"Lost Her Home. Told She Needed Open-Heart Surgery. Then, a Healing." — 250 USA #5: Debra

Meet Debra Stout: Faith-based. Rebel. Former surfer girl.

We've been friends for three-plus years, ever since we kept crossing paths at the Cherry Hill Library. She's the author of Continued Miracles — a book built on other people's testimonies of hope. But she's lived one of her own.

Six years ago, a fire took her home. What followed was a frightening diagnosis and a surgery she was told she needed. She didn't believe it was the end of her story. She looked for healing instead—and found it. When she went back for testing, the doctor found nothing left to fix.

Uplifting people is just who Debra is. People call her when they need encouragement, and she always answers. It's not a season she's in — it's who she's been for a long time.

This time, I got to flip the script. I got to be the one showing up for her, instead of the other way around. It felt as good as I hoped it would.

I asked her a simple question: Tell me something surprising about yourself. Without missing a beat, she said: I used to be a surfer girl.

Then she found out about the Analog Rebel, and she looked at me and said the last thing I expected:

"This may come as a surprise, but I am a rebel too."

I didn't see that coming. Somehow, that's exactly the point.
Before she left, she wrote three words in the journal: "You can do it! Believe."
Coming from anyone, that's a nice sentiment. Coming from Debra — a woman who has spent years being the one everyone else calls for encouragement — it hits different.

Somewhere in these 250, there's a moment meant for you. This one was Debra's.