Let us pray: Our Father, we come before you today in Thanksgiving and give witness to our faith in Your power to heal. May the words I speak and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to You. Amen
I want to share with you my experience with Nancy's recovery because it has been my greatest learning experience. For seventy years, I had lived a very sheltered life. I was raised in a church going family. My faith in the Lord Jesus Christ began as an infant. I memorized John 3:16 before I could read and I said the children's prayer every night. Likewise Nancy and I raised our children the same way. Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep... When I was six years old my father died and I knew immediately without shedding a tear, my daddy was with Jesus in Heaven and Heaven was a beautiful place. I don't know why God didn't save my Daddy as he saved Nancy. This is a question, I can't answer. But I know the Holy Spirit has been with me every step of my life and that prayer has opened my eyes to the Lord's power and grace. Jesus Christ is the ultimate healer for the sick and he healed my Daddy the day he died.
Nancy and I had an adventure this year that has changed us forever. It has made us better people. More sensitive to the Lord and the life he has given us. It began on March 26th when Nancy had an operation to repair an aneurysm on her aorta which had been found at a health screening here at the Church. The aneurysm had increased to 6 1/2 centimeters. We debated telling our children because we didn't want to cause any alarm but fortunately we did the right thing and told them on Sunday. The operation took seven hours instead of 2-3 hours and the operation was extremely complex. Every time the surgeons wanted to do one thing they had to do something else first. The aneurysm burst and there was excessive bleeding. Her spleen was removed. Her aorta was mush, it had the consistency of a roll of wet toilet tissue. During the operation, she was given 6 units of blood and 22 liters of fluid. She had to be closed up before the internal bleeding stopped. Because of a lack of blood, her kidneys, liver, colon, and lungs were damaged. The blood vessels in her eyes ruptured. Her feet were blue. Mid way through the operation, the surgeon stepped back exhausted and said "Lord I need your help". There was renewed strength given to the doctor. This was a miracle. The Lord says: "ask and you shall receive". I believe our surgeon saved Nancy's life because he ask the Lord's help.. At the end of this stressful and traumatic operation, the surgeon said "I don't see how she can make it". He did not expect her to be alive when we reached ICU. My sons Hil and Collin dropped their work and came to Morehead City to take control of our family. Cindy came from Texas the next day.
That evening at the hospital, our friends and pastor Ray were all in a state of shock. They supported us with expressions of love and prayer. The kindness of strangers was up lifting. The doctors were extremely cautious. They advised me to stay at the hospital. That night, Nancy was attended by a nurse named Candy who worked confidently all night balancing one drug with another as Nancy's blood pressure dropped to 45 over 35 and the heart rate went over 160 . Three more units of blood were given
At seven o'clock the next morning, Candy came to the waiting room and said with a snap of her fingers, "I think she is going to make it". I was elated and turned to the doctors for encouragement but they said there were too many things wrong. The surgeon said Nancy needs to do her part. The day nurse worked diligently and he said at the end of the shift he thought she was making progress. She was still listed as not likely to survive. Nancy was turned over to a night nurse who had two other patients assigned. We protested. Nancy needed more intensive care. I believe the Holy Spirit lead my children and me to this conclusion because we are not doctors... A personal nurse was assigned and she worked steadily all night. During the evening while the surgeon and Cindy prayed, Nancy's blood pressure went from 90 to 110. The next morning the doctors said we want to talk with you. I responded isn't Nancy doing her part? They replied "Nancy is doing more than her part and we want to move her to a better equipped recovery facility". They were inspired by Nancy's strong will to live.
Nancy was stabilized and we were sent to Greenville for recovery. While being admitted to Critical Care, I asked the nurse what was Nancy's biggest problem at the moment and she said the veins had narrowed to the point where blood flow was almost stopped. Fluids had leached from the veins to the vascular system. Nancy weighed 50 pounds more than normal. Her hands were like puff balls and her eyes were the size of golf balls. Her kidneys were barely functioning. The nurse reduced the medicines and said in an almost apologetic tone. "Are you all praying people?" I answered yes we are. Then she said "you start praying because we are going to save your wife with our medical treatment and Jesus's healing power". This was a very reassuring moment.
I am blessed with a daughter who is a minister and she became my spiritual advisor. I feel like she is my Nathan as in 2 Samuel 7:4-5 where we read: The word of the Lord came to Nathan saying: "Go and tell my servant David, This is what the Lord Says.." My daughter listens to God and she hears His voice. Like Nathan was a gift from God to David, Cindy was a gift from God to me. We are truly blessed when we have someone who listens to the voice of God and encouraging us in God's ways as my daughter does for me. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we all listened and heard the Word directly. In the gospel of John 10 "The shepherd calls his own sheep by name and leads them out" In Luke 15 Jesus said, "My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me." Having Cindy with me during the early period of recovery was a learning experience worth sharing. She told me about 2 King 20 where God gave Hezeiki 15 more years after being ask. So why not, Nancy? The Bible verses in today's bulletin are a partial list of the readings we used during Nancy's recovery. We followed the scriptures and waited for the Lord to respond. The key words are: abide with the Lord, ask the Lord, receive the Lord's promise and glorify the Lord.
