He Is With Me......ALWAYS!!!!

So, this last week has been anything but normal. I was just reading my last entry and realizing how true all that is and how God will allow various circumstances to grow your faith in Him.

Last Thursday at 6:59 a.m. I received a call I never dreamed I would get. It was my mom telling me my stepdad, Bert had suffered a heart attack and was in the hospital. I was stunned. I don't think he would mind me telling you he is 77 years old and will be 78 this May. He is in great shape and healthy as an ox. Mom sometimes gets frustrated because when he doesn't feel well, he comes home and goes to bed. He sleeps until he feels better and then gets up, takes a shower and goes on with life. Sometimes it is a few hours and at times it has been a couple of days. Now, let me tell you, he does not get sick very often and this man works hard and has never been in the hospital. He has never had a broken bone or even stitches until last week. I am pretty certain we could all learn and follow his lead and be healthier. (Especially those of us from church that seem to keep passing cooties!!)

Mom was very happy that Bert came back in last Thursday morning and stated she needed to take him somewhere. It saved his life. She got him to the hospital and the doctor told her that he had the actual heart attack while on the table in the ER and that gave them the opportunity to help him. Thank you, Papa Bert for not being stubborn and taking care of yourself.

I have never dealt with anything like this before. I have a whole new empathy for those with a loved one in this situation. When I got off the phone with mom, I emailed the prayer request to those close to me and spent a moment in prayer. I called Jared and then started getting ready. I never dreamed that within an hour I would be getting a phone call saying they were wheeling him into surgery already. In my head, I had figured surgery would happen but thought it would be later in the afternoon or the next day. Nope, within the hour!

I didn't make it to the hospital before he went into surgery. I was there with mom to hear that what was a double bypass was now a triple bypass and then a quintuple bypass? I had never heard of such a thing. Five bypasses?! Yep!! Five (5) bypasses.

It has been a crazy week with ups and downs. Tears and smiles. Originally we were told to look at Tuesday for a going home day. Well, today is Friday and today the doctor said 4 or 5 more days in the hospital. Bert is bummed to say the least. He is ready to be home. After overcoming blood pressure and oxygen issues and of course the 5 bypasses, he is now still there for what appeared to be an infection but now believed to be an allergic reaction to something. The problem is that they don't know what the something is. So, we wait. I am praising God and giving Him all the glory that Bert is still with us and that an allergic reaction is the main concern now.

I went out to mom's on Tuesday to clean her house and get everything ready for Bert to come home. I spent some time with Bert at the hospital and then my phone rang. It was Jared telling me one of the kids was sick. This was the awful sick.....the pukes! I hate the pukes. I just had a feeling of being completely overwhelmed. On the way home, I heard the song He Is With You by Mandisa. I completely broke down. Again, the truth of God's word in a song carried me away to rely on Him.

He Is With You lyrics

There's a time to live
And a time to die
There's a time to laugh
And a time to cry
There's a time for war
And a time for peace
There's a hand to hold
In the worst of these
In the worst of these

Chorus:
He is with you when your faith is dead
And you can't even get out of bed
Or your husband doesn't kiss you anymore
He is with you when your baby's gone
And your house is still and your heart's a stone
Cryin' God, what'd you do that for?
He is with you

There's a time for yes
And a time for no
There's a time to be angry
And a time to let it go
There's a time to run
And a time to face it
There is love to see you
Through all of this

Chorus:
He is with you in the conference room
When the world is coming down on you
And your wife and kids don't know you anymore
And he is with you in the ICU
When the doctors don't know what to do
And it scares you to the core
He is with you

We may weep for a time
But joy will come in the morning
The morning light

Chorus:
He is with you when your kids are grown
When there's too much space and you feel alone
And you're worried if you got it right or wrong
Yes he is with you when you've given up
On ever finding your true love
Someone who feels like home
He is with you

When nothing else is left
And you take you final breath
He is with you



Thank you, Jesus! Thank you for your sacrifice. Thank you for knowing there was nothing I could do to be with you but you loved me enough to sacrifice everything so that I may have relationship with You. So that I could know, HE IS WITH ME!!!