My 9/11 is 8/23

Eight. Twenty-three. Two thousand twelve. What were you doing on that day? My day was planned to start back to Thursday morning Bible study that I had looked forward to all summer long after Aubri was born. Keith was taking Shelli to get some teeth extracted for her braces that she was soon to get. And for lunch we were going to celebrate Marli's twelfth birthday anywhere she wanted. Well, the morning went just as planned on into lunch. Marli chose Little Tokyo. I pushed through the meal, though, pretending with everything I had in me that I was having a good time. I tried so hard not to ruin her birthday. We finished the meal, and I barely made it to the car. Keith put his foot down and said, "That's it. I'm taking you to the emergency room."

 

You see, I had Aubri just eight weeks before and I thought I was just not recovering from her birth. I was more than fatigued. I had head aches, body aches and just strange things happening to me. I thought I had West Nile. Keith made arrangements for his sister, Angie, to keep the kids for the day and to make sure Shelli was going to be okay with her medicines. When we dropped them off I just stayed in the car not knowing that it was going to be the last time in over a month that I would hug them without wires hanging out of me.

 

Longer story made a little shorter, when we got to the emergency room and was finally seen by a doctor I was critically ill. Wait. I was dying? No, I'm supposed to have the flu or West Nile. They knew something was severely wrong but did not know what. All they knew was that I needed immediate blood transfusions or I was going to die, and that I needed to be airlifted to University Medical Center in Jackson. 

 

I have no account of time for the next hours or days because it all runs together. I saw so many doctors, nurses, and fellows. I was poked and prodded. I think every ounce of blood that I received in the transfusion they drew right back out of me to test. I felt like ET and Elliot at the end of the movie when they were doing all that testing and nobody knew what was wrong. At first they said I had TTP, a rare blood disease, but they were not exactly sure. They had to do one certain test to determine if it was TTP or aHUS. After a while it was determined that I do in fact have aHUS, atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome. Basically, I'm allergic to my blood. Not really, but my red blood cells spontaneously burst upon being made. By body will eventually turn on itself and my organs will shut down.

 

My 9/11 just became 8/23. My world was crashing down around me. Was I even going to make it at this point? My mind was running everywhere just as people were in New York City that day scrambling for help. Lives changed forever. Life as they knew it would be no more. Life....as I knew it....would be no more. I did not exactly what that would be. I did not know how to plan.

 

For the next twenty-eight days on the 5th Floor I made my home. I took twenty-three apharesis treatments and two rounds of chemotherapy. They gave me a plethora of drugs to keep me alive and to help me combat the affects of the drugs and treatments I was receiving. I made friends with the all the staff. I began to look forward to "what the new plan of the day" was going to be since yesterday's plan didn't work on me. My daily platelet count was a highlight of the day, too! It told me how much closer I was to dying or how much closer I was to living another day.

Plasma Exchange - Apheresis Treatment

It separates the blood into three parts. For me, it took out my bad plasma and put in good plasma. My body was resistant. Hence, the good steroids, Benadryl, Tylenol, and chocolate milks to help with reactions. Each treatment was about two hours long depending how reaction of my body. These were exhausting and traumatizing to the body.

 

Off all the things that I had imagined in my mind lying in the emergency room, this was NOT IT! I can barely understand exactly what it is that I have. How am I going to explain this to people? It is so complicated, and so rare. So rare, in fact, that in 2012, only 300 cases in the United States had been documented and 500 in Italy. Now given the population of both the US and Italy, that is 800 cases in about 375,000,000 people. That 800 is on the right side of that first comma folks. That is a tiny amount of people, and I am one of them. And to further this rarity, there is only ONE drug that keeps us 800 people alive. ONE DRUG! You take an infusion and it only lasts for fourteen days and you go get it again. Soliris is its name. You won't find it on the $4 list at Wal-Mart. The cost of this ONE drug to keep us special 800 people alive each time we go is $99,999.99! It ain't cheap. If you need to see the bill, I will be happy to show you. It's the most expensive drug on the market. And who is blessed to have this rare disease, ME! MISSY!

 

I want to share more this week about my time in the room and how the Bible gave me such strength it was divine intervention. I want to share about being a mother during that time. I will share my heart on control issues and small stuff. God taught me a lot in that hospital room. So stay tuned. This is installment of ___, I don't know. I'm just thankful I'm here to write out my story.

 

Praises Y'all!

 



You know what they say about assume...

I would like to share a story with you if you don't mind. I promise it is a short one. It goes like this...

 

There was once two guys who had been friends since grade school. They spent countless hours together on ball fields and got into more trouble than two friends ever should. They graduated high school together, roomed together in college, and were even room mates after college for a little while.

 

Eventually, each of the guys moved on with his life only catching up a "big life events". One of the friends married his college sweet heart. They moved back home, got into church, and started their family. He became the definition of a godly man and father. His wife and children adored him, and he had much respect in the community.

