March 28, 2006--praise and prayer request for my dad

 

I got a message this morning that my mom had called and to call back, and that it was important. Since I hadn't gotten around yet to finding out what the telephone number is for people to call me, and since Mom and I don't talk on the phone all that often and I'd been on e-mail relatively late last night, I was pretty worried, and figured it was something about my paternal grandmother, maternal grandfather, or my sister, Erin. I called Mom, and she said first of all, that everything is now okay, and that I probably thought it was Grandma, Grandpa, or Erin (yep), but it wasn't: it was my dad. He had a heart attack yesterday morning. He's relatively young (57), but it wasn't as surprising as we would like it to be, since he's NOT very fit, and his own dad died 32 years ago of a heart attack. (I don't know how old he was, but in his 50s, I'm pretty sure.)

The praise is that it all happened the way it did: in his office, with people around, much closer to medical help than if he'd been at home or practically any place else he ever is. One artery was 95% blocked and they put a stint in, finished 18 minutes after 911 was first called. The doctor said that he's never gotten one done so fast. There appears to be little or no damage to his heart, and if he behaves himself, there should be no further problems, nor does he need any surgery. My mom was meeting with her spiritual advisor (my mom's a pastor, another long story...) at the time and had "coincidentally" forgotten to turn off her cell phone. When it rang and she saw that it was my dad's number, she just turned off the phone, knowing he knew she was in a meeting. It rang again, though, as she had "accidentally" not actually turned it off, so she answered it. Her advisor drove her to the hospital, which was good, of course. And she reached my sister-in-law who was at a homeschool meeting, and someone immediately prayed with her, doubly good, because my brother is in the Air Force and is deployed, unable to be reached. My sister-in-law was the one who did the googling necessary to track me down. :-)

And prayer request, of course, is for continued healing (he should come home from the hospital tomorrow--I got to talk with my dad, who sounded better than my mom, and I wished them both a happy anniversary, which is today--we're all so glad they're HAVING one!!), and for my dad to really make the lifestyle (diet, exercise) changes necessary to keep him around for awhile.

And another praise, of course, not at all last priority, was how clear God's presence was with me as I got the message and called back. Later in the morning we sang "Blessed be your name", couldn't have had a better song for me today. No matter what, God's name WILL be blessed, and He IS.