Call to Me and I will answer you.
The miracles began on Monday June 12th at 5:00 in the afternoon in Boise.
This summer has been extraordinary. Last winter had been very long and very cold. For six plus months I’d been looking forward to gardening , to sunshine and long, lazy days of summer at the lake. In the cool of the morning, I’d take long walks with our dog up the hillside into the woods. I’d spend the afternoons writing or reading summer fiction. I’d even get up earlier to spend more time with the Lord in my secret place. It was going to be a perfect relaxing, stress free summer. Dan had planned a cruise to Alaska in mid August for our 80th birthdays and surprisingly, it grew into a family vacation/celebration which we were excitedly looking forward to.
But God…had other plans for us.
On June 12th while we were in Boise, Dan had a massive cardiac arrest. He’d gotten out of the car to walk the dog in a small park and collapsed. He stopped breathing and had no heartbeat. The details are still very unclear and very mysterious. Simply put, they are miraculous! Someone called 911 and performed initial CPR and had done so very professionally. However, no one could say who that person was or where he/she had gone after the EMT’s arrived.
For God who loves us…
….will never leave us nor forsake us. I know without a doubt that God intervened and sent an angel to that parking to help Dan. A young woman held our dog on his leash and when I walked over to her, I also noticed a silent young man standing on the sidelines. Both tld me they were praying for us . Then they were gone from the scene.
The sight of Dan lifeless on the ground being worked on by the EMT’s for a total of 45 minutes, of him being paddled several times to shock his heart and finally being taken away in an ambulance to St. Luke’s cardiac emergency center seared my soul as nothing else has or ever will. In those Moments of the Unexpected, fear, panic, confusion and waves of nausea umoored me into a void trying to take my husband, best friend and soul mate away from me. Only God could pull us back.
And God did… … saying,
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine! When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. Isaiah 42.1-2
Because I believe His Word, because He has always been faithful to me and to those I love, because Jesus is Lord and I trust Him, because I couldn’t walk through this fire on my own, I immediately asked our family and friends to pray. My friend Dee Ann organized a prayer chain which grew as others heard about Dan’s situation. These hundred or so “warriors” prayed through every step, every new procedure, every step forward or slip backward for the entire month Dan was in the hospital and in rehab. Two months later he is at home with me, progressing daily and we are doing well. He was dead and now he lives. He has his extraordinary testimony to share in the near future.
As for me, I am more than grateful for the medical care Dan got, for the incredible technologies which were available and for the compassionate medical staff at St. Luke’s. Nevertheless I smile, overjoyed that the professional cardiologists and physicians couldn’t quite figure Dan’s Unexpected Moment which ends very differently from what they expected.
I pray that God, the Great Physician heals them as well! If I ever wondered about the reality of healing miracles – (and I admit I have in the past)- I no longer do. God showed Himself to me that He can and does heal. June 12th was the burning bush of the Father inviting me up close and personal. My miracle occurred inside my mind and my heart. I can’t ever forget. I can’t ever stop praising and thanking Him for life restored when the Unexpected Comes.
From The Sheep Pen 