Life is full of speed bumps. We do our best to navigate around them but every now and then one rocks your world. Beginning in 2017, we crashed head-on into a mountain of manure. Since that time we have gone through a minefield of physical, emotional and spiritual distress. We’ve been placed in a press and squeezed to our breaking point. We've walked through the valley of the shadow of death and back. We were in the midst of the darkest, most trying time of our life. Our faith was tested. Our resolve was tested. Our will power was tested. It was a fertilizer free-for-all. Everybody, at one time or another is going to face what may seem like a Mt. Everest of problems. We were facing the uphill climb of our lives. Even though many things went sideways for us, it wasn’t all bad. There were good things that happened that we never expected. You look for victories wherever you can. “Extraordinary afflictions are not always the punishment of extraordinary sins, but sometimes the trial of extraordinary graces.” Matthew Henry
The great thing about this life is you can choose to believe whatever you want. I believe I’ll have another cookie thank you very much. My wife and I believe in God. Crazy as you think this may sound, we also believe that the Bible is still very much relevant. Therefore we believe in divine intervention. We believe in heaven and hell. We live knowing heaven is far greater than anything this world has to offer. We believe that God is infinitely more powerful than we can imagine. We believe God created us, and all that exists. We also know that we all have a choice what to believe. Things that others might say are luck or chance or karma we choose to see as an act of God. Those are the moments we feel the need to recognize. We believe God is performing countless miracles in our lives but, most of the time they go unnoticed, or we choose to discredit His achievements. One of our faults as humans is we like to take credit for everything good and blame God for everything we perceive as bad. Even though our former church at the time, failed us in remarkable fashion, we never lost our faith. It is our personal relationship with Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ that matters more than where we worship. God supplied us with what we needed time and again.
We believe that during this past year, on numerous occasions, God intervened on our behalf.
Too much patience and I’m afraid I may spontaneously combust. Throughout the past year and a half, I had to remind myself of these two Bible passages, “Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10 and “Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.” Psalm 27:14. If you expect a miracle to be a significant, earth shattering event where the skies open up and a chorus of angels descend in front of you playing harps and ringing bells it might be time to readjust your expectations. God can work in the most subtle manner. We just need to slow down and read the signs. I was in the hospital waiting to have a delicate procedure done. Brenda and I were tired, apprehensive, and on edge. Someone from the lab came to draw some blood. She had a pleasant bedside manner. We began to converse. Something about her was different. She listened to our dilemma. Soon she asked if she could pray with us as she held our hands. She offered her prayer, wished us well and was on her way. It was a touching moment that made a big impact. Three months later, I had to return to the same hospital for a special test to determine if I need an additional surgery. I was taken to an unfamiliar area and all hooked up and waiting on my gurney. All at once you know who appears. She was there for another patient. She instantly recognized me and came over to greet me. She asked what I was there for. She held my hand and offered a wonderful prayer. God used her as a source of great comfort and encouragement. I thanked her and told her how nice it was to see her. She informed me that she had never been to that area of the hospital. It was truly divine intervention at its best.
We feel truly blessed that because of our faith, we can recognize God’s handiwork. We believe that miracles happen all the time and that God takes an active role in our lives. We don’t view him like some retiree who created the earth, then moved to Boca Raton and sits around drinking Daiquiris all day. Not that I would blame him but I think He cares far too much for us just to abandon us for a life of leisure. We just need to get out of the way and stop telling Him how to do His job. He is God after all and we aren’t. As close as my wife and I are, she couldn’t be with me all the time. We were separated, but not alone. When things were at their darkest, everything went away. I didn’t think about my things. I wasn’t thinking about any future plans or past events. I wasn’t thinking about friends or even family. I was focused on talking to my God. It was do or die time.
If God had not intervened, we are quite certain that I wouldn’t be here today. We are also certain that without the Lord’s help, I would not have survived with as many of my faculties as I did. It is our belief that things happened the way they did, when they did, because God took an active role in our lives. We want to give credit where credit is due. We are acutely aware of what can go wrong. But we need to recognize when things go right and why. We will be forever grateful to all my surgeons and health care professionals. They saved my life and are helping me rehabilitate. Ultimately however, we believe they wouldn’t have been able to do what they did without God’s help.
I struggled for some time on this blog. I kept wanting to detail all the issues we faced. I finally had to write myself a reminder - focus on God’s work, not your problems. The human tendency is to think just of ourselves, our problems. Life’s problems can seem insurmountable at times. Our’s sure did. Each situation is unique in its own way. What we experienced was new to us, but certainly not unprecedented. Plenty of other people have had to deal with far worse, for much longer periods of time, with far less positive of an outcome. Our hearts ache for them. I’ve learned that when problems strike, it gives us an opportunity to learn a little bit of what others have had to deal with. When you go through trauma the tendency is to feel alone because no one else quite understands exactly what it is you’re going through. Because of our faith in God, we knew we were never completely alone. Yes we believe in miracles. Yes we believe in God. Believe it or not, it can make a hell of a difference.
The great thing about this life is you can choose to believe whatever you want. I believe I’ll have another cookie thank you very much. My wife and I believe in God. Crazy as you think this may sound, we also believe that the Bible is still very much relevant. Therefore we believe in divine intervention. We believe in heaven and hell. We live knowing heaven is far greater than anything this world has to offer. We believe that God is infinitely more powerful than we can imagine. We believe God created us, and all that exists. We also know that we all have a choice what to believe. Things that others might say are luck or chance or karma we choose to see as an act of God. Those are the moments we feel the need to recognize. We believe God is performing countless miracles in our lives but, most of the time they go unnoticed, or we choose to discredit His achievements. One of our faults as humans is we like to take credit for everything good and blame God for everything we perceive as bad. Even though our former church at the time, failed us in remarkable fashion, we never lost our faith. It is our personal relationship with Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ that matters more than where we worship. God supplied us with what we needed time and again.
