Archive for the ‘TRUTH FOR THE JOURNEY’ Category

The Anniversary Of A Palm Sunday Miracle! Giving Thanks!

Saturday, March 28th, 2015

On Palm Sunday 24 years ago a time bomb exploded in my chest. I suffered a massive coronary and died. After a visit to Heaven, I was given a second chance at life. I used to ponder, “Why, Lord, did I live to talk about it?” And one day He whispered the answer to my grateful heart…“To talk about it, Karen!” On this the 24th anniversary of my New Birthday, I give Him all the glory, honor, and praise, as I take pause to “remember what the Lord has done”…and share a small portion of my story–His story in my life– by faith in His promise that “We will overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony.”

  
To Heaven And Back- A Palm Sunday Miracle
 

I remember Palm Sunday 1999 like it was yesterday.  It was a beautiful Florida day and a rare Sunday in Real Estate … a  true “day off” after many, many weeks without one. I had been working 24-7 for months on end surviving on coffee and catnaps. Exhaustion had set in. 

It was coming up on Easter, one of the busiest weeks of the year in my business.  “Resurrection Sunday” on the World’s Most Famous Beach, meant the infusion of “new life” into the town’s economy.  City by City, State by State, Spring Breakers, and their families would converge on our shoreline and our office steps! A once-a-year high tide of tourists in search of their dream vacation home would soon be upon us. There would be no rest for the weary.

I made up my mind to close my office doors that gorgeous Sunday.  I gave everyone the day off and started mine with a sunrise walk on the beach before church.  I was married at the time and spent a leisurely afternoon with my husband.  The Art Festival was in town, nestled in the quiet quaintness of the fishing village that surrounded our Ponce Inlet home.   Tom and I spent hours browsing all the booths, then enjoyed a seafood dinner by sunset on the river.  It was a perfect day.  A perfect evening.  Then it happened.

The pain made me sit straight up in bed.  The punch to my diaphragm traveled up my chest and down my left arm, like the slow crushing baby steps of an elephant.  Almost more numbing than the attack on my body, was the realization that I was completely alone! 

Where was my family?  I couldn’t call out to them!  I couldn’t speak!  I couldn’t breathe!  I couldn’t move!  Isolated in the upper corner of the 3,000 square foot beach-side home I was so proud of (and working SO hard to pay for), I thought for a moment how ironic it would be to just die there…alone.

Inching my right hand and arm across the paralyzed left side of my body, I captured, with my pinkie, the loop of the (old-style) phone cord on my nightstand and maneuvered the receiver into position in my lap.  To my own amazement, instead of 911, I dialed the second phone line in our house, in a desperate attempt to be with my family!

My daughter answered from her bedroom and I managed to whisper two words into the receiver…”Get Tom.” 

I’ll never forget the look on his face when he barged into that bedroom, turned on the light, and grabbed the phone from me to call 911. The first to arrive was an officer and a paramedic.  The town’s single ambulance was on another call.  Finding my pulse and blood pressure to be dangerously low, the paramedic began to call for the first available transport from adjoining towns, including the care flight helicopter.

‘You’ve got to hold on Mrs. Mitchell”, the paramedic kept saying, “Help  is on the way.” Yet, from the next room I heard the officer pleading with his dispatcher, “Will you get someone over here…we’re losing her!” 

My daughter’s best friend, a young teenage girl, who was living with us at the time, was clutching me and crying.  I said, “Tammy, no tears honey.  Please…lay hands on me and pray!”  And she did!  It was a Word claiming, power of the Blood, Angel-summoning, victory in JESUS prayer that made me proud of how far she had come in the Lord at such a young age. When she said, “Amen,” the paramedic, wiping tears from his eyes, motioned for the officer to take her out of the room. She did not want to let go. I whispered, “Tammy, it’s okay…He heard you!  I know that He heard you!”

I awoke in the hospital to hear a panicky med-Surg staff discussing their findings that the linings of, not one, but two of my major coronary arteries had spontaneously “unraveled” from within, and were choking blood supply to the heart muscle.  The left coronary artery had a visible, suspicious lesion as well.  “Double Spontaneous Spiral Dissection of the Right Ventricle and the Circumflex”…they called it.  Something I would later learn is only seen in an autopsy!

