Bloated, exhausted, severe pain head-to-foot, unable to breathe, unable to stop coughing, no sleep, unable to dress without help, and worst: unable to pray… diagnosis: Congestive Heart Failure as a result of heart disease…
4 months ago…
Able to control the pain, eliminated
much of the bloating & fluid retention, coughing gone, able to walk & sleep, and best, again able to pray… however, a major cardiac issue still looms…
6 days ago… 5:30 am!
Open-heart surgery to replace the Aortic
valve—an extremely invasive procedure that would take 4 ½ hours.
5 days ago…
Awake, breathing on her own! Up walking! Able to kiss her husband—yeah! Eating real
food—totally unexpected so soon! Several
walks during the day, and feeling extremely grateful…
3 days ago…
ALL
tubes, drains, major IV’s etc. gone! Pain under control, eating full Cardiac
diet, free to walk as desired/able (wt spotter, of course)…
2
day ago…
RELEASED!
Ready to move to Transitional Care facility for a week to 10 days, in
preparation to return home…
Even
the devout, the believers who strive for a daily walk with the Lord, are
subject to the weakness of seeing in
order to believe…and even tho’ Jesus
repeatedly cautioned us against this, he lovingly grants us the true pleasure
of being able to see His hand at work
from time to time.
During
these past 5 days, we have received just such a sign—clear evidence of His active working on our behalf—and we are awed
and humbled.
If
the first month or so of this journey left us amazed and grateful, words simply
are not adequate to describe the wonder of the past 5 days!
After
so many months of wondering, questioning, praying, seeking God’s peace and
sense of direction, we found ourselves at that place where, even tho’ we had
His peace, yet we were also filled with apprehension, and let’s face it, not a
little scared! We’re not talking about
setting a broken leg here… just the idea of someone deliberately cutting into
& cracking open our chest (sternum, breastbone), moving things around to
access and surgically replace a vital part of one of the most vital organs in
our body—that’s overwhelming!
We
live in a day of incredible breakthroughs in medicine & surgical techniques,
often making possible in a few days what formerly would have required weeks.
Added to that, however, is the sovereign hand that years ago foresaw this need
and settled us in the same community as one of the top 10 Cardiac hospitals
(best on the West coast!) in the nation. Having readily available such
marvelous facilities, surgeons, nurses & support personnel made such a
serious step slightly less daunting, yet scary nonetheless.
Much
can be attributed to the fine surgeon, the supporting nurses and the various
auxiliary personnel, and rightly so. Much can also be attributed to the hard
work that Patricia, my bride of 45 years, put into preparing her body for such
a demanding procedure, as well as working with the post-op requirements. Yet,
when all is said & done, it is the unseen
Physician who ultimately deserves our gratitude & highest praise.
The
author of 1 John writes, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God:
that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know
that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.” [I
Jn 5.14-15, niv, emph. mine]
We have been privileged to not only have many people here in the States praying for us; God has been good to provide brothers & sisters lifting us to the Father from England, Ireland, China, Africa, Canada, Indonesia and New Zealand. It is one thing to know people are praying and to be grateful for their willingness. A new level of appreciation is reached, tho’, when we see the God of heaven so obviously hearing those prayers and granting the requests!
In
and of ourselves, we are so frail, prone to lean on our own resources and
abilities, in spite of such obvious inadequacies. How foolish! The heavenly Father makes it clear that he
anxiously awaits our pleas…
King
David writes, “Morning, noon, and night I cry
out in my distress, and the Lord hears
my voice.” [Ps. 55.17, nlt]
The
prophet Jeremiah writes, “Then you will call
upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.” [Jer. 29.12, niv]
Are
we grateful to have such excellent facilities for this surgery? Absolutely!
Are
we thankful for such skilled personnel to carry out such demanding care? Without
a doubt!
And
yet, even the best facilities and medical professionals are no guarantee of
success.
Ultimately
where does it all rest? The writer of one of the marvelous ‘Songs of Ascent,’
Psalm 121, puts it this way:
“I lift up my eyes to the hills—
where does my help come from?My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;
indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep…”
As
we look to many more weeks of recuperation, of regaining strength & healing,
we are humbly grateful: for doctors and nurses… for technicians and therapists…
for praying saints… but most of all for a God who loves to answer the prayers
of His saints!
Terry & Patricia Lampel | Cup of Cold Water | Everett, WA, USA