Each day, we were allowed six 15 minute visits and we were careful not to abuse this privilege. We set forth a routine. First, wake up Nancy with a kiss and rub here feet. Second, we read the get-well cards(over 400 received). Third, we read passages from the Bible that Nancy had given me last Christmas and then we closed with prayer focusing on Nancy's specific healing needs. We agreed we would always pray for full recovery. The nightly emails listed specific prayer needs which changed daily and we are grateful for all the thousands of prayers given. She was on prayer lists from Virginia to Florida to Texas. We welcomed everyone's prayers. Black and White, we were very grateful. The first minister to visit was a black evangelist who was leading a revival in Greenville and staying at our hotel.
At the beginning of each day, the lead doctor and interns would wait for us to finish our visit before beginning their work. On April 1st, the staff gave us permission for the four of us to sing Happy Birthday. We had a collage of pictures enlarged so the medical staff would come to know Nancy as a person and not a sick body. As a result, the staff all knew Nancy in healthier times and they welcomed our visits. One staff member said that she was a single parent raising a young child and had only been in church to attend AA meetings and she had been dry for 10 years. I think our visits were an inspiration to her and the staff. There were over 30 doctors and nurses treating Nancy and all were generous with their prayers and support. Theirs was a love in it's purest form. I could call anytime day or night and get the latest medical report. We made it a point to thank each staff member for their loving care. This is what Jesus would have done.
One morning while waiting for our first visitation, I asked the people with whom we were talking to let's join hands and let's say a brief prayer together. This simply gesture was such an uplifting experience that we started a 10:15 prayer circle. At times we would have as many as 40 people join hands. Each morning, I'd invite people to join me in the hall and every time we would have new members. It helped in the beginning that I was wearing a Church shirt and carrying a Bible. More than once, I had to explain: "No, I am not a minister but a retired engineer". Our morning devotions began by holding hands and saying who we were visiting. Then those who wished would say a brief prayer and we would always close with the Lord's Prayer. This prayer circle became very popular. Afro-Americans were the most responsive and others became regular participants after their suspicions were alleviated. On one occasion, a lady waited two hours after her sister died to participate and the prayer she said was awesome. It literally blew us out of the water. By this time, we were joined by the hospital chaplain. Nancy's prayer circle was a wonderful way to start the day. It strengthen us and washed away our fears. Nancy improved hour by hour.
One visitor whose mother had been in Critical Care for over 47 days said "I wish I could do what you do but I do not know how to pray". Does this statement sound familiar? It can be found in Romans 8:26 (In the same way the Spirit comes to help us, weak that we are. For we do not know how we ought to pray. The Holy Spirit pleads with God for us). There were many mornings when I didn't know what I was going to say but the Bible says the Lord knows our prayers before we say them. On occasion, I ask the Lord "am I over my head". From Psalms 107 we read: "I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold and leads you forth the right way and says to you: Do not fear, I will help you".
One day, as I was leaving Nancy's pod, two sisters came up to me and said they had just given permission as the doctors had recommended to disconnect the machines supporting their mothers life. We huddled sadly and I asked Cindy to say a prayer. Later Cindy said she had not said the prayer she should have and we had to go to a Christian book store to purchased a small bottle of healing oil. We returned to the hospital and Cindy gave the daughters the healing oil with instruction on how it was to be used in prayer for their mother. The daughters said the bed literally shook when they applied the oil. The next morning their mother was sitting in a chair beside the bed. The daughter said "it was a miracle, you'd have had to be there to understand'. Her mother went home and died a couple of months later.
There is an article in Newsweek where a doctor said we should not waste money trying to prolong life when death is only hours away. My question to the doctor is: Which of you are capable of such judgment? Our Lord is the only one who has this ability.
After seventeen days, the ventilator was removed and Nancy was moved to Intermediate Care. Five days later she passed the swallow test and her first words where water, water. She got her fill. Two days later she came down with pneumonia.
The North Tower of Pitt Memorial is were the very sickest patients live and I became friends with several families. All were regular participants in our prayer circle. I found no atheist in the North Tower. This reminds me of a World War II cartoon that showed bullets flying in all directions above a fox hole where two soldiers are praying. The caption read "there is no atheist in fox holes". After each visit, we used hand signals to let each other know how our love ones were progressing. A thumb up always brought smiles.
My friend Walter said he felt inadequate in his prayers for his wife Linda. He had prayed in every position and he still wasn't sure he was making progress. I reminded Walter that we all feel inadequate at times. Jesus says in Luke 18 we "need to pray always and not to lose heart". Jesus wants us to be persistent in our prayers. We should never give up. We must always trust in the Lord.
One afternoon I saw Walter softly crying in the hallway. I asked him what was wrong and he said Linda was dying. The doctors had told him to call in the family. I called Cindy in Texas and asked her to pray for Linda. Then I returned to Nancy's room to find a minister at the door. I asked him if he had time for my friend who urgently needed him. The minister comforted Walter and two hours later Linda's lungs re-inflated and the next day she was twiddling her toes. Today she is happy at home living with her husband Walter. She too is a miracle.
After 26 days, we returned home and 16 days later Nancy was back in the hospital with colon problems. We returned to Greenville for a second operation. This was the beginning of another experience that I'll have to tell later.
From the very beginning, I made Nancy my one and only priority and to my surprise I never became tired. Now I know how mothers can sit all night with a sick child and not be tired in the morning. I have finally experienced a labor of love.
This experience has shown Nancy and me three important loves:
How will Nancy and I ever repay all this generosity? We ask the Lord what can we do?... And the Lord says to us in Micah 6:8, "He has shown you, O man (Nancy and Hilton), what is good; and what does the Lord require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?"
Praise God. Amen