Valentine Survivor
Valentine"s Day is many things to different people. To those in love, it is a sweet day to be able to express the feeling to that special person in your life. To those who long to be married, but have no prospects, it is a day of loneliness. To young children it may be counting how many friends you have by the number of Valentines you received. To my family it has a special and unique meaning.
We like to express it as Happy Heart Day or Happy Life Day. Both are quite fitting because of what happened four short years ago on Valentine’s Day.
The day started out quite ordinary. I was at work and all was well. My 27 year old daughter, Lynn had just returned from her honeymoon and was planning a romantic dinner for her husband of 11 days.
While a lunch that day with a friend and co-worker my husband rushed into the restaurant where we were eating and told me that Lynn had suffered a seizure at her new job. We hurried to the Vail Medical Center where she had been taken; it was there that we discovered the real truth—Lynn had suffered a cardiac arrest, commonly known as sudden cardiac death because 95% of the cases end in death.
A co-worker at her job performed CPR until the fire department arrived and used a defibrillator to jumpstart her heart. She was taken in an ambulance with paramedics to the Vail Medical Center, where doctors determined that her case was beyond their capabilities to respond. Therefore she was taken to St Luke’s Presbyterian Hospital in Denver where there is an outstanding cardiac unit.
The prognosis was dire, unsure if she would live or die, be brain damaged or live a normal life. Another strange part of that day was the blood clot that had lodged in her leg threatening amputation. Prayers for her life went out across the country and even the world that day and they were answered beyond our comprehension.
What doctors feared would end in death actually led to a new life. Lynn was given a second chance at life and for the last four years she has chosen to live it to the fullest. She loves more deeply. She walks more closely with the Lord. She serves the community.
There were pieces of a puzzle that God had to completely orchestrate for Lynn to be able to live that day. Her new job…a part-time co-worker who knew CPR…the weather…the laws…the insurance…and oh so many more. God performed a miracle in her heart and life that day. So now do you see why we have changed the name around our house?
The verse that I claimed for Lynn’s life when she was very young is Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” On Valentine’s Day 2007 I saw God’s plans for her life unfolding.
I hope you have a Happy Heart Day or if you prefer a Happy Life Day.
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