When the woman with an issue of blood was a child, she did not have that issue of blood. She was born in Capernaum, a small town nestled on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee. She had a deep brown complexion, free from any blemish, and thick dark hair hanging down her back in loose curls, which complimented her dark eyes. She was the eldest of four children and, as the first born, was favored by her parents. She lived with her family in a small stone and mud house. The house was situated five miles west of the center of town on a secluded plot of land and only a few hundred yards from the lake shore.

When the girl reached the age of six, her mother began teaching her the basics of cooking and how to wash and mend clothes. Everyday, the girl would lead her brother, Caleb, and two sisters through knee-high grass to the lake shore to wash clothes and fill their clay jars with water to take back home. While waiting for their clothes to dry, they would play bare-skinned in the water, making up games and seeing who could swim furthest into the lake.

By the age of ten, the girl's father was teaching her to fish. He took her and Caleb, who was nine, to the shore to better their technique in casting and spearing. He sometimes left them there, making them responsible for bringing dinner back home. This allowed the girl and her brother to grow close. They would discuss what they imagined to be on the most southern shore and whether the sun would one day dry out the entire lake, allowing them to collect all the fish they would ever need.

Every Sabbath, the girl traveled to town with her family to enter the temple and pray. It took them nearly three hours to walk down the chalky rock road, but this was the girl's favorite day of the week. She enjoyed walking the dusty path, kicking rocks back and forth with Caleb and exploring what every tree and ditch had to offer. When they reached town, she and Caleb would join the other children in their games. They would swordfight with long narrow sticks or chase each other around the well that sat in the middle of the town square. On days he appeared, they often observed the lone man who stood in the shadows between the buildings. They noticed how he never mixed with the rest of the people and they listened when their parents told them to not go near him. The children did not know his name, but they called him the Leper, which was the word they overheard adults use when passing by the man.

When it was time to enter the temple, the girl and her family went in one at a time and the men and women had to enter through different doors. The girl liked being in the temple. When it was her turn to enter, she always stared in awe at the stone flooring and white walls that rose to a ceiling high above her head: a contrast from the packed-mud floors, brown walls, and low ceiling of her home. Her parents had taught her to pray at an early age. The girl knelt on the cushion pad in front of the altar and whispered her prayer. It was different each time, but she always thanked God for her family.
When the girl reached the age of thirteen, her mother told her she was now a woman. The girl began doing all the chores her mother had originally done'all the cooking, cleaning, working in their small garden, carrying milk from their cow to sell in town, trading her labor for fabric to make new clothes. Her mother only watched and instructed, letting the girl learn from her mistakes. Even though she was kept busy, the girl always made time to play with her brother and sisters in the lake. The girl no longer went fishing with Caleb everyday, but they spent time together was spent when he returned with fish that needed to be cleaned. They would each get a knife from the house and scrape down the body of the fish, causing scales to fly in to the air and settle back down on their hands. Caleb would pretend that he was bitten by one of the fish and was now growing scales. He would chase his sister until she let him catch her and they would laugh and wrestle before taking the fish in to be cooked.

When the girl reached sixteen, a man named Seth came to her father offering a cow and two fattened pigs in exchange for the girl as his wife. Her father agreed and they arranged for the ceremony to take place at the season's end. The girl knew nothing of love other than what she felt for her family so the thought of protesting the arranged marriage never crossed her mind. The girl, however, was saddened at the thought of leaving her parents' house and found herself crying as the day to leave approached. The night before she was to leave was especially hard for the girl.

'No tears,'� her mother said. 'You will be right in town. We will see you every week when we come for prayer.'�

The girl put her head in her mother's lap and the woman softly rubbed her hand over the girl's hair. Caleb entered and stood in the doorway watching the two women.
'Will you never come back?'� he asked. The girl looked up at her brother, gave a faint smile and wiped away her tears. She sat up from her mother's lap and extended her arms.

