Miracles...and God DOES Exist

The challenge on Cafe Chat today is to tell of a miracle in my life. As Kim states, miracles come in many forms, some are large and some not so large but all are real.

My dad has had a heart condition for 30 years, but it has mostly been controlled with medication. Last fall, it flared up again and he was hospitalized for 3 weeks before the Drs. decided he needed to have bypass surgery. Dad has had surgery a number of times - just since retirement he has had a hip replacement and gallbladder surgery - but somehow heart surgery seemed way more serious. We all knew that he could die on the operating table or have a stroke as the father of a friend of mine had. The risks are low and bypass surgeries are done all the time without complications but still we worried. We were all praying - all I could pray was that God would guide the Dr.'s hands. Dad was at peace with whatever would happen as he went into surgery - the rest of us were trying to trust God for the outcome. Two of my brothers, an aunt, my mom and I waited at the hospital during the surgery. I remember the relief on Mom's face when the surgeon came to tell us the operation was successful - we were all feeling it. It is now almost 4 months since Dad's surgery and he is doing great, still recovering but it takes 6 months to a year to fully recovery from heart surgery. This summer, Dad and Mom will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary and all 10 of their children plan to attend the reunion at a wilderness retreat centre - we currently live in 4 provinces and 2 states. Just before Christmas, Mom had an accident, non life threatening but very painful. That and Dad's illness has made us all realize that we don't know how long our parents will be with us and it has made it even more important for us all to be together for this milestone.

As for the 2nd part of the title of this post, I recently heard that a humanism group in Toronto is putting billboards on the side of transit buses stating "There probably is no God so quit worrying and get on with your life." Apparently the woman who wrote this sentence was tired of people worrying about pleasing (or appeasing?) God and avoiding hell. As one of my coworkers said, "I believe in God so I don't have to worry." Precisely. A few years ago, a different coworker (at a different job) challenged me to prove God is real. I'm not sure what I told him then but I believe that I cannot prove God's existence but He can and has proved His loving existence to me many times. If He were to prove his existence to an agnostic or atheist, though, I am not sure they would enjoy the experience. What I would say to an atheist/agnostic now is this: Suppose for one moment that I am wrong, suppose there is no God. When I die, it would be the end - no heaven or hell - no harm done, so to speak. But suppose I am right and there is a God and if I have lived my life for Him, I do not need to worry about hell - I know I will go to heaven. But what about you, if you are wrong, where will you be?

October Celebrations

Dad is home from the hospital! He is doing as well as can be expected after such major surgery. I was a little afraid for a while that he and Mom wouldn't be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary next summer. Of course, something could still happen but for now things are good.

We Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving in October - the 2nd Monday which is in 1 week. We as a family certainly have something to be thankful this year!

The other celebration I have been thinking of is Halloween. As a Christian, I do not celebrate it and never have. Actually the "decorations" and costumes are quite abhorent to me. Today, I found an article explaining why one woman doesn't celebrate Halloween - I couldn't have said it better. I would encourage anyone to read it.

Good News!

Just want to update for those who might be reading and want to know how my dad is doing. He had triple bypass surgery on Mon. Sept. 29 and is doing very well. It is amazing - 24 hours after coming out of surgery with tubes everywhere, he was sitting up and eating lunch. Yesterday, he was walking a little already.

As for the garage sale, it went fairly well for being as late in the year as it was. It was quite cool that morning but we had it indoors. This week is unseasonably warm - 10 degrees C above normal. I think today is supposed to be about 25 degrees (approx. 80 degrees F).

Updates on hearts

Dad had his angiogram today and is booked for triple bypass surgery on Monday. Fortunately my employer has great benefits which include family leave for this kind of thing. When I called a coworker and asked if she could work Monday for me, she asked if I was worried. Well, yes and no. I am glad they found something they can fix - it is so frustrating to KNOW something is wrong and the Drs can't find anything. Bypass surgery is done quite regularly these days and is not the major surgery it once was - but it still is major surgery and it always seems worse when it involves the heart. I trust the doctors (Mom and Dad have both been happy with them altho I haven't met them yet) and I trust God to take care of Dad but a little part of me still wants to worry, especially when I think of a friend's father who had a stroke during heart surgery. Please pray for Dad - and for me that I will continue to trust God.