We believe that during this past year, on numerous occasions, God intervened on our behalf.
- It had to be divine intervention when out of the blue, a local realtor presented us with a unique opportunity. Even though at the time we weren’t thinking of moving. Shortly thereafter, we were able to move into our single story home right before I began to have severe vertigo. I couldn’t handle the elevation change of sitting up in bed. There was no way I would have been able to navigate the stairs in the two story home we had. It’s hard to put into words how much of a miracle this truly was.
- When we were referred to the top ranked brain surgeon at UCI who was willing and able to do the surgery, we chose to believe that God played a part.
- For weeks, I would get violently ill if I so much as looked the wrong way. I had to stare at a single spot on the wall all day long or I would get sick. I couldn’t read or watch tv. (They were probably all my wife’s shows anyway and that would have made me more ill). I would get dizzy if i closed my eyes to try to sleep. I was living a catch 22. My TN was worse because I wasn’t getting the rest I needed. I also wasn’t able to keep the proper amount of meds in my system due to getting sick constantly. The TN was also causing me to get dizzy. When you get an electrical jolt in your face, it can snap your neck backward and double you over in pain. Easily, the kind of movement that can cause a person to take a trip to Commode Island via the good ship Vertigo. People were forced to stand directly in front of me to make eye contact when talking. Everyone around me was afraid to move. The slightest movement would send me reeling. As soon as i got dizzy, i would get sick. I lost 40 pounds in a two week period. I was blowing Weight Watchers out of the water. I couldn't make it to the local emergency room just down the street without getting terribly sick. So how was I able to ride 80 miles to get to UCI Medical Center for an MRI and surgery without getting dizzy and sick unless God was lending a helping hand.
- Making it through brain surgery successfully, while retaining the majority of brain functions with little damage, was truly an act of God. Making it through brain surgery successfully, while retaining the majority of brain functions with little damage. Making it through brain surgery successfully…
- God was protecting me from choking when I had to learn to chew and swallow again.
- God helped me regain my voice and vision.
- It was God’s perfect timing on display when I made it through the critical phase of the brain surgery recovery before having a major blood clot develop six months later due to a complication from a broken collar bone which happened decades prior.
- And it was divine intervention when a top ranked vascular surgeon who specialized in thoracic outlet syndrome, happened to be in the ER and diagnosed the cause of the blood clot and helped save my life. The other ER doctors didn’t see the underlying problem and were just going to send me home. That would have been unfortunate.
Too much patience and I’m afraid I may spontaneously combust. Throughout the past year and a half, I had to remind myself of these two Bible passages, “Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10 and “Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.” Psalm 27:14. If you expect a miracle to be a significant, earth shattering event where the skies open up and a chorus of angels descend in front of you playing harps and ringing bells it might be time to readjust your expectations. God can work in the most subtle manner. We just need to slow down and read the signs. I was in the hospital waiting to have a delicate procedure done. Brenda and I were tired, apprehensive, and on edge. Someone from the lab came to draw some blood. She had a pleasant bedside manner. We began to converse. Something about her was different. She listened to our dilemma. Soon she asked if she could pray with us as she held our hands. She offered her prayer, wished us well and was on her way. It was a touching moment that made a big impact. Three months later, I had to return to the same hospital for a special test to determine if I need an additional surgery. I was taken to an unfamiliar area and all hooked up and waiting on my gurney. All at once you know who appears. She was there for another patient. She instantly recognized me and came over to greet me. She asked what I was there for. She held my hand and offered a wonderful prayer. God used her as a source of great comfort and encouragement. I thanked her and told her how nice it was to see her. She informed me that she had never been to that area of the hospital. It was truly divine intervention at its best.
We feel truly blessed that because of our faith, we can recognize God’s handiwork. We believe that miracles happen all the time and that God takes an active role in our lives. We don’t view him like some retiree who created the earth, then moved to Boca Raton and sits around drinking Daiquiris all day. Not that I would blame him but I think He cares far too much for us just to abandon us for a life of leisure. We just need to get out of the way and stop telling Him how to do His job. He is God after all and we aren’t. As close as my wife and I are, she couldn’t be with me all the time. We were separated, but not alone. When things were at their darkest, everything went away. I didn’t think about my things. I wasn’t thinking about any future plans or past events. I wasn’t thinking about friends or even family. I was focused on talking to my God. It was do or die time.
If God had not intervened, we are quite certain that I wouldn’t be here today. We are also certain that without the Lord’s help, I would not have survived with as many of my faculties as I did. It is our belief that things happened the way they did, when they did, because God took an active role in our lives. We want to give credit where credit is due. We are acutely aware of what can go wrong. But we need to recognize when things go right and why. We will be forever grateful to all my surgeons and health care professionals. They saved my life and are helping me rehabilitate. Ultimately however, we believe they wouldn’t have been able to do what they did without God’s help.
I struggled for some time on this blog. I kept wanting to detail all the issues we faced. I finally had to write myself a reminder - focus on God’s work, not your problems. The human tendency is to think just of ourselves, our problems. Life’s problems can seem insurmountable at times. Our’s sure did. Each situation is unique in its own way. What we experienced was new to us, but certainly not unprecedented. Plenty of other people have had to deal with far worse, for much longer periods of time, with far less positive of an outcome. Our hearts ache for them. I’ve learned that when problems strike, it gives us an opportunity to learn a little bit of what others have had to deal with. When you go through trauma the tendency is to feel alone because no one else quite understands exactly what it is you’re going through. Because of our faith in God, we knew we were never completely alone. Yes we believe in miracles. Yes we believe in God. Believe it or not, it can make a hell of a difference.
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