#WCW Jamie Ligon

Jamie?Ligon?is a mother of 4 children (8-year-old girl, 6-year-old boy, and 4-year-old twin girls).?That is right!!!,?she had a 2- and 4-year-old when she had infant twin girls.?Jamie is a physical therapist and has found her purpose of helping others.?Jamie is joyful, and?handles the chaos of?family,?work?and?life?with such grace.?She attributes this to her faith.?She knows that she could not get by without God.???

Jamie grew up in Wisconsin.?She is the youngest of 6.?Jamie?was born 7 years after her youngest sibling.?Although Jamie has 5 siblings, growing up she often felt like an only child.?Her siblings were much older.????

?God Story #1:?Jamie’s mother had a miscarriage 7 years after her youngest sibling.?One month later her mother was pregnant again with Jamie.?Her parents did not have plans to have any more children.?They thought they were finished at 5?but God had a different plan.???

?Jamie grew up an athlete.?She competed in track and?field,?and she was undefeated in high school.??Her father was her coach throughout high?school?and they won?4 state?championships.?Her mother was her biggest cheer leader.??She was recruited by many colleges, including University of Tennessee.?Jamie visited the campus and felt that UT was where she wanted to go to college.?This was unlike?all?her siblings who all attended college in Wisconsin.???

?God Story?#2:?Jamie began investigating different denominations in college.?Going to college in the South, was different in that as soon as she met someone new, they would ask, where do you go to church??Jamie went to many different churches expecting to?find reasons for not continuing her Catholic faith.?Through the investigations she became stronger in her Catholic faith.?Jamie attributes her renewed Catholic faith to the priest of the Campus Catholic Church.??

?God Story #3:?Jamie met her future husband in speech class.?It was Spring of 2003, Jamie’s sophomore year and David’s Freshman year. They were both student?athletes.?David played football.?Dr. Bob was their speech class professor. He wore an eye patch over one eye.?In speech class the topic was dating.?Jamie referred to her siblings and how they all had things in common with their spouses.?Dr.?Bob said why don’t you and?Ligon?date since you are both athletes.?That is where is all started.??Dr. Bob could see more with his one eye than many people.?They emailed all summer and started dating.?Jamie suspected that David was Catholic as he capitalized Church in his emails.?They went on their first date, and he said he had church in the morning with his parents who were in town.?Jamie went to 9am mass on campus and saw him with his parents.?She knew he was the one.?They dated from that point on.???

?God Story #4:?Jamie began competing in Pole Vaulting at UT.?She had never competed in pole vaulting before, but she was a natural athlete and doing very well.?In 2004 she was practicing on a Thursday which was not a normal practice day.?During that practice she had an awkward landing that injured her neck.?She could not feel her arm and she lost the grip in her left hand.??The doctor recommended surgery right away.?She asked if the surgery could be delayed so her parents could come.?Her surgery was scheduled for two weeks later.?Jamie’s parents flew to Florida to visit her Mother’s Mother.?Then they drove up to Knoxville for the surgery.?They?arrived in Knoxville on?Valentine’s Day, Jamie’s grandmother died the next day- the day before Jamie’s surgery.??Had they not gone to see her due to Jamie’s surgery, her mother would not have gotten precious time with her mother.??Jamie grew up in a Catholic family and always had faith but through these events she could?see that God was in control.?She grew in her faith.???

God Story #5:?Jamie could no longer compete after the surgery.?She had a ruptured disk, disk bulge, and three?vertebrae that were fused together.?To keep her scholarship, Jamie had to complete service hours?within the athletic department?at UT.?Jamie started helping with rehabilitating athletes from injuries in the training room. This is where Jamie was treated by Dr. Chris?Hosenfeld, the Lady Vol Chiropractor.?She asked Dr. Chris if she could work for him when he was treating her injury.?He said yes without even taking a resume or completing a background check!?Jamie is working for Dr. Chris today.??She initially worked as a chiropractic therapy assistant, and personal trainer before attending physical therapy school in?Chattanooga.??Jamie became a physical therapist and?has?a passion for helping her patients.??Her injury led her to a meaningful and purposeful career.???

Jamie and David had recently started dating and he supported her through her recovery from surgery.?It was also an emotional time as Jamie grieved giving up being an athlete and seeking her purpose?outside of competing.???

?David was not chosen for?the?NFL draft.?He kept getting calls that he would be picked up the next season.??He felt a sense of dread around playing football professionally and was honestly relieved at not getting drafted.??Jamie supported David’s transition from playing football.???

Jamie and David were married in 2008.???

?God Story?#6:?Jamie attended Grad school in Chattanooga.??She was one of 30 applicants chosen out of a pool of?200 applicants.?She graduated in 2012.?She was nominated as?Outstanding Doctorate Student by her professors because of her excellent grades in addition to service as a volunteer coach for Notre Dame high school track program. Throughout grad school David lived in Knoxville and began his career in banking.?Jamie would come to Knoxville on the weekends.???

?God Story?#7:?During Jamie’s second year of grad school, her father was diagnosed with Leukemia.??The doctors told him to prepare to live 3-4 more years.?He survived 8 years.?He was able to hold the twins at 6 weeks old.?Jamie spent time with her family before he died.?After her twins were born, she visited Wisconsin so he could meet them.??Her father died on her brother’s birthday.???

?In?2014 Jamie gave birth to her daughter, two years later her son, and two years later her twin daughters.??When her son was 6 months old, she had back surgery to remove a bulging disk that caused leg numbness and muscle atrophy.?This was her second spine surgery. Imagine being told "no bending or lifting" with a baby crawling around!?Jamie’s mother helped a lot.?She slept on the nursery floor after her twins were born to help Jamie.???

?Jamie can?sense God is speaking to her in the way she parents her children.?If her two-year-old daughter wanted a knife she would not give it to her?because she could get hurt.?She would give her a spoon to eat her oatmeal.?We often ask God for things and do not understand why?our prayers are not answered in that moment, but God can see more and knows the bigger plan.?We have to have faith in God’s plan for our lives.???