Praise be Jesus Christ, now and forever! Praise be His Holy and Powerful Name! Praise be the One Who Comes in the Name of the Lord! Praise the Alpha and Omega! Praise Him! All glory and honor is His now and forever! He is all good. He is all powerful. He is all!
Thank You Lord for all Thy benefits! Thank You Lord for Your Love, Care, and especially Your Discipline. Thank You Lord for the trials and times of practicing our virtues. Thank You Lord for the joys and sufferings. Thank You for the Breath of Life!
I am so sorry for the times I fail to acknowledge Thy benefits. I am shortsighted and forgetful. I am sorry, Lord, for the times I have rejected Your Discipline. I am comfort seeking and lazy. I am sorry, Lord, for the times I refused to practice virtue and have given in to temptation. I am self-centered and prideful. I am sorry, Lord, for the times I have not thanked You in joy and suffering. I am sorry, Lord.
Miracles abound, and I can only imagine how much more there is to this story, because I can only witness what I can witness, and I can only share what I know as of now. The entire story is not my own, and it is still being written. I will try my best to share what I can as clearly as possible, but because I am so closely involved and the story is still emerging, you will have to be forgiving. Come Holy Spirit and tell Your story.
Our family has seen so many miracles lately. Miracles of healing, miracles of community gathering, miracles of witnessing to a “system” that is known to replace faith with medicine. Here is an abbreviated backstory for you to better get a full picture. Late September of this year, hubby began experiencing some pretty scary issues that caused him to prayerfully consider sinus surgery. In late October 2021, he had the surgery after preparing both spiritually and physically. Recovery began fine, but then the stints came out. This coincided with us “catching the plague” as a dear priest put it. This complicated things to say the very least. So many in our community had been through this with their own families already that we were beyond blessed to have been prepared and advised with much practical and spiritual help. The difference here was surgery recovery for hubby.
Most of us had mild or very short-lived symptoms, with the youngest having nearly none. Hubby, however, was not well already. Removal of the stints coincided with fever and complications and “the plague”. Despite being prepared and being supervised by physicians who were open to any and every type of treatment every step of the way, his symptoms quickly turned into respiratory issues. God has His ways of providing through it all. Beyond blessed by a family who just went through something eerily very similar, we were able to have him on oxygen support at home until his levels could not be sustained.
Do you see how God goes before us? How He prepares us for what’s to come, even when we don’t or can’t see it? It’s amazing to witness, even if it is a limited view. But that’s not all folks. God was just beginning to show off.
The drive to the ER is a blur for me, but I can tell you that God was with us. My most vivid memory of the drive was hubby saying, “It’s gonna be OK.” The sound of his voice will forever be burned in my memory, not for what he said but how he said it. God’s peace beyond understanding was there – palpable and undeniable.
So many thoughts were running through my mind as we neared, knowing that I likely would not be allowed to be with him once we entered. God had placed me in this type of situation beforehand. I had been trained and prepared for this type of separation, but that didn’t make it easy. This particular ER was a stand-alone, as directed by our physician, small and unbusy, but about to be the site of a miracle.
Out of the blue, but not for God, a priest texted me while I was in the parking lot waiting for word of hubby’s condition and the next step. He had been told our family was ill and wanted to know if he could anoint hubby. I quickly updated him and told him which ER we were located. I called the front desk and asked about their clergy policy. Not only could Father come, but I could accompany him during the Sacrament! Father could not come right away but would let me know when he was available. By the time Father was available, Roddy was still at the ER awaiting transfer to a hospital. Father arrived and he and I proceeded to enter. The Sacrament of the Anointing of Sick was administered as well as some of the best spiritual advice hubby could have received. Father left the room, and I was able to remain with hubby for a bit longer.
Do you see how God goes before us? How He prepares us for what’s to come, even when we don’t or can’t see it? It’s amazing to witness, even if it is a limited view. But that’s not all folks.
