Prayer Warrior

Sometimes the hand of God is more evident in our lives than others, but we know that He will never leave us. (Heb. 13:5). As we begin a new year, it’s good to remind ourselves to make every day count for the Kingdom. David said, “Teach us to number our days that we can present to You a heart of wisdom (Ps. 90:12).”  The following testimony was written by Donna Nelson, a Watchman Prayer warrior and Wall Captain.

Donna’s Story

It was to be a quiet week of relaxation to slow down a bit and celebrate my birthday and our 55^th anniversary. As we drove up Route 75 to Amelia Island on the northernmost tip of Florida’s east coast, it was quiet and relaxing. My hubby always does the highway driving, so I was reading or doing crosswords.

The day was bright and sunny. We found a motel and toured around the island–an old, historical town. We spent two full days there, and then decided to travel down the east coast, staying a day and night at several places on the beach.

We had traveled for several hours and couldn’t find the beach for all the tall sand dunes and high rise condos. I suggested we travel back to our side of the state and find a place on Anna Marie Island where we were familiar and could enjoy the Gulf for a few days. So, we headed across to the Gulf side.

By the time we reached the island, it was nearly 8:00 PM. We stopped at several places to find a room to stay a few days, but all the offices were closed and no one was around. We were ready to head home when that little voice in my head said “two blocks on the right.” I told Wayne “two blocks on the right.” He drove two more blocks, and at the Blue Waters Resort, there was a light on in the office. I went in and asked the lady at the desk if they were still open. She said that she usually closed at 8:00, but was running a little late. She had a room for us to stay. We thanked our Lord for His perfect timing and took the room for four days. That was Friday night. We were supposed to check out on Tuesday at  10:30 AM.

At 5:00 AM on Tuesday, I woke with a bad side ache. It got worse, and by 5:30 I woke my hubby and told him that we needed to get to the hospital.

We were minutes from Blake Hospital, and he didn’t waste any time getting there. We checked right in. They scanned me and said I needed an appendectomy. We were in the emergency room waiting to go to surgery. Wayne was sitting by my bed calling our daughter who is an English literature teacher and was in class. He was calling the school office to leave a message that her mom was in the hospital.

He was talking, and suddenly his voice sounded garbled. I looked over at him, and he was sliding out of his chair. I shouted, “HELP!” Some young men rushed through the curtain and caught him before he hit the floor, put him on a gurney and took him into the next cubicle. I heard all this rushing around and scuffling, wondering what was happening. The hospital doctor came in to me and said, “Before you go to surgery, I want you to know what’s happening with your husband. We lost your husband, but we have him back. He is coherent and talking to us, but still critical.”

Being a little incoherent myself, because of being prepped for surgery, I took it better than I might have otherwise. But our poor daughter, who was there by that time, watched her father go through the resuscitation and was quite shook up.

Doctor Pizzo, his heart doctor, put in a cardioverter/defibrillator, and he was back home in four days. He is doing quite well, and so am I after losing my appendix and almost losing my dear hubby. If it hadn’t been for our Lord’s good timing, we may have both gone Home by now.

If his heart had stopped on the way to the hospital while driving, we could have had a bad accident. If he hadn’t been in the emergency room, our doctor said, there wouldn’t have been time to revive him. The story doesn’t end there!

A few days after we were home, our daughter and two granddaughters and their two little dogs had moved in to care for us. Wayne and I were sleeping on the pull-out couch for convenience, and the little Chihuahua and Papillion were sleeping in their cages. The Papillion is a great little guard dog – who never awakes before 7:00 or 7:30.

At 5:30 AM she barked once. Carrie came out to check and couldn’t wake me. I’m a diabetic and my blood sugar had dropped drastically. She took a reading and it was 50, then dropped to 31.

She and our 14 year old granddaughter sat me up and poured orange juice down my throat, getting most of it inside. It took awhile to get my hands and feet to work. Finally the brain got help from the juice and returned to life.

The little dog was the cause of waking everyone. She had sensed that something was wrong. It was not a coincidence she woke early that morning.

I don’t believe that things just happen. I know God is in control, and He is active in His children’s lives. Looking back over all the incidents, we can see His working with perfect timing.

He lead us to that motel on the island, woke me early with a pain in my side so we’d be at the hospital at just the right time. He gave us good E.R. people who knew what they were doing and really cared. Our daughter and girls who had moved down to Florida were here for us, and the puppy woke everyone to save me from going into a diabetic coma. We KNOW He loves us. He proves it to us every day !

God is not locked into time, but He cares for us who are. ♥