with today's tragedy... echoing in my mind is a song my dad used to sing... so very relevant today...
We are living in a worried world
A world thats full of fears
But there's one hope for peace eternal
On July 22nd I was in route to Washington, DC for a business trip. It was all so very ordinary, until we landed in Denver for a plane change.
As I collected my belongings from the overhead bin, an announcement was made for Mr.. Lloyd Glenn to see the United Customer Service Representative immediately.
I thought nothing of it until I reached the door to leave the plane and I heard a gentleman asking every male if he were Mr. Glenn. At this point I knew something was wrong and my heart sunk.
When I got off the plane a solemn-faced young man came toward me and said, 'Mr.Glenn, there is an emergency at your home. I do not know what the emergency is, or who is involved, but I will take you to the phone so you can call the hospital.' My heart was now pounding, but the will to be calm took over.
One evening a grandson was talking to his grandfather about current events.
The grandson asked his grandfather what he thought about the shootings at schools, the computer age, and things in general.
The Grandfather replied, 'Well, let me think a minute, I was born before:
'television
'penicillin
'polio shots
'frozen foods
'Xerox
'contact lenses
'Frisbees and
'the pill
There wereno:
'credit cards
'laser beams or
'ball-point pens
Man had not invented:
'pantyhose
'air conditioners
'dishwashers
'clothes dryers
'and the clothes were hung out to dry in the fresh air and
'man hadn't yet walked on the moon
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I've recently got the pleasure of reconnecting with an old friend from high school. In fact we were very close friends, but as life does.. we lose sight of some people because of circumstances beyond our control. So we have been talking alot getting to know each other again and gaining insight to what has happened in our years not together. She shared with me the story of her mothers final days. This is a heart warming experience I wanted to share with you all, and maybe it will touch you as it has me, just remember after the darkness of any storm, there is always renewed life and light and what may seem at the time a horrible thing is in all actuality.... a blessing.
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My mom was 61 when she died of cancer, she had just retired & was planning to do all those things she waited her entire life to do. Her health was fine, no diseases or any other conditions, except, of course, of the fact that she was a heavy smoker. Her lung x-rays were clear, then 9 months later, stage 3 cancer, final phase. They gave her 2-4 months, she lasted 3.. I was living in St. Louis at the time with a new boy, 14 months old. I dropped everything, left my job, husband and brought my 2 children with me,and moved in with my mother to care of her. My brother lived 3 hours away, and sister 45 minutes away, but, I am the rock of my family, My mom needed me..
One night, while she was in the hospital, i was sleeping in her bed and had a nightmare. In my dream, she was sleeping beside me, and we were both awakened by a terrible dark presence, that opened up as a dark tunnel under her, trying to pull her away.I knew this was death, coming for her., She opened her eyes in fear & surprise, helpless to fight it.- it being a dark, and terrible presence, the very essense of Hell!! She reached for me with her hands, her eyes begging me to save her.Then I felt another presence, and saw a light coming from the ceiling, it had a power, it urged me to grab my mom, to save her from the darkness and to pull her into the light,where her soul could be saved. Suddenly, my mom was snatched away, she took a gasp, her eyes opened wide, and 'NO!' was all she could say, then she was gone. I woke up screaming, reaching for her. My uncle ran into the room, to comfort me, but asked about that light. He checked all the lights in the room, but none matched what he saw. I told him about the dream, but he cut me off, saying he didn;t want to hear any of that Jesus sh--. You see, Sarah, both he and my mother were atheists. Or, agnostics, they believe, but don't accept. I was so afraid of losing her soul, forever!
The next day, at the hospital, I went to visit mom, asked how she slept, her response was, 'terrible, I had an awful nightmare about dying.' She then told me about the same exact dream that I had, down to the 'No!", the light, the dark tunnel, all of it! I felt faint, I asked her what time was this? It was exactly the same time as my dream- 3:45 am!! I tried to tell her about my dream, she reacted the same way as her brother, plus she was on morphine, so I left to go pray in the chapel. You see, Sarah, I had lost faith in God, was angry at him for allowing this to happen to the sweetest, most unselfish woman I had ever known. How could He have allowed it? Why her? On my way to the chapel, I stopped at the nurses station to ask about my mother's night, they confirmed the nightmare to be at exactly 3:45 am., I now want answers from God- He was obviously trying to get my attention, and now he had it. While praying in the chapel, a pastor came out to comfort me. I told him of the dream and all of it, and asked him what does it mean? He thought it was a message from God, the dream meaning that my mom's death would be too sudden for any of us to get to her side to say the prayer that lets her accept Jesus as her Savior, so her soul can go to heaven. Or, at least, this is what me & my family member's had all discussed & planned. I asked to speak to her doctor, and asked him how quickly could my mother pass, he said from 2 days to 2 weeks. But, he said, not like my dream, because I asked. I told my family of the dream, my mom's best friend, her pastor, my friends, and we all now made a contingency plan to save my mother's soul. Everyone worked on her constantly, not waiting for the death-bed prayer.
