Sweet Sounds From Heaven

People are supposed to go into the hospital and get better pretty quickly or die. Daddy did neither. He went in the hospital in October,1990 and came out October, 1991, a total of 362 days. Yeah, that was a difficult year, and without God’s grace and favor, none of us would have made it, including daddy. He went in with a fairly minor and quite fixable situation, but stuff happens. It was not long before we were not sure if he would ever come out. Matter of fact, many doctors told mama he would not make it, and if he did, he would be a vegetable and need constant care. We appreciate and respect doctors, but I know the Great Physician can fix any mess.

Somehow, I was not willing to let daddy go. He was only 67 years old and I found promises in the Bible that we should have at least 70 or by reason of strength 80 years on the earth before we fly away (Psalms 90:10). So I had a talk with God and reminded Him of his Word and just pleaded daddy’s case before the high courts of heaven. Mama agreed with me. She was not ready to let him go either.  My entire church was in agreement with me that daddy would live and not die according to Psalms 118:17. Little did I know this was going to be the fight of my life. The fight of faith, because I surely couldn’t go by what I saw. They had tubes in every hole he had and made more holes. It was tough stuff but for the most part daddy hung in there like a hair in a biscuit.

A lot was learned that year. One thing  learned was to guard my tongue. Say only what I believe. I spoke the Word of God over daddy daily. He was in and out of intensive care probably 10 time or more, I lost count.  When he took a turn for the worse, I had to increase God’s medicine, the gos pills. During that year there were more miracles than my mind can even remember. Every time something else would happen, mama would call me to pray. Without faith it is impossible to please God. I sure did please God that year. I believed Him for things I didn’t even know I could believe Him for. I just did, and He just honored it.

There isn’t space to recount everything that happened, but one morning while getting dressed for work, God spoke to me and said “you need to go see your daddy today”. Because of work, I didn’t get to see him everyday like mama did. Nevertheless, I saw him as often as I could, which was often. I told God I would. My boss was very understanding and willing to give me space when I needed to scoot out to the hospital and allow me to make up my time during the week. After all, no one expected daddy to live anyway, but I did. Arriving at the hospital and he was back in intensive care, tubes everywhere. Things looked really bad as usual. I prayed over him out loud. I knew he could hear me, even if it looked like he was dead, and it did. Seemed to me he looked even worse this time than other times when he was in intensive care. His color was quite stark. There was a window in daddy’s cubicle and I could see the mall across the street. I talked to daddy and reminded him that one day he would be over at the mall looking back at the hospital. Reminded daddy that he would not die, but live and declare the Works of the Lord.  Prayed over him, laid hands on him, thanked God for healing daddy and left. Boy Oh Boy, I sure could not be moved by what I saw.

When daddy went into the hospital he weighed around l65 pounds. Naturally, he lost weight during his stay. When he came out he weighed 114. He looked like a cancer patient, but he was alive, and we were grateful. He had problems swallowing so mama had to puree his food. Once when he was eating pureed pinto beans; one of his favorite foods, he got a whole bean and he was so excited. He proudly announced it to all at the table. It was a little difficult to understand his speech, but we got it by his smiling eyes. I truly believe his humor helped pull him through.

He had lots of therapy at the hospital as well as at home. He had speech therapy, physical therapy and all kinds of therapy. Remember, this is the man that was not supposed to live, but he did. He was not supposed to be able to talk, walk, feed himself, bathe himself, certainly not drive a car, lawn mower, or boat. He did all of these things and more. Later on he even worked on the lawn mower. God is so faithful!

Because of the trauma daddy experienced through this whole ordeal, his nervous system suffered damage. His hands would move involuntarily. He endured several spinal taps and actually, at one point, the doctors thought he had spinal meningitis. I don’t recall if he did or did not. All I remember is he had trouble with his hands in particular and did not have a lot of feeling in his fingers.

After daddy recovered enough to move about and have a life, I accompanied him and mama on a trip to Virginia. It was in the Spring of 1995. We call Virginia home, even though we all have lived in Florida for many, many years. I was driving the van and daddy was in the front seat with me. He was fooling around with the controls up at the top of the van. It was obvious he was having difficulty finding his desired knob to do whatever he wanted to do. I found out he was trying to check the outside temperature. We were climbing.

Driving in the mountains required all my attention, especially since I hadn’t driven mountain roads in some time. Nevertheless, It bothered me that daddy was having so much trouble. I asked him what seemed to be the problem. Daddy said, “I don’t have as much feeling in my hands as I used to.” Then he grinned and said, “but ,I’m so much better then I used to be.” I grinned and agreed wholeheartedly. Then daddy said, “Sandy, when I would get to my lowest point and wanted to die, you would show up at my bedside and say, “daddy, you will not die but live and declare the works of the Lord.”  Somehow, when I heard those words, the desire to live again rose up inside of me and I began to fight again for my life.”

When daddy shared that with me, it took everything I had to steer the vehicle and keep it in the middle of the road and not go over a cliff.  I knew God spoke to me to go see daddy on at least one particular occasion, but little did I know daddy had truly given up. I can understand. He was born again and knew he would go to heaven. He didn’t want to be any trouble to mama and us kids. The physical body can only endure so much stress, pain and discouragement. Sometimes, we feel like, “I’m out of here.”  Who wouldn’t just call it a day. I am so glad God knows exactly what we need to keep us trucking. Daddy talked about God’s delivering power everywhere he went and gave his testimony in several churches. He got bold about what God could do. It was wonderful to observe.

After daddy was home just a little while, Christmas was approaching. He told me he wanted to go to the mall to buy mama a gift. Naturally, we went.  He was in a wheel chair, but what a treat to wheel him around and let him shop. He found what he wanted and paid for it. He did all the work. His hands needed the therapy and he needed the independence. We finished our shopping spree and started toward the vehicle to go home. I told daddy to look across the street at the hospital. He did and we both thanked God for HIS faithfulness.

Daddy lived for 13 additional years. He went to heaven in 2004 and was over 81. I tried to talk daddy into more time on earth, but this time his body was worn out and he was not willing to stay. I had no promises to stand on and had run out of options. Our times are in the hands of the Lord. I’m thankful for every minute we had together. The really good news is I’ll get to see him again. Sometimes God will give us more time just like Hezekiah got 15 additional years. Believe for all you can and don’t go until you’re satisfied. And above all, go to heaven. Hell was not made for people.

If you believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead and confess that with your mouth, the Bible says you will be saved from wrath. Jesus took the curse upon himself at the cross so that we could go free from the curse. He took our place. Just think about it, God gave His Son, The Sinless, Spotless Son, Jesus, so that YOU could become His son, regardless of your spots and sins. Glory to God! I’m grateful, I just believe that the Bible means what it says, and that’s all it took for me. You’re no different, I promise you, you’re not. There is such freedom in knowing that our sins are forgiven and we can have peace here and hereafter. Fire insurance is just a bonus. Freedom from fear of death and the grave is what it’s all about. See ya at the house.

Filed under: Hospital Stay