'No, I will not come back,'� she responded. Caleb walked to the girl and placed himself between her outstretched arms. He knelt and buried his face in the curls of her hair and the girl wrapped her arms tightly around him. 'No tears,'� she said, using her mother's words. 'I'll be in town and you will visit every week when you come for prayer.'�

The next morning the girl married Seth and she moved to his house, which he shared with his elderly mother and younger sister, who was close to the girl's age. Life at the new house proved to be enjoyable for the girl. She enjoyed having the real responsibility of cooking and cleaning for her husband, who was stern but mild-tempered, and her in-laws, who were both kind and gentle women. Seth was just as happy and was pleased that his selection for a wife was proving to be a beneficial one. Within the first few months, the girl gained many friendships with the women in town and would often spend several hours with them at the market, talking and picking over fruit from the vendors. The girl would see her family every week and it made her mother and father happy to always see a smile on their daughter's face. She introduce her family to all the people she had grown to know and took them to places in the town they had never been. The girl always bought something special for Caleb while in the market and told him to keep it a secret from their parents, who would have made him give it back. The girl would cook them dinner in the evening before seeing them off on their journey home. It was hard saying goodbye for the first few weeks and the girl would prolong her hugs and watch them walk down the road until they were out of sight. It eventually got easier, but the girl would still miss them when they were gone. Even though she was able to see them every week, she still missed going to the shore and playing with Caleb and her sisters. The well where everyone got their water was in the middle of town, which gave her no reason to visit the lake, as her husband did all the fishing.

In their third year of marriage, the girl was with child, but in her fourth month of pregnancy, she lost the child. It happened during the night and the girl and her husband woke to find blood in the sheets. He was angry, for blood outside of the body was unclean and any person who touched the blood was considered unclean for an entire day. The person who produced the blood was considered unclean until seven days after the bleeding stopped. The girl apologized to Seth and went to wash herself of the blood, but she did not stop bleeding. It was lighter on some days than on others, but every day there was blood. Seth refused to let her lie in bed with him, making her stay in the room at the back of the courtyard that was used for storing pots. He did not go to the room to see her and forbid his sister and mother from interacting with the girl unless it was to give her food. He did not allow the girl to leave the house, and made his sister take on her chores. On the Sabbath, the girl's family came to visit as usual, but Seth explained the girl's condition and would not allow them to see her. They were not allowed to see her the following week or the weeks after and finally Seth demanded that they not return until he sent word. The following weeks when the girl's family came to town for prayer, they did not stop by Seth's house on their way home.

The girl was forced to live in seclusion for nearly two months before her husband came to see about her.

'Do you still bleed?'� he asked from the doorway of the small storage room. He had removed all the pots that were held there and the room was bare except for a blanket and his wife's small frame curled into a ball in the back corner of the room. She was holding her hands together and whispering a prayer. If he had seen this person anywhere besides his own house, he would not have recognized her as his wife. She was thin. Her deep brown complexion had faded away, leaving her skin a pasty white color and her thick black hair was thinning and patches of it lay scattered across the room.
The girl did not answer. She only looked up at her husband with eyes that had grown even darker and then lowered her head.

'You worthless woman,'� he said in a low voice. He walked across the room and grabbed her by the arm. He was shocked to feel how wet and cold her skin was under his hand. 'You are dead,'� he said, squeezing her other arm and finding it just as cold. 'You are dead to me! You will not stay here any longer!'� He threw her out of the room and demanding that she return to her father's house. He did not allow her to take any of her belongings with her. He pushed her out the front door and told her to never come back.

It was early morning and it took the girl the entire day to walk the distance back to her home near the shore. She was weak and each step sent her heart racing. She made frequent stops to rest and even collapsed from the heat, but none of the people who passed by on the road would help. They knew of her from gossip in town and none would dare touch an unclean person. When she arrived at the house, her mother was outside in the garden and her brother and father were coming back from fishing. They all stopped what they were doing to watch her stumble across the yard. She looked nothing like the daughter and sister they remembered. The girl's mother and father stood their ground and Caleb was the only one who came out to meet her. He walked toward her with outstretched arms and when he reached her, she collapsed in his arms and cried. They all knew her situation. Seth had sent word a few days before stating that he could not keep her as his wife.

