April 17, 2020 – Click here to listen
I write this with a heavy heart this morning. My wife of 49 years, Teresa, is in the hospital in serious condition. Yesterday she was fine, and we had our morning coffee and talked for a couple hours as usual and then she took her shower, got dressed, and sat down to put her makeup on. Suddenly she began violently coughing and had trouble breathing. She went and laid down for a moment and I rushed to her side and she said her chest was very tight and was “rattling” when she breathed. She asked me to listen to it and it sounded terrible, so I told her we were going to the emergency room.
When we arrived, they would not allow me to accompany her into the hospital due to Covid19 precautions and she had to go in by herself. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do to leave her alone to face this by herself. At first, we thought she might have the virus, but she didn’t have any fever. Her condition was initially misdiagnosed as asthmatic bronchitis but after further tests it was determined that she had two pulmonary embolisms, (blood clots in the main artery going into her lungs.) Long time readers will remember she had four pulmonary embolisms when she had breast cancer and she survived after a very new type of surgery was used to insert a catheter into the artery from her groin through her heart and into the lungs and then they placed an ultra-sonic device near the clots which broke them up with the combination of blood thinners. The doctor told me if I had arrived at the hospital 20 minutes later, she would have died.
It is a dangerous situation because the clots could break off and go to the brain, heart, or lungs which would be fatal. I cannot visit her, but I have been using Facetime to converse with her. They have been giving her breathing treatments and she can breathe much better now. She knows she will immediately be with the Lord should this ultimately take her life, but we are praying for many more years together. I ask you to pray for her. She is the kindest, most loving, gentle, good-hearted person I’ve ever met and aside from Jesus Christ has been the biggest force in keeping me from sliding back into the abyss. I believe with all my heart that is why the Lord led us to be married so many years ago.
I believe in prayer and have seen it work many times when we both faced most everything Satan could throw at us and I believe God will hear the prayers being offered on her behalf now and will intercede again this time. I have complete faith as does she that God loves her more than either of us can imagine and whatever happens will be done according to His sovereign will. We pray that He will spare her life for a while longer but that of course is His prerogative – His will be done.
Thank you in advance for your prayers. We feel them and we feel God’s comfort and hope and that allows us to get through something like this. God bless you and keep in mind that life is fragile, and we all need to be prepared. Teresa and I both are covered by the precious blood of our Savior Jesus Christ and when our purpose has been fulfilled, we will join Him in our real home in paradise. Praise His Holy name . . .
Okay we know that we are saved but how can we bear the fear about dying?
Perhaps a prayer such as this might help: My heart feels like a thousand knives are running through it. I am weary, spent, and just so sad. Please, help me! Hear my prayers. Hold me and my family up. Give us strength. Be present. Be persistent in your love. Carry us through this heartache. Sustain us. Bring us joy and hope. I pray and have faith that Teresa will survive this, and we will be together again sooner rather than later.
We all will experience death one day, but that doesn’t make it an easy thing to face. We can so easily fear the end of our lives or focus our attention on things of this world instead of the glory to come in heaven, but we as believers can take comfort that God cares about our grief and Jesus understands our pain. God has a specific plan for each and every one of our lives, even if we might wish for a different outcome for ourselves or our loved ones. His plans are perfect, and he desires the very best for each of his beloved children. We can find great peace in the presence of our Lord, even in our grief, our fear, our pain, and if it comes down to it, our final breaths.
Job 14:5
“A man’s days are numbered. You know the number of his months. He cannot live longer than the time You have set.”
Have a safe weekend and go to church or watch it online this Sunday!