On Oct. 16, I was in st. Louis for a week, putting my kids into school, & packing for the final death watch, my return flight to my mom's at 3pm. I was about to go to the airport, around noonish, when I received the phone call that my mother had suddenly died, EXACTLY LIKE MY DREAM!! I heard someone screaming as I fell to the floor. It was me, screaming. When I got to Lake Charles, La. I found that my mother died clutching my rosary, and her prayer clothe that her best friend gave her. Her best friend told me that my mother requested, of her own accord, to say the prayer to accept Jesus as her savior!! None of us could ever get her to even listen to anything about it, yet, she ASKED to be saved!! God sent me his miracle, he saved my beautiful mother's eternal soul, and brought her back home to Him. None of us could have done it. None of us could have fore-seen her sudden death. The doctor told us that the cause of death was a stroke, so catastrophic, so rare, that the odds to have one, were 1 in millions. Her brain literally exploded, all over, all at once. One moment, she was fine, sitting up & talking to her brother, the next, she gasped once, opened up her eyes wide, reached for her brother,and said, 'NO!" And fell over, dead. No suffering, no warning signs. The doctors thought she had about a month left. When the pastor who officiated at her services found out about the 'vision' coming to pass exactly as fore-told, he was speechless, and hung up on me. He called back & apologized, explaining that he, a man of (supposedly) God/faith, had never received any such sign from God, although he had prayed & watched for one his entire life! He resented, he disclosed to me, me, a woman of very little faith having received a great miracle from God. He spoke of it, at my mother's services. My miracle, Sarah, my vision from God, saved my mother's soul. I used to beg Him, everyday, to bring her home. And he did. The poem 'Gone' expresses my doubts after her death. I can't believe my doubt, after the vision! I was in such deep grief. It took me 7 years to stop grieving, she was my best friend, and I still think of her every day. I know that I was told she said the prayer, but I couldn't know for surel Unless I heard it straight from my mom, saw it in her eyes. Even after being warned of how sudden her death would be, in my heart, that still did not convince me that she is in heaven. I did not experience that peaceful feeling that you described, that is what I've been searching for, my entire life!! You are part of my miracle from God, Sarah. I have never met another who has had a similar experience. Sure, I've read about them, but who knows what king of religious fanatic they might be, or what not. YOU know? Cause I'm not a fanatic, and I do not believe that you are, either.So, you are a God-send, and an answered prayer. Thanks be to God & to you, Sarah!!
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So, after this time has passed, I’ve decided to let you all know what our Kill story is. I know many of you have seen where I’ve posted. Klaus’ health this, that, he can’t do this his stress won’t allow that, I figured I let you know his story. He is probably the hardest working and most gentle soul I’ve ever met. In 1998 he became very ill four days after his 40th birthday. So much in fact, he called me to bring him to the hospital. Now he is the man who won’t be seen by any doctor. He missed one day of work since he was 14 and that was the toilet blues. He couldn’t breathe. My biggest fears came to light. He had a bronchoscope done to find out why he was having difficulty breathing. No answer to be found. Meanwhile he is getting more ill as time goes by. His lung x-ray’s showed his lung shrinking. The doctor’s scratched their heads. A week and a half after he was admitted he ended up intubated. He was induced into a coma so they could let a machine breathe for him. They searched and figured he needed a lung transplant. He was diagnosed with interstitial lung disease, bronchial obliterus, and a systemic disorder. He had bronchial pneumonia, and what the doctors feared Schleroderma. This disease is an autoimmune disease where your immune system becomes stronger than you are and starts turning you off one organ at a time. It is also a hard skin disease. There are three forms of this disease. It attacks your internal organs, your muscles and your skin. Most people have one or another, but my sweet hubby has all three. Your heart sink when the Doctor can’t explain to you what this is. I did extensive research on this as did the doctors. After six days on life support he showed signs of improvement, enough to send him to Denver’s University Hospital. There he was supposed to spend four days, having a Lung transplant evaluation. After a day and a half, Klaus was on life support again, but much worse than before. His blood oxygen level was at 82 percent. You need to be over 90 percent to have adequate oxygen in your bloodstream. He was on 17 IV’s, 100 percent oxygen and 100 percent Nitric oxide. His blood pressure was extremely low 56 over 32. His heart rate was over 300 beats a minute. They had to defibrillate him 22 times over the course of a weekend. The doctors did kidney dialysis to rule out any infection there. They went into his chest to remove pressure on his heart. They inserted a catheter into his chest to drain the fluid building up around his heart, before it was crushed. They pumped him so full of fluids to try and bring his blood pressure up that he was almost not recognizable. They did blood tests every hour to find the right anti-biotic to fight this unknown infection. It was an unbelievable roller coaster ride. I had received an envelope from a friend of Klaus’, containing over 1800 dollars to help me and the girls make ends meet. I was in Denver