I remember hearing their words…and fighting to stay conscious. I cried out to the Lord in the quiet of my spirit. “Lord, if this is the enemy trying to keep me from your plans for my life…give me victory!  If this is You calling me home…give me peace.”  It was in those quiet moments of prayer that the most marvelous thing happened.  I saw an Angel!

The next time I opened my eyes, my husband was standing over me.  He had no way to know I heard them preparing him to say “goodbye” to me!  He bravely looked me in the eye and said, “They let me come in to see you for a minute…because you need to go to surgery.” I whispered, “No.  They let you come in to see me because they think I’m going to die.  ”As the color rushed out of his face and the tears welled up, I assured him, “It’s okay.  Really.  It’s all going to be okay. I saw an Angel!”  I’ll never forget his nervous laughter and quick response…”You did?  You saw an Angel?  Hey did ya hear that?  She saw an Angel!  That’s good…that’s real good!”

Next, a chaplain stood over me…smiling a stoic smile.  With the cheeriest voice, he could muster he said, “Hi Karen, I am the Chaplain and they tell me you are a Christian and might like a prayer before surgery.”

“That’s not why you’re here”, I whispered in my weakened voice.  “You’re here because they think I’m going to die.”  

Trying to keep his composure, he gently interjected, “I pray with lots of folks before surgery.”   With all the strength I had left,  I asked him two questions:

“Do you believe in miracles?”“Yes, I do.”, he replied rather quickly.

“Have you ever seen one?”… “I believe they happen every day.”, was his slightly delayed response.

Squeezing hard the hand he had placed in mine, and looking deep into his compassionate eyes, I spoke…”God said if two or more on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by our Father who is in heaven.  Where two or more are gathered in His name, He is there in the midst of them, right”?  “Oh yes,” he replied…”I believe that”! “Good”, I said,…”Then help me, please!  Help me make sure everyone in this room believes it too because you are going to see a miracle tonight!” 

He prayed for me…a beautiful “stadium prayer.” ( if you know what I mean), and when he was done, I said. “My turn!” With all the voice I could muster I prayed for myself…a Word claiming, power of the Blood, Angel-summoning, victory in JESUS prayer…until I could not speak another word.  The Chaplain said “Amen”.

I sensed a new presence over me and turned to see the white-masked face of a doctor.  “I will be performing your surgery.”, he said.”  “Yes, I know, and you have never done one like this before, have you?”  His eyes warmed above the mask as he spoke.  “To be honest, in 29 years of surgery, I have never seen this happen before.  It is extremely rare, spoken of only in books.  But, I know what to do”!

“It’s okay”, I said with a smile and a tear.  “By now you are so prayed up you can’t miss!  Tonight you are going to be part of a miracle.  Tomorrow you will write about ME in your books.”  With an amazed look on his face and a strong grasp of my shoulder, he smiled in agreement.   “Okay then…let’s do this!”

From that moment on,   I began to ask everyone who touched me to prep me for surgery…doctors…nurses…operating room attendants…if they believed in miracles. If they hesitated, my response was,  “Please…if you don’t believe…don’t stay!”

For what seemed like hours (and probably was) I remember praying and singing praise songs in a sleep state.  It was as if every  Bible verse, every praise song. every Promise I had ever taken to heart, just welled up from somewhere deep within and played across a video screen in my mind…comforting me…while the Angel watched.

Between surgery and recovery. they tell me I flat-lined and was brought back several times before 3 grafts were successfully completed,  I was declared stable enough to be moved to Cardiac Intensive Care.  It was there it happened!

I was fully awake, with my husband at my side…when something went wrong.  I started to feel sick…could not keep my eyes open…could not speak!  I was losing consciousness and could not say or do anything about it. I heard alarms, a commotion, and a male voice say, “She’s coding!”   Someone was yelling out decreasing blood pressure  readings, while another yelled, “We’re losing her again.”

CODE 99… CODE 99…the loudspeaker blared through the room into the corridors beyond.

I could HEAR it! And I could hear their voices–every word they said…growing more and more distant, while my OWN voice yelled in silence… “Losing me?  Losing me, Lord?”  

The Heart Monitors blared…… FLAT-LINED!  

