Seven weeks out - and the topic of peace

We are now seven weeks out from Mike's saddle pulmonary embolism, and are only now really starting to contemplate and think about some of the possible outcomes and ramifications of that major health and life event. 

We are in a "new normal" of sorts.  Mike can get out and do work around the house and farm, but not to the degree that he used to be able to.  He has to stop and put his leg up for awhile every now and then.  And he has to wear an elastic stocking at all times (other than sleeping).  The next trip we take, we will have to stop at least every two hours and walk for ten minutes or so.  The doctors think that our trip to New England in June may have silently triggered this entire episode.

One of the things that really amazed us is that in the emergency room and coronary care unit that night, neither of us really had any fear.  And it wasn't because we didn't know what the possibilities were.  We both recognized that he could easily have gone on to heaven that night.  The doctor who admitted Mike said upfront, "I'm putting you in CICU because I know how quickly a saddle embolism can go south."  

Just today I was reading a recently discovered Elisabeth Elliot book (I thought I'd read everything she ever wrote, so finding this one was a treat) titled All That Was Ever Ours, published 1988, and on page 151 she writes the following:

"To make peace with a country or a person or God requires a transaction.  To have peace, as people sometimes say. . .must mean that a transaction has taken place.  One's will, along with everything else, has been offered up.  Peace is the divine answer to our Yes, Lord.

"Colossians 3:15 suggests that the peace of Christ is the 'arbiter' of our hearts, ruling out all faithless response to trouble, all distress, anxiety, fretfulness, frustration, and resentment.  It establishes order.  Those who accept the grace of this gift know tranquillity which can withstand all assaults, a stillness unbroken by the world's noise, and a repose in the midst of intense activity--repose which a nerve-racked world cannot possibly give.  For only Christ himself, who slept in the boat in the storm and then spoke calm to the wind and waves, can stand beside us when we are in a panic and say to us Peace.  It will not be explainable.  It transcends human understanding.  And there is nothing else like it in the whole wide world."

Elisabeth Elliot says it better than I ever could.  But that is why there was no panic in that ER room.  It was peace that passes understanding.  And I am thankful for that as much as for the fact that Mike is still standing upright today.

Friday's Fave Five, 9/18/26

 

Linked to Susanne's Space - host for FFF

                    

1. Last night we went to the banquet for our local women's rehab ministry for women with drug and alcohol addictions, where I teach on Fridays.  Almost a thousand people were there.  One girl who is going to graduate soon gave her testimony.  Mike and I helped her with it, both to shape it and practice saying it out loud.  We were a little nervous for her as she broke down often while practicing it, and had a tendency to just read straight through.  Well, last night was amazing.  She absolutely crushed it and you could have heard a pin drop in that arena.  She got a standing ovation at the end.  It was a wonderful story of redemption through Jesus Christ, and was a blessing to all who heard it.

2. Mike's leg continues to heal.  He's had no more problems from the pulmonary embolism, and no breathing problems, but the leg (which was the original clot) has not healed yet.  It is probably going to be months.  But he got a stronger elastic sock this week and has been a good boy about alternately resting and walking.

3. Baby Bop is back.  We kept our precious Little Miss last weekend, and Baby Bop accidentally got left at our friends' house.  I got it at church Wednesday night, so did get a few laughs and smart remarks from people there, but I just told them it was my emotional support stuffie, and that worked fine.  :-)

4. We fed the college students, from the class we've been helping in, on Sunday at those same friends' house, and I took a taco casserole recipe that everyone really liked.  I even got comments on Wednesday night about it.  So that is a keeper and I will make it again when we feed the students!  And probably at home also.

5. Made it to the gym three times this week and walked a mile each time.  It is a good feeling.

Thank you for reading!