 

The other friend, well, he lived life in the fast lane. He had a high-dollar career, went to every a-list party there was, and could have any woman he wanted. He, however, was lonely and empty. He had no friends of value and his family had little contact with him. His life had no meaning.

 

Ironically, the two friends were home for a mutual friend's funeral and they went out for dinner afterwards to catch up on life together. On the way home, they were in a car accident and they were both killed instantly. The first friend, the one with the family, had accepted Jesus as his Savior and he went to Heaven. The second, sadly, had not and he went to hell. Just before the first friend entered the gates of Heaven, he looked down and saw into the pits of hell. He saw the horror, the flames, and he heard the screaming and tormented souls. But above all the screaming he heard a familiar voice, his friend's voice. His friend was crying to him saying, "Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you tell me about Jesus? Please, if you ever cared about me, please go make sure my family knows! I don't want them to ever see this place. It's the most horrific place you could ever imagine! The sound is deafening! I'm so thirsty. So thirsty. Please go tell them. Hurry!" The first friend was devastated when he realized what he had done, or more so what he had not done. He crumbled at the gates and sobbed.

 

You see, not once in their entire friendship did they ever discuss Jesus. The first friend just assumed the other knew. I mean, they grew up in the same town, right? They went to the same church, the same vacation Bible school, church camps, Bible. Why didn't Friend #2 know? Was he not listening? He was paying attention to Satan and his attempts to distract him. He chose not to listen. We can never, NEVER, assume that our best friends, our family, knows the Gospel. Never assume anyone knows about Jesus. If you share with them and they are a believer, or if they have heard, then consider it practice for the next person you share with. Just share!

 

"There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fated sumptuously every day. But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus full of sores, who was laid at his gate desiring to be with crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores. So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. And being in torment in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

Then he cried and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flam. But Abraham said, Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things, but now he is comforted and you are tormented. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.'

Then he said, 'I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father's house for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.' Abraham said to him, 'They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them.; And he said, 'No, father Abraham, but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.' But he said to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded through one rise from the dead.'  



Guilty as Charged! (Part Deux)

I sure hope the last blog post resonated with you, even if just a little bit. Better yet, I hope it challenged you. A missionary (I'm not sure if I can name him or not for security purposes) in our class challenged us to share the Gospel with at least one person each week. So, I issue that same challenge to you. Pray for those opportunities. You will be astonished who God will place before you if you are willing to be His hands and feet.

 

Now, on to "Part Deux."

 

Sometimes sharing the Gospel with a perfect stranger is as difficult as "a camel passing through the eye of a needle", but for some, when comparing sharing with a stranger to sharing with a family member, it is like giving candy to kid. Family is the most difficult to share with, I believe, for a number of reasons.  Personal example. Apparently, in Keith's high school days he had quite the reputation of being a wild one. Then we met up and got married and he settled down, or slowed down, for a little bit. After a while, old feathers started ruffling and he began to fly again. Then, once he met God, like for real this time, not just a "VBS raise my because everybody else is" kind of salvation, it was hard for people, family, even me, mostly to change their view of him and to accept anything he had to say about Jesus seriously. He tried to share but the skepticism was still present. Poor thing even went to Baptist seminary because he knew God had a call on his life to minister to others and people (family) still would not take him seriously. Why? Because they could not let go of who they knew him to be pre-Jesus. Shelli and Marli still have a hard time giving him authority on biblical matters because of who he used to be.  ***Side note this if free. Let's remember that because Jesus and His Almighty has saved you and has wiped your slate clean, does not mean that these earthly beings can do the same as easily. This is part of the consequences of sin. You must wait on the acceptance and forgiveness. Sorry. You did the crime. You pay the time.

"But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house." Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief." Matthew 13:57

 

Sometimes it is so hard for us ourselves to let go of our pre-Jesus selves that others will never see the post-Jesus in us. I'm not saying that is the case with Keith, but it is true a lot of the time. Hang-ups are what I'm talking about. Some feel that even though they have been worth the King of King's death on a cross that they are still not worthy to tell of the wondrous story He gave them. Some are still hanging on to a bit of pride that they cannot get past telling that old drinking buddy what Jesus did for them by saving their marriage and family. Some can't get past the what they think others think of them. Some are like Moses and claim the "I can't talk right" excuse. Excuses are endless...afraid of public speaking, afraid of strangers, lack of knowledge of Scriptures..... It ain't rocket science. What are you afraid of? Are you afraid you are going to mess up the Gospel?

 

Let me tell you that you cannot mess it up. It is all the work of the Holy Spirit when salvation is involved. You could speak French with a wad of peanut butter in your mouth and a Spaniard would understand if the Holy Spirit is calling him to salvation! We are just God's tools. We have to get past us and understand it is nothing we do! It is all the work of the Holy Spirit! We give ourselves way to much credit on this salvation business.

