Psalm 25 & Psalm 46

Adam's perspective:

It started out a pretty average day, with the usual activity. Mom looked bright and smiley, as she normally does in the morning. Dad, Will, a friend, and I had some errands to run in Bellingham, so we yelled goodbye to everyone in the house and took off. We had been in Bellingham for about an hour and a half when we got a call from Krista saying, "Mom won’t talk to us." We figured she must be deep in prayer, so didn’t think much of it. When we got home, we ran up to check on mom, and were, quite literally, shocked. She was mostly paralyzed (had completely lost the use of her right side), and could not talk. Dad yelled at me to call an ambulance, and I quickly ran downstairs to do so. I then ran to clear the driveway for the ambulance. I really want to thank Lynden Fire Dept, as they were so quick to respond and were there by the time I had moved my car! Praise God! Dad went with mom in the ambulance, and I called the family to prayer. My sister-in law Melissa drove us to the hospital, and I spent most of the way there calling everyone in my dad’s cell phonebook, begging for prayer. I called my sister Miranda, and she hit the road from Portland Oregon area.

Upon reaching the hospital, we received very little news from the ER desk, so we waited in the waiting room for about 15 minutes before Dad came in. The diagnosis was a stroke by the time she had made it into the hospital, and it had already hemorrhaged, leaving few options. Dad opted for surgery. All the kids got to spend 10 minutes with mom before she was taken into surgery. We spend that time praying over her as a family. During those prayers she responded better than she had through the whole ordeal—she opened her eyes, and I saw a tear escape. That indicated that she had retained enough of her functions to understand what was going on. The nurses were convinced that was a really good sign.

Surgery took about 2 1/2 hours, and I knew by that time that hundreds of prayers were being raised for her all over the country. We definitely spent our time before the throne of grace too! We were blessed by Dad’s co-worker, Clary, who came to comfort him, as he too had undergone the same procedure in 1991. What a blessing—it gave us hope! Clary didn’t recover 100 %, but our hope was renewed nonetheless! Krista Lebrant came to comfort us too, and strengthened us through the Word. Jeff & Connie Brink came too, and greatly encouraged us. By the time Mom came out of surgery and into ICU, Mr. & Mrs. Criss, Mr. Murphy, and the whole Clark brigade had made it to ICU waiting room, warmly receiving us. We held a group prayer in the waiting room, praising God for Moms successful surgery, and praying for her complete healing and recovery. When I went in to see her after surgery, I talked to and prayed over her, and she responded, even while under sedation! Her blood pressure rose while I was speaking, and dad said that was a good sign. I got teased later that I raise dead people’s blood pressures. Whatever. :-) We are now waiting on God and praying.