Mike’s Collapse – Beyond the Hospital 4/10/15

Life outside of the hospital has begun.

After a whole lot of running around (I hadn’t thought about having to pick up prescriptions and other  little errands that added up to a long afternoon), we finally slumped through the door and just sat.  This gave the cat a chance to re-establish her complete ownership of Mike.  (See last picture.)

In the space of the first 24 hours I discovered a new personality trait in myself … neurotic.

Poor Mike … every time I called out to him in the next room and he didn’t answer, I was there … checking … wanting to know why he didn’t respond.  He dropped his shoes in the bathroom … I raced across the house to see what (or who) fell.  He gets quiet and I want to know what’s wrong.

Neurotic: tending to worry in a way that is not healthy or reasonable.

I’m settling down, remembering that I had no warning or control when Mike first collapsed, yet God showed up and we made it through.  I can trust Him for whatever … emphasis on WHATEVER … comes up in the future.

Deep breaths … embrace the moments.

On the second day, we set out north to the Tulip Fields.  The idea was to get away from hospitals and soak up beautiful scenery before I return to school and before Mike is more or less home-bound for a few weeks.

Truthfully, the trip had just as much to do with calming my neurosis.  With Mike right beside me in the car, I knew where he was at all times.  And … all the photos (which he is starting to balk at) … if he’s at the end of my camera lens, I know exactly where he is.

Driving through Seattle on Wednesday, we made a last minute decision to veer off of I-5 in order to surprise Molly at her work.  Mike wasn’t two feet inside of the door before being surrounded by people he’d never met before.  “It’s you!  We’ve been praying for you. Wow!  You’re here.” (Sallie’s “selfie posts” had made him widely recognizable.)

Molly’s co-workers have been endlessly supportive and a humbling reminder of the wide circle that has embraced us.  There is nothing like crisis as a means of finding that unity among believers is very much alive and very well.

While one sweet woman hugged us, she said, “I know you have a lot going on, but if you think of me, there’s something you can be praying for.” She told us the need, and we were grateful that she felt like she could ask us to pray as we’ve come to believe that a huge part of Mike’s healing has to do with praying for others even as we are being prayed for.

” … pray for each other so that you may be healed.” from James 5:16.

Until now, I’ve pretty much missed the entire point of this verse;  thinking that we needed to be praying for others so that they might be healed.  But it is quite possible that in praying for others we are healed.

It has not missed our notice, that many who stood at Mike’s hospitable bed-side, confidently trusting God to hear and to work, are in need of their own miracles.  Yet … there they stood, unabashed in asking  God for all that He is capable of … healing, restoring life, moving mountains, holdings close  … while humbly trusting in His sovereignty for their own needs.

We love that people would contact us with specific way we can be praying … bring on the healing!

Adjustments we’re working on:

– Routines to avoid boredom and to keep peace between us
– Staying on top of paper work
– Staying on top of medications
– Trying not make the “biggie” Doctor appointments next month (heart doctor and neuro surgeon) the focal point, but rather enjoy each day

Things to rejoice in:
– Remarkable come backs in strength and in heart function
– The remarkable Bride of Christ
– Each new day

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
And whose hope is the Lord.
For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters,
Which spreads out its roots by the river,
And will not fear when heat comes;
But its leaf will be green,
And will not be anxious in the year of drought,
Nor will cease from yielding fruit.”  Jeremiah 17:7-8

Possessive, happy cat.

 

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