I couldn’t wait to talk to her…but what would I say? What exactly do you say to someone who saved your mom’s life? “Thank you” just doesn’t seem like enough.
It all began a few weeks ago. My parents attended a funeral in Houston. At the burial site, my mom passed out. Actually, she did more than pass out. She had no pulse. An ICU Nurse practitioner ‘just happened’ to be standing a couple of feet away from my mom. The nurse assessed the situation and immediately began CPR. Meanwhile, the pastors and other attendees also took charge and began to pray aloud for my mom.
Within minutes, my mom began to breathe again. And within a few more minutes, my mom walked into the ambulance, talking and fully aware of where she was.
Thank you Jesus!
The next day, I was given the nurse’s phone number. And the day after that, my husband and I called her.
We thanked her. We asked her if she could tell us her perspective of what happened. We listened. We thanked her again (and again…and maybe even again). I wasn’t trying to be extra. I just couldn’t help myself. God used her to save my mom!
As we ended the conversation, she said something that has stuck with me.
“I was not going to give up on your mom. If I needed to, I would have kept going.”
???
Friends, have you been to Houston in the summer? It’s hot!! Have you ever taken a CPR certification course? Two inch deep chest compressions are not easy. They require an incredible amount of arm strength and physical exertion. This precious woman didn’t even know my mom, yet she had no plans on giving up. She would have kept going.
“Who does that?” I asked myself.
God does.
Over 2000 years ago, Jesus Christ exerted every ounce of physical strength He had. He hung on a cross and died…for me. Knowing I would sin, and keep sinning, Christ didn’t give up. He kept going.
2 Peter 3:9b tells us, “He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”
And Jesus continues to intercede for this crazy world…and for me. (Hebrews 7:25)
So what did I say to the woman who saved my mother’s life? Here’s the short version.
Thank you. I’d love to meet you the next time I’m in Houston. Thank you for not giving up on my mom.???
What do I say to the one who strategically placed this woman just a few feet away from my mom? To the One who gave her the physical and mental strength to do what she did? To the One who allowed breath to re-enter my mom’s lungs and blood to flow through her body?
What do I say to the One who gives ME breath each and every day and has never given up on me?
Here’s the short version.
Thank you, Lord. Thank you for saving my mom. Thank you for saving me.
– Binu
