July/August 2019 Visitor Feature: Season's Journey

For Season Cromwell, sharing her journey with authenticity has been a part of her from the beginning.

“I was just a couple weeks sober when I became an Adventist,” Cromwell remembers. “I spoke differently, I couldn’t sit still in a room. I went to the most conservative church in the conference in my area, and people told me, ‘You might want to pick a different one because I’m not sure they can handle your story.’ [My experience] was the complete opposite—and I think it was because I was sharing my story. There were folks who struggled with me because I’d sit down and start clapping [in church]. But praise Jesus, there was a large group who surrounded me—pastor, youth pastor, ladies—and loved me back to life.”

Today Cromwell attends Chesapeake Conference’s New Hope church in Fulton, Md., and is co-host of the television program “Let’s Pray” on the Hope Channel. Although following God has transformed every aspect of her life for the better, she still faces struggles, sorrow and disappointment—and is still determined to be genuine and honest about her life. One part of her journey she’s chosen to share—including on her Facebook and Instagram pages—are her struggles with infertility, miscarriage and her son’s injury during childbirth.

When Cromwell’s son Gideon was born in 2016, he suffered a brachial plexus injury on his left side. From his shoulder to his finger tip, nothing moved. At seven days old, Season and her husband, Chris, had Gideon anointed. That night his thumb twitched. Two surgeries—a nerve graft, and a shoulder repair with a tendon repair—have helped Gideon recover strength and movement.

“He’s doing wonderfully,” Season says. “God continues to amaze us.”

Season has a heavy heart, however, for those who continue to face such challenges in darkness. “A friend of mine runs a brachial plexis support group on the internet. There are people from all over the planet, and they say, ‘No one ever told me why my child’s arm didn’t work.’ And by then it’s too late to take some of the steps to help their child heal. That’s devastating to me. My friend [posts] videos and education on what to do and how to help their children.”

After a difficult experience with infertility, this spring the Cromwells rejoiced to learn that they were expecting another baby, and shared the good news on Season’s Facebook page, while asking for continued prayers. “I’m committed to our community to share our entire journey this second time around,” Season said at the time of the interview for this article. “For three hours after I posted, I wanted to take it down. There are some things I’m sacrificing so others can see. And if this pregnancy, heaven forbid, something should happen, I will post it as well. That’s the point—it’s a messy journey. It doesn’t have a neat bow on the end for everybody.”