Psalm 42:5 Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.
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Praise God, for He has done mighty and wonderful things!
But wait…. Why, you might ask am I praising the LORD? It’s a bit of a story….
Each of the last three Aprils, I have been bitten by a disease carrying tick. Each bite led to a time of bitter suffering – physically, emotionally and spiritually. Each time just as I began to feel healed, another bite happened. With the last bite on April 14 this year, I plummeted into a deep valley of doubt and anger at God.
I have been blessed with beautiful women friends who have given me lots of support and prayer. Three weeks ago, my best friend Nyla shared with me her lesson from the time of challenge around the covid quarantine. She told me that she has learned to live one day at a time – truly remarkable given her being a long term planner.
The LORD did something with her wisdom the following day (Tuesday, May 12). He took me to a place of living moment by moment having eyes to see the many, many blessings that are in every moment if we can only open our eyes to them. That gift has stood me in good stead over the past week’s events.
Thursday afternoon (May 14) Ben went out to load 4 – 40 pound bags of product into the back of his truck. He carried the first bag around 40 feet from our barn to his truck. Fortunately, his tailgate was down as he blacked out as he lifted the bag into the truck bed. He slumped over the tailgate (praise God he did not fall to the ground!). He came to himself after a few minutes, and went to sit in the cab of the truck for a while. When he felt a bit recovered, he decided to finish the job and went into the barn to load the other 3 bags. He got two of them into the wheelbarrow, but as he began to lift the last bag, he again passed out. He did not fall to the ground but leaned against the wall and eventually called me (I was inside the house).
When I came out, he looked really bad. His color was all wrong. His breathing was all wrong. We headed north to take him to the hospital. At this point, something really amazing began to happen.
Normally, I handle emergencies pretty well on the outside – but on the inside I can be pretty anxious. From the time I got to Ben all the way through the weekend, I was filled with an incredible peace. I felt like the LORD said, “it’s going to be o.k.”.
We arrived at the E.R., and I was told that I could not stay with Ben because of covid – in fact I was told pretty quickly that I could not wait for any time anywhere inside the building, but must either wait in my car or go somewhere else. I did errands for several hours before Ben called me to update me. He told me that they were going to keep him overnight. After Ben’s call, the E.R. doctor called me and told me that they’d found multiple large blood clots in both of his lungs, as well as one behind his right knee. In addition, his heart was showing signs of stress.
That evening I called out to friends and family for them to pray. Many, many responded and prayed for Ben and for me. Friday was very quiet. The odd thing was the quiet inside my head. Normally, I have a non-stop chatter going on in my brain. I was so, so peaceful – no chatter, just a sense of intense peace and deep spiritual quiet. Ben and I talked several times, and I spoke with Nyla and a few others, but mostly I rested. Friday evening it was decided that Ben was o.k. to be discharged mid-day on Saturday.
When I picked Ben up, he looked marvelous. His color was great. His breathing quiet and normal. Incredibly, he was more alert and mentally quick than he had been in months. He moved with more vitality that he had for a long time.
As part of the protocol, Ben was discharged with one tablet daily of coumadin, as well as a shot of anticoagulant medicine morning and evening. With coumadin, frequent blood testing is required to keep on top of blood levels of the drug – too much and the likelihood of excessive bleeding becomes high; too low, and clots begin to form.
Tuesday (3 days post discharge) we went in to meet with his doctor and to have his blood tested. The pharmacist said as she was taking his blood that she would like to see his “numbers” to be between 2-3. His number was 2.7. She asked him to immediately discontinue the shots, and at least for that evening only to take ½ of the prescribed dose of coumadin.
Ben has continued to feel great and to have good energy and focus. Today (Friday – 6 days post discharge) at his blood draw, his numbers came back at 3.2 and the pharmacist asked him to decrease his coumadin dose (a high number means that his blood is too thin). All in all, Ben’s recovery from this crisis has been nothing short of miraculous!
We are praising the LORD for His grace, His amazing goodness, and for His healing touch upon Ben’s body. We are praising God for faithful friends who actively prayed to Jesus for Him to intervene in both of our lives. Praising God that He is the God Who hears… and Who answers the cries of His children.