A Warm Embrace
Shortly after my brief phone call with Steve two nurses arrived to anesthetize me. The friends who had faithfully stayed by my side all day were ravenous so they departed for dinner. Once they left the nurses told me to count backward from ten as they wheeled me into the operating room. In a matter of seconds I was out. It was approximately 5 p.m.
Around 6:30 p.m. I awoke trembling from shock; but the warm blankets wrapped snugly around my body felt like God’s loving embrace holding me fast. Ironically, a newborn is wrapped in a blanket before being handed to his mother. I would never know the joy of holding a newborn in my arms, but I did know the comfort of a loving Father holding me in His.
I glanced to my right and there was my friend again seated in a chair against the wall. She and the nurse had been chatting while they waited for me to wake up. It was good to see a familiar face. She followed as I was taken to my own room to spend the night. We talked for a while and she stayed until Steve arrived around 9 p.m.
With pizza in hand Steve bent down to kiss me and told me he was sorry this happened. Remarkably, I didn’t sob at that point. I was so glad to see him and I was too hungry to cry. Even though I was advised not to eat I did anyway and managed to avoid a rendezvous with the bathroom.
Once Steve was finished eating he took a moment to call my mom and asked her if she was sitting down. He told both she and my sister at the same time that I had a miscarriage and had come through surgery fine. They were stunned of course.
As I looked back on those events, I wondered why I didn’t attempt to contact Steve or my mother at some point during the day. But under those conditions, walking around in a fog, I just didn’t have the presence of mind to do it. Plus, in the process of being ushered all over the hospital I never gave it a thought. I guess I wanted to talk to Steve before talking to anyone else, but he had been in classes all day, and by the time he called I was almost ready for surgery. So that was that. Second guessing myself is useless. It’s over and done.
As Steve and I visited I began to feel a splintering pain in my abdomen that gradually intensified along with tachycardia – my heart rate soared to 130 bpm. A nurse came in, took my vitals, put an oxygen mask on me, and assessed the problem. As it turns out, all I needed was Gas-X! During any kind of internal surgery air can accumulate and get trapped. I felt like Violet Beauregarde — the girl who chewed a forbidden piece of gum in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and blew up into a blueberry-like ball.
Again, I was quick to note God’s sovereignty and provision. If this alarming event had occurred at home I probably would have panicked and made a beeline for the ER. Unfortunately, something happened the next night that forced me to do just that.
THE JOURNEY CONTINUES so stay connected:
Along life’s highway we all encounter grief, heartache and challenges of various kinds in varying degrees. All of it has a higher, larger purpose than we might ever know. Nothing is lost on God, especially since He ordains these events to fulfill His purposes and plans for our lives. These events massage our hearts and souls into a pliable condition that causes us to surrender to His Lordship. It’s called transformation. We like to fight the process because it’s painful. But fighting is futile. We must submit to God and find rest for our souls.
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Life Happens – Jesus Answers is a weekly column addressing the challenges we face in life, coupled with the presence and grace of Jesus, our One True Source of hope and peace. The column’s author, Laura Firtko, can be reached by email here: LifeHappens@pwoc.org
