Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Angels...

When I was younger my grandmother was someone that I felt like I could trust my life with. To this day I believe she is the greatest woman to ever walk to earth.

When I was 8 my grandma, Evelyn Klepper, was diagnosed with Lymphoma. For anyone who doesn't know, Lymphoma is cancer of the lymph nodes, meaning the bacteria fighters of her body could no longer function like normal making her able to get very sick very easily. On top of that she had also suffered from heart disease for several years along with being diabetic.

My grandma pretty much raised me and my younger brother. I always remember staying the night with her on Saturday nights so I could go to church with her in the morning. She would always read her Bible before she went to sleep. She always treated me like I was much older teaching me to cook, and also to take care of my brother. When she was diagnosed with cancer I really didn't know how to take the news. I was in shock thinking my grandma could be so sick now when just a short time ago she seemed fine.

The cancer had spread quite a bit by the time she started chemotherapy treatments, and the doctors were already questioning the probability of her making it through the battle. She was in Dallas for her treatment which was a 4 hour drive for my family to see her. The first time I saw her I was scared to death. I had never seen my grandma so small and fragile while my whole life I had pictured her as invincible. It upset me to see her this way, and I was angry. How could she get this way? What had she done to be so helpless now? It took me several years to understand it was just her time to go home.

The week before Easter my grandma called my mom and told her she wanted to come home for a weekend. She made all of the arrangements with the doctors and my mom arranged to come pick her up the weekend after easter weekend. She had to get CAT scans and blood work done before she left to come home, and after that she headed back to Childress. On the way home my grandma told my mom she had a dream Easter day. When my mom asked what it was about she went on to tell her she wasn't actually sure it was a dream. "It was just as real as you sitting there" she said. "I was in my hospital bed after before my last chemo treatment, and the room was very white and peaceful. I have never been so peaceful and pain free" My grandma said "There were angels all around me, and they were sticking there hands into me and pulling out the cancer. I could really feel it coming out." My mom's reaction was surprised; She was speechless, what do you say to something so wishful.

When grandma was home we had a great time. She looked good, she felt good, everything seemed to be looking up. I thought maybe she could beat the cancer. The last day my grandma was going to be in town she had a seizure. By the time my mom got her to the hospital she had several seizures. The doctors go her stabalized and my mom, aunt and uncles decided it was time to get her back to Dallas. When they were on their way back to my grandmas apartment in Dallas they stopped by the clinic to pick up her CAT scan results. My grandma kept telling my mom she was tired. When they got her back to her apartment mom my laid her down in bed and went to the living room. She could still see my grandma at this point. She looked in the bedroom at my grandma laying peacefully in bed looked at the TV and when she looked back my grandma had sat up in bed and grabbed her chest. The last thing my grandma ever said was screaming my mom's name. She died in that bed and by the time the ambulance had arrived she was already brain dead because of lack of oxygen. When the paramedics rushed her to the hospital my mom and uncle grabbed her CAT scan results and followed her to the hospital. While they were in the hospital they decided to look at the results to see how bad the cancer was. When they opened the results they found the cancer completely gone.

My grandmother passed away May 1, 2002 of cardiac arrest because of the unneeded final treatment of chemotherapy was too much for her heart. Who would have known the cancer was gone. The last time the doctors checked it covered her body.

The Angels took away the cancer. They took away her pain. She enjoyed the last week of her life. There is no doubt in my mind she is watching over me and my family. She is with us through every triumph and heartache. I love my grandmother.

Once again another example of how the lord works in mysterious ways. One more miracle...

True Beauty...

So many people these days questions faith. How do you know? What if its not there? What will happen to me?

I like to think of it this way, have you ever seen something so beautiful it gave you a chill? How about heard of anyone beating the odds in a 'not going to make it' situation? I recently got a chance to go hiking at a nearby camp. I never thought I would be on top of a mountain, but when I gained enough courage to climb the last 30 almost completely vertical feet, I stood of top of the mountain looking around. Never in my life had I ever felt so accomplished. It was one of the most beautiful sites of my life. The best part about this was that it was all nature. It blew me away that something so natural could make me feel this way. I know that there is only one thing that could create something so beautiful and allow people to see true beauty. The lord works in mysterious ways. Even when you are in a rough place in your life, he shows you he is there. God will never give you more than you can handle, but he will show you what you are capable of.

When your life is hard you just have to see the beauty of it around you and know that everything happens for a reason and makes you who you are today.

Footsteps In The Sand

One night a man had a dream.
He dreamed he was walking along the beach with the LORD.
Across the sky flashed scenes from his life.
For each scene, he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand:
one belonging to him, and the other to the LORD.

When the last scene of his life flashed before him
he looked back, at the footprints in the sand.
He noticed that many times along the path of his life
there was only one set of footprints.
He also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times of his life.

This really bothered him and he questioned the LORD about it:
"LORD, you said that once I decided to follow you,
you'd walk with me all the way.
But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life
there is only one set of footprints.
I don't understand why when I needed you most you would leave me."

The LORD replied:
"My son, My precious child, I love you and I would never leave you,
During your times of trial and suffering,
when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you."

Author unknown