and my daughters were here in the Springs. Taking care of business. At 16 and 17 they became the most responsible adults I had ever met. I’m very proud of them. That first Sunday he was up in Denver, I was sitting in the waiting room filling out thank you cards for everyone who had been so generous. A family came into the room wanting to watch the Bronco game on TV. I didn’t care. My family stayed down here tending to their families needs. Then the doctor had come into the waiting room. And told me something I never dreamed I would have to hear. You need to call your family. We have exhausted everything we possibly can. We don’t know what else we can do. I gave them Shirley’s phone number; She is Klaus’ younger sister. She made the calls here to have everyone come up to the hospital. I sat there numb, and just balled. I was thinking, Oh my God, how am I going to do this. Then I cried. That family had been watching the game came over to me sat down and I was admiring their baby girl. They had told me she was number 8 out of 8 children. I was thinking wow that’s where I am in a family of 10 children. Then there was a lot of the normal small talk, then the man asked me how Klaus was, and I answered. Then he asked me how the girls were handling all of this and I answered. And he then asked me the question I thought would never even be considered, How much do you love your husband. I told him of course more than the world, then he asked if I loved him enough to let him go. My heart sank. My faith had been tested so much those last three weeks and now this total stranger asks me this question? I looked at him and told him I do, I love him enough to let him go. I didn’t want to see him suffer any longer. We had a prayer and then just sat there in total silence. Then they said we have somewhere else to be, and as they were walking away, the man said, “Sarah, don’t worry anymore about Klaus he’ll be fine. God will take care of him”. Suddenly I felt this overwhelming peace, and I knew it was going to be God’s will. Over the course of that evening all of the family had came up to see him, say their prayers as did the friends. I just knew in my heart I couldn’t worry anymore. I stayed the night up there. Shirley and I had decided if he didn’t turn we would ask the doctors to disconnect because he didn’t want this. The next morning his heart rate had dropped to 88 bpm, his blood pressure had stabilized and his blood oxygen level had come back up. Of course we were so happy. A few days had gone by and I had asked the doctors if they knew who that family was, I wanted to thank them for their kindness. The doctors looked at me as if I had lost my mind. The doctor told me I was alone that day. I just sat there, no words could come…I just sat there. I then remembered the words spoken that day; I never told them my name, Klaus’ name or that I had two daughters. How could this be? I have resolved to the fact, God had sent angels; I had no other reasoning as to what had happened. Too many unknowns were in fact known. Klaus over the period of 35 days became better but still needed much help. The doctors were amazed of his turn around. God truly does answer prayers. His stay lasted for 4 ½ months. He came home on Shannon’s 18th birthday. He had lost over 90 pounds and had to learn everything all over again. How to walk, talk, eat, go to the bathroom, every little thing we take for granted became his biggest obstacles. He now has been stable for four years. He takes 22 pills a day; life-sustaining drugs and he can not work. Because the environment could kill him. But I still have him here, he sees the doctor every six weeks. Klaus doesn’t like his forced retirement, but he’s learning to deal with it. The first month he was in the hospital he almost died three times. I know I’m truly blessed to still have him here. After all of the kindness that was given to us, funds, prayers and meals; we do the Benefit shows to help give back, to help others as we were so many years ago. I’m hoping someday more awareness will come of this horrible disease, Klaus has to take a kemo drug, to keep his immune system low… this sometimes is a difficult thing to deal with knowing if someone sneezed on him the wrong way he could get very ill. But we still do the shows, So if I get at an emotional state and mention Klaus’ illness, you all know why and what. You all have become my therapy and I just felt compelled to tell you this and say Thank YOU. Never under estimate the power of God’s will and the power of prayer. Thanks for letting me share.
And that's why I became the mechanical type, I learned the hard way how to work on cars. Today I celebrate, on Friday 10 years since Klaus has got out of the hospital, The doctors finally said what we've been longing to hear for so long..... You sir, are in remission. I couldn't help but fall to my knee's and once again Thank God for allowing me to still Have that man of mine. I can only hope that you my friends can find that one true love.
I love this plan!
This was an article from the St. Petersburg on Sunday. The Business Section asked readers for ideas on "How Would You Fix the Economy?" I thought this was the BEST idea. I think this guy nailed it!
Times Newspaper
Dear Mr. President,
Patriotic retirement:
There's about 40 million people over 50 in the work force; pay them $1 million apiece severance with three stipulations:
1) They leave their jobs. Forty million job openings - Unemployment fixed.
2) They buy NEW American cars. Forty million cars ordered - Auto Industry fixed.
3) They either buy a house or pay off their mortgage- Housing Crisis fixed.
All National financial problems fixed!!!
http://www.lshs64.com/enjoytheride.html
TRULY INSPIRATIONAL WORDS TO LIVE BY.
WITH ALL MY LOVE TO MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY,
SARAH