Making Progress
Thank you for all those who have been praying for me. Last night after my doctor’s appointment I began to feel some tightness and pain in my upper chest. I came to the hospital to have things checkout and they decided to keep me during the night. I was actually more concerned about the UTI than any issues with my heart. All the tests did come back positive on my heart. Today they did a CAT scan of my abdomen to see if there are any abscesses in my kidneys. I anticipated some results by now, but we are still waiting.
Debbie has been with me all day and working from the room the best she can. Christian and Bridget and the children came up. Being in the hospital is a tough way to spend some time with your grandkids and their parents. I am glad that I began feeling better around noon. This morning was fairly rough with some fatigue and headache and some of the pain in my chest. I hope to be able to return home early tomorrow depending on the results of the CAT scan and some of the blood and urine analysis.
The doctor just came in to give a report on the tests. The good news is that the kidneys show no new abscesses and the urine is free of any infections. He does believe that there may be some fluid around my heart and that it may be a viral infection that has created the symptoms that I have been experiencing. They do want to do some tests tomorrow as a follow up. I have been in cardiac monitoring unit and will move to a regular room tonight. Outside of all this, it has been like “old home week” seeing nurses and staff that we have known from previous hospitalizations.
BIBLE VERSE FOR TODAY… “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days…..[people] having a form of godliness but denying its power….” 2 Timothy 3:1,5 “You are always on their [the wicked] lips but far from their hearts.” Jeremiah 12:2
Pastor Jeff Lucas was giving some stats on how often people pray and in the list were those who pray at least once a week were agnostic and atheists. It doesn’t take a lot of faith to recognize the reality of God, it is another to experience the life He has to offer and the work He desires to do in our life.
God is not a cosmic reality, He is creator and sustainer of all that exists. His power and work is available to work in lives today. I appreciate the prayers of people during my illness and recovery and believe much of the progress and my survival is because of G0d’s intervention.
Today I was visited by the hospital chaplain that I had met on previous occasions. I have always appreciate this man’s prayers and appreciated that he asked me how I was doing spiritually! What a gift this man is to this hospital.
I also appreciated the prayers of my family. Before Christian and Bridget left this evening we had prayer together. I was touched with Eliana’s (3 years old) prayer. I believe God honors the prayer of children. Christian also shared how their church was moving out in bold belief for God to help people and work in a powerful way in their lives. As a result, they are beginning to see some very specific answers to prayer.
It is one thing to believe in God, it is one thing to “look” godly, it is another to believe in and experience His power in your life. I like this verse from the Prophet Jeremiah: “Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise.” Jeremiah 17:14