You Never Know What a Day Will Bring

There are events in all our lives that are game changers. You never know when or where they are coming, but once they do, life is never the same.

It doesn’t mean life can’t be good again—sometimes even better—but when you look back over your life, these events stand out as pivotal points. They change our thinking, our perspective and our priorities.

As I look back over my life, I can clearly see a number of them:

• the carefree summer day my high school boyfriend made a split second decision that left him paralyzed in a diving accident.
• the evening service at a church camp where I accepted Jesus as my Savior
• the two special days, less than two years apart, that I gave birth to my children
• the devastating day, less than a week before Christmas, that my first husband came home from work and announced he wanted a divorce.
• the day, just six months after our marriage that I discovered that my current husband had had a major—month long— sexual addiction relapse.

Each of these events, whether positive or negative, redefined me. I was never the same person again.

A FRESH  EXAMPLE

Last week, just days after our sixteenth wedding anniversary, my husband and I ran smack dab into another one of these life-changing events.

Bruce had been experiencing some shortness of breath over the last few months. He’s always been a shallow breather, but there was something different about this. I noticed that he often seemed to be breathing exceptionally fast. He would get winded, doing the simplest things. He chalked it up to having recently added a number of pounds to his already less than ideal body weight. We both made nods to the idea that maybe it was time to get back to eating a bit healthier and getting a little more activity, but we hadn’t quite gotten there yet. Life’s busy you know.

Tuesday morning seemed like every other morning. The alarm rang. We drug ourselves out of bed and plodded through the morning routine. We were oblivious to the turn our day was about to take.

Bruce had a few minutes before he had to leave for work, so he eased into his chair and began watching the news. Everything seemed normal until he leaned forward and said “I’ve been having some weird pressure in my chest. It’s probably nothing, but since I’ve been out of breath so much lately, I think I’d feel better if I got this checked out. Maybe I should swing by the walk-in clinic on my way to work. They’ll probably just hook me up, find out nothing’s wrong, and tell me to lose a few pounds, but I’d feel better knowing.”

YOU JUST NEVER KNOW WHAT A DAY WILL HOLD

I didn’t think it was safe for him to drive, so I decided to go with him.

There was no one in the clinic waiting room when they got there. The receptionist asked us a few questions and then called for a nurse who asked a few more. Before we knew what was happening, Bruce was in a wheel chair and they were rushing him down the street to the hospital emergency room. I was right behind them hobbling on my bad knee, trying to keep up. It must have been quite a sight!

I lost count of just how many scans, blood draws, injections and inquiries they did . . . but they decided they needed to keep him overnight so they could do yet another one in the morning.

A NEW DAY

Day two began with the unwelcome news that there WAS definitely an issue with Bruce’s heart. The rest of the day was filled with a series of medical procedures. The unhealthy way his heart was functioning is known to cause blood clots and increased risk for stroke. So the first thing they did was put a scope into his heart to check for clots. THEY FOUND NONE, PRAISE GOD!