God at Work

We will get back to the Triathlon topic next time, but today I wanted to share something that happened to my family this past weekend.

For Valentine's Day, Susan gave our 9yr old son, Hudson, a book titled "Heaven is For Real". This book describes Heaven through the eyes and ears of a 4yr old little boy named Colton. Colton became very ill with a ruptured appendix and was undergoing an emergency surgery when he "went up to visit Jesus." I will let you read the book for yourself but he describes to his parents what it was like to have the Angels sing to him, sitting in Jesus's lap, and how "really, really Big God is". The doctors never had any indication that he had died during the procedure and Colton woke up just fine and went on to recover fully.

I have always been fascinated by stories about Heaven and Hell. Some of the books that I have read on the subject include: "90 Minutes in Heaven", "The Shack", and "23 Minutes in Hell". Needless to say that I quickly borrowed the book from Hudson and started reading it. Who knew that this book would give me so much comfort and confidence in the coming days.

Toward the end of our family vacation to Colorado this past week, Hudson began to complain of some lower abdominal pain. Susan and I initially passed it off as constipation or gas build-up from the altitude. Hudson was complaining, but he still had a good appetite (a good sign to tell how sick your child is). We continued to ski, but Huddie wasn't the same little dare devil on the moguls that he was in the previous days. He even went swimming after skiing and seemed fine. Later that evening his appetite dwindled and his pain became more pronounced. He had all the classic signs of Appendicitis. After a few calls to some local doctors, I found out that Glenwood Springs had a great small hospital with excellent surgeons, called Valley View.
Hudson and I went to the ER that night about 10pm and the ER doctor knew right away that Hud needed surgery. We still needed to run blood work and get a CT scan first but after the results were confirmed, Hudson was headed to the operating room at 6am.

In between tests and while we were waiting to see the general surgeon, Hudson and I began to discuss what was going to happen to him. He asked good questions for a little guy and I explained what an appendix was etc. Huddie started to have some fear and tears were shed but he remained strong. My son then asked me: "what will happen if I never wake up"? I tried to keep my composure and said "well , Hud you know what will happen, where will you go?" He slowly pointed his outstretched arm, with IV in place, to the sky. I said "you will be very happy in Heaven, but we will all be sad". Thankfully the surgery was a success and his appendix was removed just in time before it ruptured.

Hudson getting a pep talk from his older brother, Chase, just before going to the OR.

Huddie, like most young patients, is recovering quickly and back to his playful self again.

Take what you will from this story but I know in my heart that God gave me this little book to help me be strong for my son and give me an overwhelming Peace through this ordeal.