LIFE INTERRUPTED (March 23 - April 16, 2018)

The all night drive from Avon, Indiana, to Edisto Island, South Carolina went without a hitch.

We settled into our two bedroom condo, overlooking St. Helena Sound and the Atlantic Ocean, and began to plan for a special week with family. My two granddaughters, ages 11 and 13, were anxious to enjoy another week's visit to this special place.

Indeed, we did enjoy five days of beaches, dolphins, sunsets, table games, and just being family.  Then everything changed.

I was sitting on the deck, watching several dolphins feed at the mouth of Big Bay Creek, when my wife came out with startling news.  Our 42 year old son, the picture of health, had just suffered cardiac arrest in Missouri and was taken, unconscious, to the Cox Medical Center in Springfield,  where the emergency room Doctor indicated that family members should immediately gather.  We, in shock and through tears, packed for a funeral.

The flights from South Carolina to Missouri were a blur of prayers and tears;  pleadings and memories.  Flight attendants quietly slipped me tissues as the tears continuously slid down my face.

Even the lay-over in Atlanta provided a moment of deep pain as I couldn't bring myself to get lunch at the airport Chick-Fil-A because I knew that, surely, that's where he would go.  Just that simple thought caused a deep hurt as I slumped into an uncomfortable airport chair.

Arriving at the hospital, we were led to a small MICU room.  There he lay; linked to life through tubes and needles.  They had induced a deep coma with paralytic drugs and had begun a Hypothermia Protocol.  For the next 36 hours he lay there; body temperature reduced to 91F, cold to the touch, and unable to move.  They were hard hours, waiting for a sign.  Then it happened...he squeezed my hand.

Now, 16 days later, he has returned to the studio, is recovering from the defibrillator implant, and shows no  physical signs of ever being without a heart beat for several minutes.  His life was interrupted but now is back on track with an amazing story of God's grace to share.  Our life, too, was interrupted but we are now back on our peaceful island, planning to enjoy the next three weeks before heading back north.

REFLECTIONS

As I sat inside a beautiful condo, looking out over St. Helena Sound, I notice that the face of the water had drastically changed.  The glassy calm surface with dancing dolphins was now being whipped by gale force winds.  It was the same place, just very different.  

I watched it turn from peaceful to distressed as the winds stirred up its surface.  It is a scene that has been repeated over and over again across the years.  

Once again, my mind reflects on how much that is just like life.  Life interrupted...over and over and over again.  Once again, I am reminded that in a moment our lives can be turned from peaceful and calm into a raging storm.  

Once again, I am reminded of the ONE who calmed and calms the storm with strong words; "Peace be still".  Once again, through the prayers of so many, I am able to say; "To God be the glory, great things He has done.