Much to be Thankful For!

This Thanksgiving was shaping up to be one like any other. Eat with family, unbutton pants, groan in misery, eat pie, sleep. But on Tuesday night, we got a call that Tate's dad, Sterling, was not doing well and would not make it to morning. Sterling's health has been declining very quickly, and we know his time is short, but we were not prepared for this. As most of his loved ones were gathered around him, grieving him, thinking of all the "if only I'd told him this", God was working a miracle. It dawned on my mother in law that she couldn't hear his oxygen coming through the tubes. He is on an extremely high concentration of oxygen. After a flurry of events, and calling the right people, we found out his oxygen concentrator was not functioning correctly.

I remember looking at Sterling and noticing how fast he was breathing, trying to get one good breath. I thought about how fast I breathe when I run, and how his breathe was at least 10 times faster than that. I tried to mimic his breathing, but couldn't do it, I couldn't fill my lungs even while sitting there. My heart broke for him, and I prayed God would make it quick. The color in his face was gone, already being replaced with the gray ashy tone of death.

But after one adjustment to the machine, we could all hear the gush of oxygen into his lungs. IMMEDIATELY, life was blown into him. His clear blue eyes opened, color returned to his face, and his breathing slowed. He even cracked a joke. The quiet stillness in the room was gone. Joy and excitement flooded all of us for the life that was extended. What was about to be a deep sorrowful beginning to the thankful and rejoicing holidays, was replaced with joy and thanksgiving. As I left his house early that next morning, I remember thinking about how perfect God is. Even if He had taken Sterling at such a special time of year, that His timing is perfect. But how THANKFUL I was that He gave grace, that He blessed our family with the life of Sterling. Everyday we should give thanks for all that we have, not just one day in November.