Wisdom DateSample

Transition

Four wonderful years passed (1967–71)—years of accelerated spiritual growth, deepening family relationships, and establishing new friendships.

When Bill graduated from seminary in May of 1971, he had no clear direction for ministry, but thought serving a church would be a good beginning so he planned to contact the Virginia Conference of the United Methodist Church at the first of the year. But early in January our lives unexpectedly changed course.

It all began just before dinner one night as Bill took a quick shower. I was finishing the dinner preparations when he called to me from the bathroom. Pale and in obvious pain, he explained that when he switched off the hot water for a cold splash, he had experienced a sudden, severe pain in his left arm.

Dinner forgotten, we hurried to the emergency room. Hours later, we learned he had a blood clot in his arm, and he was admitted to the hospital for treatment and further testing.

The next morning his doctor pulled me aside for a consultation. A severe infection had been discovered in two valves of Bill’s heart, a condition called endocarditis (endō kärˈdītis). When I questioned him about how this could have happened, his doctor shared the probable cause: Bill had reported having a tooth pulled several weeks before. The infection was probably released into his blood stream at that time, settling in his heart valves. He prescribed a hospital stay of up to four weeks with daily IV antibiotic infusions. The doctor was vague about complete recovery, “It will depend on the effectiveness of the antibiotics. We should know in a month.” As he spoke, perspiration was literally dripping off the ends of my fingertips and my heart was crying out to God, “Please help us!” 

Thankfully, I was working first shift and was exempt from weekend duty while Bill was hospitalized. Our lives were re-centered around his hospital room. I packed a sandwich and spent my lunch break with him. Every evening after an early dinner, the girls and I went to the hospital and stayed until the end of visiting hours was announced over the intercom system. On weekends we camped out at the hospital. Susan and Sandy shared school events and their dad played games with them. The girl’s weekend treat was lunch in the hospital cafeteria. January 16 was our twelfth wedding anniversary. We planned a big celebration for the following year when everything would certainly be back to normal.

Every night I prayed that the phone would not ring until morning and continued my intense prayers for his healing.

Every family has times when we are unsure of anything. We chafe in these strange and fearful places and long for things to be normal again. But God is never surprised by our "suddenlies." In our shock, He is our Strength, our Hiding Place, our Confidant. As I look back on these weeks of hospital life, I smile at how intensely sweet they were. We were all carried along in the tender care of the Lord. Today’s Scriptures are about the Lord, Our Help in time of need. He’s holding you, dear child.