The Boy Next Door

by Tom Boor

It was the first week of Lent when Tom told me that his neighbor had experienced a miracle. Tom said, “Our neighbor boy rang our doorbell holding his skateboard in his right hand.” Tom said, “It blew me away, because only a couple of months ago, when I saw him, he was in a wheelchair. He asked if he could come in. He had come over to tell me how he was cured and could now walk.”

This boy is 10 years old and one of seven children from a blended family. Both his parents are very Christian and practice their faith as a family. He wanted to tell me how his brother, who is 12 years old, had prayed over him. The age of these boys is what makes this story I am going to share so remarkable.

Tom Tells His Story

Winter came early in 2024, and my little friend started having leg pains. His parents consulted with doctors and specialists. He was admitted to the hospital for a few days, and underwent several tests and MRI’s, but they could not determine what was causing the severe pain in his legs. He returned home without a diagnosis. It was not long before he could not stand or walk. By Christmas, he was confined to a wheelchair. In January, he could not go to school due to hospital stays, doctor visits, severe pain, and immobility.

Living in a two-story house, he maneuvered the stairs on his butt, using his arms and hands for leverage. Then, one day in February, he heard his brother playing the piano in the family’s living room. His brother was practicing for a musical at school in which he would be participating.

My young friend was listening upstairs and prayed for his brother, saying, “Lord, help my brother master the music and song.” Then he scooted down the steps on his butt to the bottom of the steps to listen more closely and pray some more for his brother. His older brother noticed him and said, “What are you doing?”

My young friend said, “I’m praying for you, so that you’ll get better.” His brother said, “Why don’t we pray for you so that you can walk?” With that, his older brother came over, and they prayed together. His older brother encouraged him to try to stand up and walk.

Then my little friend said, Mr. Boor, “I pulled myself up into a chair, rested, and then shakily stood up and took a couple steps, then a couple more, and within a week I was walking.” He said, “The doctors didn’t know why my legs wouldn’t work, and now they don’t know why they do.”

The following week, Tom’s doorbell rang again. It was his little friend. This time he rode his bike over, and he was enjoying another warm day in March. He came over to watch a basketball game on TV, as both were Wisconsin Badger fans. Tom did not know why the Lord created the scenario for this miracle to happen for his friend, but the scripture Tom thought of and mentioned to the boy was the parable of the fig tree. 

Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” Matthew 21: 21-22

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.    James 1: 2-6