Over the persistent drone of the flat-lined heart monitor, the last words I heard from within the room were, “Her husband should not be in here…get the husband out of here.” And then Tom’s voice faded in the distance, firmly declaring. “That is my wife!  Do what you have to do but I’m not leaving!”

I found myself pulled to a place where there was no pain, and there was no fear…just a beautiful valley before me, filled with flowers in indescribable colors that seemed to dance with iridescence,  and a blinding sun shining so brightly that all the yellows appeared white with rays of gold emanating from them.

 There was no sense of loss.  All that I loved seemed to be with me.  Everywhere I looked I saw my loved ones…as well as each of my children…Even my grandchildren.  It was as if my entire family was WITH me in this place–as if I left nothing behind.

 I heard a strong, yet gentle voice calling my name.

Off, as if to the side, I was seeing scenes from my life bursting forth like a fireworks display.  There were flashes of faces… places…situations I had lived through, playing out in Technicolor.  Yet it was not the people or places that were prominent in each scene, nor what I said or didn’t say…did or didn’t do…but rather what was in my “heart” that seemed to matter!  As if God were speaking to me without words, and the condition of my HEART was being revealed to me. 

In one scene I saw my “pride”, in another my “insecurity”, in another “unforgiveness” and yet another “fear”.  In each scene, I would find myself saying, “Wow…that’s what that was!”  There was an incredible peace in finally understanding.  Understanding what matters…understanding what doesn’t–until I saw a scene I hadn’t lived yet.  It was a remarkable scene in which there was nothing but perfect peace and joy and a total sense of well-being and security. There was a calm assurance of love and acceptance…a scene like none I had EVER lived before.

I cried out, “Lord…that is all I ever wanted…..I just didn’t know how to have it!”  Then it occurred to me!  “But Lord…why would you show me this NOW?  Why would you show me something I can’t have?”  I kept feeling drawn to the valley and the fragrant flowers, yet unable to take my eyes off the scene before me.  I cried out again, “Lord, Why are you showing me this?  What does this mean?  Is it possible you are giving me a choice?”  “Is it possible it’s not my time to go?”

Firmly a voice spoke.  “Karen, it has to hurt to stay?”

“Oh Lord”, I found myself saying…”If that is what you had for me…if that is what I’ve missed…then I want to stay!

Again the voice spoke.  “It has to hurt to stay”, and mine responded, “Oh Lord if you are telling me I can stay then I want to!  I don’t care if it hurts!  I want to experience all that you have shown me.  Oh Lord, if such a thing is possible, please let me stay!”

The voice spoke once more…firmly.  “Karen, it has to HURT to STAY.”

While the words still hung on my lips,  “I will accept the hurt Lord, I will accept whatever comes, please, God, I want to stay.” ,  I felt the most excruciating flood of pain and heard myself let out a chilling scream.  Once again it was as if the Lord was talking to me without words, urging me to “HOLD ON”!  I felt, suddenly, that I needed to let go of the struggle…and let it hurt.  To stop cringing and fighting the pain…to cease to react to it…to just let it have me…to hold on to HIM and let go of the rest.

It felt like I was being dragged by an out-of-control freight train speeding downhill through a dark tunnel of agony.  Just when I was certain I could not take another second of it, I heard a voice yell, “She’s breathing”! .Then another, “We have a heartbeat” and still another, “We got her…we got her…” and I remember thinking, yes indeed!  It had to HURT to stay!

I remained on life support for several more days.  A pacemaker kept my heart rhythms steady, and over and over again I sensed a protective Angelic presence in my room.

I am alive again now, 23 years, and I know it was God who let me “stay”. I also know that the “hearing” really is the last to go, because I heard every word, and shocked everyone with a verbatim account of all that transpired in my ‘absence’.  (please always remember that if you find yourself with a loved one whose earthly body is ebbing away. The spirit hears!) 

I know that it’s true that we have ‘free will’ because God let me ‘choose life’! And I know firsthand…that there truly IS no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus because there was no judgment…just quiet understanding!  Understanding what mattered and understanding what didn’t.

I CAN ONLY TELL YOU…BEG YOU…IMPLORE YOU …to hear my heart!  This is not all there is!  I was dead.  Flat-lined for 5 long minutes, yet I never experienced a black or empty moment…only a beautiful ‘other place’!

