“Well, I had done this sort of thing before when I felt spiritually called that it was the proper thing to do,” said Credle, who promptly reached out to Gladys Wright of Daily Bread Christian Bookstore in Bayboro.
“Looking back on all of this,” recalled Wright, “it is fitting that Jerry is now referring to Hattie as his ‘Intercessor.’”
For almost four decades, the bookstore has stocked many types of publications – one of the most popular is a small, easy-to-read booklet titled “God’s Creative Power for Healing” first written by Charles Capps in 1991. The young-looking Wright (who claims to be 80) is always ready to assist. “This place is a confluence of needy people. God heals, and he pays well,” said Wright.
Credle then went to Wright. Wright gave Credle the booklet, along with a small bottle of anointing oil. Credle returned to Grantsbrook – where she dropped off both items as gifts for Casey.
“If it had been some type of big Book,” said Casey, “I would have just thrown it on the table and never looked at it. But since it was small, I decided to pick it up. Well, I read it three times from cover to cover, and I did what it told me to do. God healed me, and it was God’s work that those two ladies (Credle and Wright) got together to send me that book!
With regard to his healing miracle, Casey added: “God is on time. God is unlimited. Jerry Casey loves God, and he loves God’s people.”
Know someone who might benefit from the small booklet? Call Gladys Wright at (252) 745-7244. She’ll give you a booklet (and Jerry Casey is paying for it!!). Wright also mentioned that she is inviting the entire community to a special service at Daily Bread of Life Ministries on Sunday, July 10 at 3pm.
“We are calling it ‘Tell of God’s Goodness!’ and a highlight will be joint testimony from Jerry Casey and his friend Lydia Allen about this experience,” said Wright. “There are others out there who also want to tell of God’s Goodness, so we are telling everyone of them to ‘Come On!!”
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