 

Or maybe it is that you are one of the one's afraid of rejection? No one likes to get told no, right? Again. They are not denying YOU. They are denying Jesus Christ. Please humble yourself for a split second and realize that first, the Gospel is about sharing Jesus with a soul who will spend eternity in Hell if he does not accept Jesus as Lord and Savior and become His disciple. You are no where in that equation. You are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. (I assume. If not please contact me, I will come to you.)

"He must increase. I must decrease." John 3:30

All we are called to do is plant the seed. The harvest may be ours to see and reap, or it may not. We live in this Western culture where if we do the work, we want to see the results, AND get the credit for it. Well, God does not work that way. He allows us to be a part of HIS work and HE gets ALL the glory and credit. And because we love Him, we delight in seeing His work being accomplished. We delight in doing His work.  

"I delight to do Your will, O my God, and Your law is within my heart." Psalm 40:8

I have watched ones like Keith come out of his past and never hold back to share the Gospel with anyone and everyone. I have watched in awe those with the gift of evangelism like Judy, a dear friend of mine, who can witness the Gospel to someone probably better than Jesus himself could. I have watched children sharing and elderly sharing. Ms. Josie from Kenner is so sweet and if you ever meet her your chances of going to Heaven just tripled. Seeing someone sharing the Gospel is an awesome thing. But to actually be a part of it, well, it is even awesomer! Yeah, I know. So what on the grammar. For someone to really understand that she is totally loved no matter what she has done, or what has been done to her, and to see tears of pure joy trickle out of her eyes, and to hear her say, "Thank you for sharing with me." That's one of those earthly gifts that is priceless that I am pretty positive I may get to carry with me to Heaven.

 



Guilty as Charged!

Sundays are refreshing to me, well, once we finally get to church after the chaos of getting dressed, deliver the kiddos to their Sunday school classes, and hike it up to the Sunday school room and pick out chair to sit down and breathe!  In our Sunday school we are going through Corinthians, so you normally know what the lesson is going to be about but it is always fresh and we always have an enjoyable time. And I'm always anxious to hear what Bro. Greg is going to preach on and what little snip-it he is going to get in about his Georgia Bulldogs. But today, our regular teacher was out and Stan filled in (great job, by the way) and we had a lesson about sharing the Gospel. Bro. Greg's sermon was also about the Gospel as well.

 

In Sunday school, Stan had us break up into paired groups and gave us instructions to sum up our testimony into one minute. The purpose being in mind that we need to be prepared for that brief interaction with a stranger to share Jesus and the Gospel with them. We may only have a minute or two and then that moment or person may disappear from our life forever.

 

Anyway, after a few laughs here and there, we paired off and got on our daunting tasks of summing up God in one minute. Do you know how difficult that is? One minute passes like molasses while you are waiting on the stop light to turn to green, but when you are trying to share the Gospel in less that one minute it passes like a flash of lightning! Stan started the timer and stopped it when it got to sixty seconds. I was almost finished when he said stop. Rats! I so wanted to get 'er done!

 

We then had an open discussion on what is the best way to share the Gospel? Some of the answers included: "live a good life"..."live it out"..."know Scripture"..."share your miracle"... All great answers. But how do you live out a good life to a stranger that is in your life for just that one brief moment? Another point brought up, so many religions make a point that "living a good life" is the way to the after life. And anybody can quote Scripture, right? The Jehovah Witnesses do, and better than we (Baptists and evangelical Christians) do might I add.

 

So, exactly what is "the" Gospel? Most are taught John 3:16 at a very early age in these parts. You know it by heart. I can just hear my younger VBS self reciting that to get a sticker on my memory verse completion chart. John 3:16 is great. I mean, Jesus said it himself. This memory verse that we most often learn tells us the benefits of believing the Gospel.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16

The Gospel is a set of facts that MUST believed in order to gain that everlasting life. You cannot believe just one of them. You must believe ALL them. You must believe that God sent his son, Jesus to earth. Jesus was born of the virgin Mary. Jesus was sent to pay the debt for all mankind's sin. And to pay that debt, He (Jesus) was crucified on a cross, buried in a borrowed grave, and yes, rose from the dead three days later.

"For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve.  After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep.  After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. The last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time." 1 Corinthians 15:3-8

Now, if you are a believer, I ask you, "how many times have you shared this story?" In the South, we are taught to "you preach your funeral everyday" and "people are watching." Are we using this as a cop-out for not actually sharing the Gospel? If God sent a jury down, what would your verdict be? Mine? Guilty as charged! I am not a confrontational person. I do NOT like to jump into a person's business as much as I like knowing it. I prefer to build a relationship, and then ask the question about her eternal destination. But you know what, I don't always have days, months or years to do that. I think Keith said it best when he said, "You don't need a seminary degree to share your testimony. This should be the easiest thing you ever say because it's the greatest thing that ever happened to you."

 

I praise God for my gift of salvation. I praise God for my testimony (though, honestly, between you and me, I would have picked out an easier story to play out on my life...lol).