Caleb scooped up the girl and carried her toward the house.

'Caleb, what are you doing?'� his mother questioned. 'You know we cannot take her in. Why have you even touched her?'�

The woman could not stop the words from coming out of her mouth. She wanted nothing more than to hold her daughter and nurse her back to health, but she was too deeply rooted in the customs. Her daughter was unclean and could not enter into their house. The girl's father knew of a deserted house on the outskirts of town where they could put her until her condition changed. The girl was in shock as her brother carried her back down the road she had just traveled.

The house they took her to consisted of one square room and only enough space for a pallet, which the girl's father had already prepared, and a small table. Caleb placed her on the pallet while her father began digging a hole in the floor for a fire. When he was finished with the hole, the father went out to gather sticks for the fire.

'Caleb,'� the girl whispered. 'Do not leave me here alone. I have been alone for too long.'� Tears escaped from the corners of her eyes and rolled down the side of her face. Caleb sat on the floor beside her and leaned over to kiss her forehead and used his thumb to wipe away her tears.

'No tears,'� he whispered. 'I will come see you everyday. I will take care of you.'�

'But mother and papa will never allow it.'� It took a lot of effort for her to speak and her words were slow coming out.

'They will not know that I come. So no more tears. No more tears.'� He kissed her one last time before he heard his father's footsteps outside. He stood up and walked to the other side of the room before his father entered to make the fire. After he started the fire, they left the house without saying a single word to her or to each other. The silence hung in the room as the girl listened to their footsteps get further and further away.
She stayed in the house for twelve years. Over the years, Caleb kept his promise and visited everyday. He usually came at night after everyone was asleep and would bring food and fresh water. He would sit with her the entire night, telling the girl news from home'how her sisters were getting tall and becoming just as beautiful as she was. During the day, Caleb would sometimes send different physicians to see the girl. She often questioned how he managed to pay all of them, but he would always tell her not to trouble herself with such thoughts. Many of the physicians, however, offered no help to her condition and, at times, made things worse. One physician gave her a strong liquid to drink everyday, which caused her to bleed heavier than usual. Another one had a technique of making blood flow from a different place, a place that would eventually clot, in order to stop the bleeding. He cut and punctured holes all over her body, but she only lost more blood than she needed. That physician almost killed her.

'God is keeping you alive,'� Caleb would say whenever her condition worsened and she seemed near death.

'If He wants me alive, why does he not simply heal me?'�

'There is not point in questioning the ways of God. Keep your faith. Keep praying.'�

Over the course of the years, she requested that Caleb stop calling on the physicians. She had simply grown accustomed to her condition. She found strength in praying and was able to force herself to do small things like sweep or gathering sticks for the fire. Caleb continued visiting and the girl would often comment on how tall and handsome he was becoming.

'You should marry,'� the girl would say.

'I will marry when the time is right, but now I have important things to tend to,'� he would respond, kissing her on the forehead. But when he saw this answer made the girl sad, he would continue. 'Our parents are getting old and someone must keep that house going.'� The girl would give a smile, but knew that she was holding her brother back from searching for a wife.

On her good days, she traveled with Caleb to town, but stayed behind to lurk in the alleys as he continued on to the temple. The people in the town would not allow her to walk among them.

'Say a prayer for me,'� she always told him.

She stayed in the shadows of the buildings and a group of children came to stand in front of her at a far distance. They pointed at her and tilted their heads quizzically and she remembered being in their same position when she was a child, wondering about the man they called the Leper who never came out of the alleys.

On one of these visits to town, she heard two women talking about a prophet who was doing miracles all across the land. He was a man from Nazareth. The girl could only dream of what miracle he could perform for her. She talked with Caleb about this man.

