Thursday, December 1, 2016

Miracle in December

At this time of year my mind drifts back to December 1st, 1989. I was about to leave work and g home when the telephne rang. I answered and on the line was a long time acquaintance and he could hardly talk without choking up. He is the father of 3 girls and one son. A good father but rather earthy and gruff. He explained his call haltingly and with much emotion:

Two days before he brought his 8 year old son to the doctor because he had not eaten for a couple days and when he tried he vomited it up. The doctor ran a few testes in the office and told them that it would be wise to check ito the emergency at the nearest hospital for further tests. They went immediately. Following X-Rays, blood tests and scans they determined he had a stomach blockage and wanted to run a biopsy. They then put his son to sleep and performed the biopsy of the stomach, brought him back to recovery. after what seemed to be an eternity a doctor came to speak with the father. "Your son is full of cancer, it is too late for treatment. The best we can offer is to send him to the specialist hospital in another city to keep him comfortable until the end. They administered drugs for comfort and sent him to the larger, specialist hospital within the hour. The new hospital ran more tests and verified the original diagnosis and told the father to make the best of the time his son had left.

When his son finally fell asleep his father called me with a request. Joe, we've had our talks about God and such and I always resisted your thoughts on the subject. I really would like to believe there is a God. Can you teach mehow to pray? I don't know how. As a father myself and a fellow human being my heart went out to him. I'd never had a request like that before. And so we began, two scruffy guys, helpless in our own human condition to do our best to pray. And, pray we did, for hours and hours until his son woke up and he excused himself to tend to him. i went home and explained to y wife what happened and truthfully, I don't know if I slept a wink all night.

at work te next morning early as always I wondered if his son may have passed in the night, the condition sounded that dire. I had no way of contacting his father so I went about my work. just before I went home for the evening I recieved another phone call. It was the father. He could hardly talk................

This is what he had to say. His son went back to sleep and they both slept the night not knowing if he would still be alive. The next morning his son woke up and asked for ice cream. He hadn't asked for food in days. The doctor said go anead, it can't do ant harm and may help him feel more comfortable. He ate the ice cream and asked for a ham sandwich. The doctor said go ahead, sometimes the death experience is like a light bulb and shines bright just before burning out for the last time. He ate the sandwich and was fine. The doctor was confused. He ordered more tests and after the tests he ordered a biopsy. After all morning and most of the afternoon, several doctors entered the room and had this to say:

Sir, wehave no idea what went at the oter hospital and then again at this hospital, but all the tests are negative, your son does not have incurable stomach cancer nor any other kind either. Something went wrong with all the tests. Yu are free to go home your son is completely healthy!

His son is alive and well today and has a couple kids of his own that he brings to grampa every week. I don't know if he still prays but I know of one time when he prayed his heart out. And I witnessed it I believe it to be a miracle.
 
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