Before this happened, I was the picture of health!  The surgeon said it hurt him to hold a perfectly healthy heart in his hands…no cholesterol, no plaque…no blockages…no heart disease…just a birth defect…a congenital time bomb…that went off. Only God knows what time bombs lie dormant in us,  or in our path.  Only God knows what we need and when we need it. Only God!

And I can tell you with complete confidence that He has promised He’ll never leave us nor forsake us! 

His Promises are for us ALL! His Love is UNCONDITIONAL and He is FAITHFUL to His Word! God says, “So shall My Word be which goes forth from my mouth. It will not return to me empty, without accomplishing what I desire.”

He says:  “Give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes. Keep them in the midst of your heart, for they are LIFE to those who find them, and HEALTH to all their flesh!”  It was HIS WORD–planted in my heart–that rose up from deep within me to comfort me and deliver me that day.

My first four months after surgery were spent in a bed, and then a wheelchair.  I graduated to a cane for nearly a year. The veins for my triple bypass were grafted from 6 long incisions in both of my legs and the removal of a Mammary artery.  Several attempts to harvest good veins failed before the surgeon was able to successfully complete all 3 bypasses.  As a result, my legs were left with extensive nerve damage.  There was no feeling in my ankles, calves and knee joints, and chest.  Walking was extremely painful…kneeling was almost unbearable… dancing was impossible…and I thought, “Oh yes, it had to HURT to stay.

Several of my ribs were cracked from the CPR performed on my freshly wired rib cage.  I had 3rd-degree blistery burns on my chest and back, from the defibrillator paddles.  It had to HURT to stay! 

My physical limitations made much-loved activities and hobbies impossible for years.  It had to HURT to stay!

My inability to work during my long recovery put tremendous pressure on our finances.  It had to HURT to stay!

And when I looked in the mirror and all I saw were scars…head to toe scars…I didn’t recognize my body. I didn’t recognize my life!  I fought a daily battle with depression!  Yes, IT HAD TO HURT TO STAY!

Time passed. My wounds healed. My scars lightened. My legs strengthened. My finances balanced out.  With time, acceptance of my limitations brought peace to my soul.  I began to realize that the Lord had truly been “Leading me (the blind) by ways I have not known, along unfamiliar paths, guiding me, turning the darkness into light before me and making the rough places smooth.” (Isaiah 42:6)

I’m still learning.  It has to HURT to stay–not just because there’s physical and emotional pain in the recovery process, but because we live in a fallen world, and sometimes the “stuff” of that world will touch our lives.   And because CHANGE is hard.  Yet change is the hallmark of growth…and growth is truly the only evidence of life!  With growth comes growing pains!  I did not come back to stay the same!  I came back to experience all that He has planned for me…like that beautiful scene I hadn’t lived yet.  To know peace, joy, confidence, assurance, love, acceptance…and contentment in the fullness of His Presence.  And, yes… “to talk about it.”

As the days of my second chance have increased in number, I have grown more and more accepting of the things I can not change…less and less concerned with my appearance to others…more and more content with my life…and more and more optimistic about the future. 

I respect the brevity of life, yet I am not afraid to die.  A day on earth is as a thousand years in Heaven!  All that I love was right there with me!  They were already there!

My prayer for you today is that you will:

  •  Make a conscious decision to enjoy every minute of every day as a precious gift
  • That you will choose happiness, health, and joy
  • That you will store his Word in your heart for when you are put through the fire… BELIEVE ME, IT’S TRUE“Out of the abundance of your heart, your mouth WILL speak…” Miracles are born right there!
  • Treasure every relationship.
  • SPEAK LIFE!

I Pray you will:

  • Surrender fear, worry, doubt, and discouragement.
  • That you’ll identify your “Isaac” and dare to lay it on the altar before God telling Him…”All that I have Lord…is YOURS! ”
  •  That you will value every experience 
  •  Testify of every evidence of God’s presence in your life,
  • And tell someone,  “You Matter To Me”!

YMTM!, Karen

All Glory Honor and Praise be yours, Jesus, today and forever more!

May the omnipotence of God be the measure of all your expectations!

© HeCarriesMe.com Excerpt from “Give Me Victory Or Give Me Peace”,  by Karen Michele Mitchell © 1999-2023

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