Ah, an ocean beach… To me there’s nothing quite as relaxing as looking far out onto the horizon and seeing nothing but water stretching on and on and on. And the sound… If waves lapping onto the beach don’t put you into a type of sleep-induced coma, nothing can (in my opinion, of course).
So Gary, Jeffrey and I were really looking forward to our weekend planned at Ocean Shores in Washington state. It had been a tough couple months with Jeffrey’s surgery (My Cup’s A Fillin’ Up), and then Gary’s anxiety episode when I had to rush him to the hospital (Slam! Back Down We Go), and we were all looking forward to getting away for a long weekend.
We drove to the beach after Gary got off work early on Thursday; had a wonderful evening and then a good night’s sleep. Friday rolled around, and we relaxed mostly hanging around the hotel room since it was tough getting Jeffrey onto the beach in his wheelchair.
When bedtime came we got Jeffrey all settled in his roll-out bed in the living room and Gary and I went into our bedroom to watch a movie on TV. All of a sudden we heard a weird type of scream coming from Jeffrey, so we rushed over to his bed to find him thrashing about – he was having a seizure! His little body was shaking convulsively, and his eyes were fluttering open and closed. Even though Jeffrey’s neurologist had previously informed us that he had experienced seizures prior to his birth (Continuing Forward), this was the first time that we had actually seen him have one – and he was 9 years old!
Immediately a type of dread filled me as we stood there helpless – what should we do? I knew Gary was experiencing the same fear, so I right away laid my hands on our little boy and began to pray. Gary did likewise.
After what seemed like an eternity (in actuality it was about 30 seconds), Jeffrey stopped shaking, and looked directly at me with a type of smile on his face. He then fell into a peaceful sleep. Amazingly enough, Gary and I also were filled with a certain type of peace, and we went back to bed and fell asleep also!
The next morning we still felt peace, yet we figured we better let Jeffrey’s pediatrician know what had happened, so I called his doctor’s office and spoke to his nurse. She took down all the information, and then a few days later we had an EEG performed in the neurologist’s office, which ended up indeed showing seizure activity. They placed Jeffrey on seizure medication. However, the doctor gave us hope that this might have just been a fluke, so very possibly we could take him back off the meds in a few months – hurray!
Now I know I’ve said this before – and I’m sure I’ll say it again – but no experience is wasted with our great God. Because this little occurrence during our trip to the beach turned out to be a great witnessing tool!
How many times have people asked you: Well, how was your weekend? Well this time when people asked, and then we gave them our answer, their mouths dropped wide open. Then the questions would come: What did you do when you saw that happening – call 911; take him to the emergency room?
Well of course we were honest, and said: We started praying.
Now please hear me – I’m not saying everyone should do as we did. If we weren’t feeling total peace through our prayers, we would’ve certainly taken different measures. But as it was – God may not have parted the Red Sea for us, but He sure gave us a miracle!
Philippians 4:6-7 tells us that we’re not to be anxious, but to pray and present our requests to God. Then His peace, which is beyond our comprehension, will guard our hearts and minds. He will show us what to do – we just need to listen!
The God Of All Comfort 