His transfer seemed to happen so quickly after that. The ER didn’t even have time to inform me of where he was going until after I saw them load him in the ambulance and drive away. Again, God had trained me for this several years ago, but the training did not make it easy to watch and be uninformed. How God comforts me, though. My dear friend was on the phone with me and on her way to bring me nourishment while I waited. This was a grace for me. Something as simple as a phone call and bag of Chick-fi-la was a comfort from the Lord.
Now, off to the hospital. Who knew what lay ahead? Well, God did of course. He arranged one small miracle after another. The first at that hospital being that before hubby was even “in the system”, he was able to message me his room number, and I was able to be in the room while they admitted him. I was not supposed to be allowed there, but because their “system” had no record of him yet, and I was already physically there, they had no grounds to ask me to leave.
Do you see how God goes before us? How He prepares us for what’s to come, even when we don’t or can’t see it? It’s amazing to witness, even if it is a limited view. But that’s not all folks.
I was there when the doctor came in and told hubby he was in respiratory failure due to pneumonia. I was there, even if not for long. I was grateful to be there and to see him and touch him, until I wasn’t.
For THREE days, I was not contacted by a doctor. For THREE days, hubby was really too weak to communicate with me well or thoroughly. For THREE days, God was working so mysteriously in that hospital and in that room and in hubby and in my response. For THREE days, hubby and I responded to a difficult situation with as much grace as God could give us through numerous and even anonymous brothers and sisters in Christ praying us through, sustaining us through, sacrificing us through a very dark moment but a very grace filled moment in time for us.
We will never know all of who or what God used to sustain us and carry us through those days. So many were praying, sacrificing, cooking, shopping, calling, texting, fixing, changing, making phone calls. At times, all I could do was tear up at the overwhelming spiritual and temporal support we were and still are receiving.
Do you see how God goes before us? How He prepares us for what’s to come, even when we don’t or can’t see it? It’s amazing to witness, even if it is a limited view. But that’s not all folks.
Every day, I showed up. Every day, I brought items to the nurses and to him, even if I could not see him. Every day, I stayed and prayed on the floor just to be near him and to cover everyone in prayer and gather my thoughts. Every day, God sustained us using His people to accomplish His will. Every day, more progress was made physically and spiritually. Every day, God works. He moved hearts; He moved numbers; He moved. He used hubby so powerfully as a witness to our Faith and in God.
We finally received permission to see each other on hubby’s 50th birthday. Those THREE days bore so much fruit! The best gift that day was that hubby was able to receive Our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament. A gift arranged by someone in the background just listening to the Lord. Only God could have arranged this on hubby’s birthday.
As I stood in his room, the doctor came in again, and I was able to witness hubby stand up for his beliefs to this doctor in such a lovingly uncompromising way that there is no doubt in my mind, that doctor’s heart will never be the same. I had always called hubby my own St. Joseph, but in that moment, I could literally see St. Joseph, and I could imagine how Mother Mary looked at her husband, who was a just man.
That is just a fraction of what I witnessed and experienced. Hubby has his own story of what those THREE days were like, and how God worked. I am praying he writes it down. I know he has already shared some, and I could not be more in awe of how God uses ALL THINGS for HIS glory and HIS purpose in HIS way.
Progress beyond expectations was made. We anticipate him coming home today, with NO NEED for oxygen support. Several nurses and one doctor have commented to hubby that his recovery was “miraculous”. That God is given His due credit for this in a “system” that often rejects Him is a miracle, and one that so many members of the Body of Christ are an active participant.
This story is not complete or completed. God is still writing it. And I am so privileged and honored to have witnessed my small part of it. I cannot wait for hubby to write his part of the story, so it can be shared, and we can experience an even fuller picture of God and His works. I hope that all who read this and were part of the story share too.
We all have a part in God’s plan; what is yours? How has He worked in your life, through your life? What miracles have you witnessed lately? How has God gone before you? I can’t wait to hear it all.