The news is positive for little Susanna. She also needs heart surgery which was expected but it sounds like they expect a good outcome. Her surgery is on Tuesday.

Just to make things a little more interesting, I am having a garage sale tomorrow. It's not ideal with me still not getting around real well and Dad in the hospital but it needs to be done. My 13 year old niece and her cousin will help me and my niece in law and 2 of her friends are doing some baking to sell as well. I am used to Dad being around to put up signs but this time I need to figure that out on my own. I'm starting to realize how much I depend on him. I have rented a hall for it this time so I don't need to worry about the weather - it has been nice but a bit cool.

She's home!

I just now checked this blog and found that this family has brought their daughter home. This very morning, she is having a cardiac catheterization to assess the severity of her heart condition. She and her family continue to need our prayers.

Dad is still in the hospital waiting for his angiogram. Mom said he is feeling a little discouraged that it hasn't happened yet. He was transferred to this (university) hospital on Monday for this test and it is now Friday. He was hoping to be home by now. This is hard on Mom, too, as the hospital is 2 hours away and she isn't able to drive home every night. Well, she could but that would mean 4 hours on the road every day and with the cost of gas now... Fortunately we have friends who live near the city and she has been able to stay with them for night. Still, it is getting long for her, too. I hope and pray that Dad can have his angiogram today and that whatever they find can be fixed without open heart surgery.

Too much of me...

I have placed a couple of Tickers at the bottom of my blog to keep track of the kilometres I walk and the pounds I lose. I thought it would keep me accountable - if others are watching, I will be more motivated to keep at it. I have lots to do this summer to get my yard in shape - unfortunately, that doesn't seem to help me lose the pounds very fast. It is building muscle though so should help in a round-a-bout way.

Note to the anonymous commenter on my first post - I don't usually give details to people I don't know - do I know you? May I ask - what are your reasons for asking?

Back to work

- tomorrow a.m. I really am getting better. This afternoon, I went to my nephew's place and he helped me collect rocks from a pile in his pasture for some landscaping in my yard. Being able to haul rocks around for an hour or 2 and not be totally exhausted proves that my strength is coming back. Yayyyyy!!

Just what I needed

Not long ago, my sis, M, sent me an email about a devotional blog she subscribes to - a devotional email is sent each day from this blog. I signed up, too, just a few days ago. This morning the devotion was on the sovereignty of God and it really spoke to my heart. I have told some of my friends, regarding my decision to disrupt the adoption I had so looked forward to, that I had fought the decision for a long time. We had revival meetings at our church the end of March - that is always a time of soul searching and trying to learn what God wants of us. I developed pneumonia at that time and was only able to attend the first meeting but, thanks to modern technology, I was able to listen to the services by telephone from my bed. As I lay there day after day, I struggled with giving everything to God - in fact, I thought I could give everything to Him except the adoption as I was afraid He would tell me to give it up. Like the example of the child in the devotional, I still cannot understand why it was not to be, but I need to accept that God in His sovereign way does know and has a plan for my life. Perhaps God knew that I would need this reminder today as this is the day I would have been receiving my daughter, had I continued with the adoption.

An update on the big P (pneumonia), I am just now getting strong enough to get some work done around the house and yard. It has been a long haul - I have been on sick leave again for the last 2 weeks - but I believe I am finally getting over it. I realize there are several things that have contributed to my prolonged illness - a major and somewhat rocky move to the community I now live in (finally in my own home the beginning of Dec. 07 after being "homeless" for 6 weeks), an accident with my new-to-me SUV (had it 2 months, did $10,000 damage when I hit a deer), the adoption and decision to disrupt.

Now that I am feeling stronger, I want to reach out to others more than I have in the past - like my nephew and his wife who have a 19 month old daughter and are expecting twins - I know she could use some help around the house. It is an exciting time for them but also physically draining on the mom. She told me yesterday that she had to realize that while her husband, a carpenter, could rest during the night and his body was not still building, hers was "building babies" 24 hours a day. There is a poem "Be the Best of Whatever You Are" - if you can't be the sun be a star, etc. If I can't be a mommy, I guess I will just have to be the best auntie that I can be - but I will still miss being a mommy.