Villager Mary Kay McCracken shed tears of joy after her son, Jeff McCracken, took the final steps of his Lazarus Walk on New Year’s Eve.
As the sun was setting, he walked into the parking lot at Hope Lutheran Church and was greeted by a handful of well-wishers, clapping and cheering his arrival.
McCracken, the son of Villagers Tom and Mary Kay McCracken, was all-but written off earlier this year. His heavy drinking landed him in hospice with only weeks to live.
Villages-News.com correspondent Angela Love first wrote about McCracken’s miraculous recovery and his Lazarus Walk earlier this year. You can read about it HERE
Mary Kay McCracken said her son’s story has prompted other Villagers, struggling with their own children’s addiction issues, to approach her.
“I encourage them not to give up. I encourage them to pray,” she said.
Starting off in a diminished state, Jeff McCracken found hope every day in his walks on the golf cart path from New Covenant United Methodist Church to Hope Lutheran.
“The first day I started it was hot. And then it rained,” McCracken said.
But after some of those rainy days, he spotted rainbows.
With each day and each step, McCracken grew stronger in body, mind and spirit.
Hope Lutheran Church member Bill Anderson became McCracken’s biggest champion, cheering him on at every turn.
A couple who had shared the golf cart path with McCracken day after day, finally stopped him to inquire about his mission. McCracken was thrilled to share his story.
And House of Hope, the drug recovery program based in Wildwood, proved to be a pillar of strength in McCracken’s remarkable recovery.
“God is not dead, I’m living proof,” McCracken said.
He is now working on a series of animated books, flash cards, puzzles, coloring books, apparel, plush toys, device downloads and videos designed to educate youngsters in the virtues of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. You can learn more at http://www.fruitfarmofthespirit.com/