'Yes, I have heard of this man. He has done amazing things. They say He is the son of God,'� he informed her.

'Then I will pray that He comes to town and heal me.'�
Caleb gave a sigh.

'I have heard that he can make the blind see and the lame walk, but those people are not considered unclean. If he ever came, do you think he would touch you?'�

The girl thought on this for a moment. 'No. He would not touch me.'� There was silence for a moment. 'But what if I touched Him? If He has healing power, just one touch would cure me. Would it not?'� She looked up at her brother with her dark eyes and he could see the desperation. He could not bear to steal her hope.

'Yes. One touch would heal you.'�
Soon after, on one particular visit to town, Caleb and the girl entered to find much excitement among the people. Everyone was closing their shops, leaving their buckets by the well and running to the shore. Caleb and the girl followed behind. When they got the shore they saw a large crowd gathered around a man who had just stepped from his boat.

'It is Him,'� the girl said. 'The man who performs miracles! Come! Take me to Him.'� The girl grabbed on to Caleb for support as they walked down the slight slope to the shore.

'Look at this crowd,'� he said. 'There is no way for us to make it through.

The girl looked at the growing crowd. There were at least sixty people gathered around this man. He stayed by the shore and did not seem to mind as they all reached out and touched Him. The girl saw all the hands on this man and thought that He could not possibly notice if she touched him. She thought that if she could only touch the hem of His garment, she would be healed.

Soon, a man came running down to shore, pushed his way through the crowd and threw himself at the feet of the prophet.

'My little daughter is at the point of death,'� the man cried. 'Please come and lay Your hands on her, so that she will get well and live.'�

With this, the prophet lifted the man and followed him toward his house. The crowd followed close behind the man, still reaching their hands out to Him.

'Caleb, He is leaving,'� the girl cried. She pulled away from her brother and made an attempt to run after the crowd. This took all of her energy and she quickly found herself collapsed on the ground. Caleb rushed to her, but she was determined not to quit. 'I just need to touch the hem of His garment,'� she said and got to her feet again.

The crowd was moving further away and the girl found herself gasping for air as she made another attempt to run. Caleb could not stand back and watch her struggle. He picked her up over his shoulder and ran her toward the crowd. With his free hand he pushed several people out of the way and put the girl down in the middle of the crowd. The people were too focused on the prophet to notice the girl in their midst. The girl used all her strength to push past one last person, causing her to fall again. But she was close enough to the prophet to be able to reach out and let her fingertips brush the end of his cloak.

Immediately, the flow of her blood was dried up. As the crowd stepped over her, she began to feel in her body that she was healed. Caleb came to pick her up from the ground and immediately noticed that her skin was warmer. He smiled and she smiled back, but their smiles stopped when they heard the voice of the prophet.

'Who touched My garments?'� The prophet asked.

'You see the crowd pressing in on You,'� said a man next to the prophet. 'And yet you ask, 'Who touched Me?''�

'Someone did touch me, for I was aware that power had gone out of Me.'� The prophet looked over the crowd until His eyes met those of the girl.

She trembled with fear as she realized He knew that she had taken something from Him. They stood there for a moment, staring at each other. She felt His eyes piercing inside of her and being full of guilt, she threw herself at His feet and admitted to touching Him. The girl apologized and explained her condition, but before she was able to finish, the prophet spoke softly to her.

'Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace and be healed.'� He laid one hand on her head before turning away to continue his walk.

The girl stood there, still trembling, until Caleb put his hand on her shoulder. She turned to face him and he could already see the color begin to come back to her.
'I have been healed. I am healed. Caleb, I am healed,'� she kept saying with, tears falling from her eyes. Caleb did not wipe them away. He let them flow and pressed his lips to her forehead.

'Come home with me,'� he said with a smile. 'Everyone will be happy to see you.'� He grabbed her hand and they walked away from the shore, back through town, and down the long chalky road towards home. Along the way, the passed by the road that led to the house she had stayed in for the past twelve years. The girl did not turn her head to look down that road.

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