Short Stories

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HE IS A TELEVISION EVANGELIST, WHO WAS BORN, A PROPHET OF GOD...

I HAVE SUFFERED FROM AGE ELEVEN UNTIL AGE FIFTY-SIX FROM SEVERE DEPRESSION AND OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE DISORDER, AND THIS INFORMATION IS A VITAL PART OF THE STORY YOU ARE ABOUT TO READ...

ONE NIGHT, THIS EVANGELIST GOES TO SLEEP AND HAS A DREAM. IN THIS DREAM, THE LORD INSTRUCTS HIM THAT HE MUST WRITE ONE OF MY BROTHER'S A LETTER, AND TELLS HIM, THAT SOMEONE IN HIS FAMILY IS VERY ILL, BUT THE LORD IS MAKING ALL THE ARRANGEMENTS, AND THAT EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE ALRIGHT. HE IS ALSO INSTRUCTED, THAT THE WEEK BEFORE JANUARY 3RD, 2008, HE MUST PREACH ON NATIONAL TELEVISION, THAT ANYONE WHO SUFFERS FROM DEPRESSION AND OR ANXIETY, AND IS A TRUE BELIEVER IN JESUS CHRIST, WILL BE HEALED ON JANUARY 3RD, 2008...

IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT, UPON AWAKENING FROM THIS DREAM, THE EVANGELIST WRITES MY BROTHER THE LETTER. HE INSTRUCTS MY BROTHER TO WRITE THE NAME OF THE PERSON WHO IS ILL, ON THE LETTER, AND RETURN IT TO HIM, SO THAT HE MAY PLACE IT ON HIS ALTAR AND PRAY FOR THIS PERSON...

MY BROTHER RECEIVES THIS LETTER ON DECEMBER 17TH, 2007, BUT HE AND I HAVE NOT BEEN KEEPING IN CONTACT, SO HE DOES NOT KNOW HOW MY CONDITION IS DETERIORATING, AND THINKS THIS MAN WHO WROTE HIM IS CRAZY. BUT, MY BROTHER DOES NOT THROW THE LETTER OUT, HE JUST PUTS IT AWAY IN A DRAWER...

ON DECEMBER 18TH, 2007, I GO TO A LOCAL HOSPITAL TO HAVE AN MRI AND MRA OF MY BRAIN DONE. THE REASON FOR THIS IS THAT, WHATEVER IS HAPPENING IN MY HEAD IS LITERALLY CHANGING MY WHOLE PERSONALITY. I WOULD CONSTANTLY FALL, MY EYES WOULD GLAZE OVER, I WOULD HAVE TROUBLE SPEAKING, WAS BECOMING VERY HOSTILE AND ANGRY, AND HAVE TERRIBLE HEADACHES...

THE TESTS ARE DONE AND I AM SENT TO A WAITING ROOM AND TOLD, "IT WILL BE JUST A FEW MINUTES, THEY ARE REVIEWING THE FILMS AND THEN I WILL BE ABLE TO LEAVE". ABOUT TWENTY MINUTES LATER, A MAN WALKS INTO THE ROOM, AND TELLS ME, "I MUST TAKE YOU TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM, WHERE A NEUROSURGEON IS WAITING FOR YOU". AS WE WALK, HE IS TRYING TO EXPLAIN WHAT THEY HAVE FOUND BY THESE TESTS...

BUT THIS DAY, I AM FEELING SO WELL, THAT I AM HAVING A DIFFICULT TIME GRASPING WHAT IS BEING TOLD TO ME. WHEN WE ARRIVE AT THE EMERGENCY ROOM, THERE IS A TEAM FROM THE OPERATING ROOM WAITING IN THE HALLWAY RIGHT OUTSIDE THE DOOR, AND THE NEUROSURGEON AND TWO DOCTORS ARE IN THE ROOM...

I WALK IN, AND THE NEUROSURGEON TELLS ME WHAT THE TESTS HAVE REVEALED, A SUBDURAL HEMATOMA WITH SO MUCH BLOOD BUILT UP ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF MY HEAD, THAT IT IS PRESSING THE RIGHT SIDE OF MY BRAIN AGAINST THE LEFT. HE EXPLAINS HE MUST DO A CRAINIOTOMY TO REMOVE THIS HEMATOMA AND BLOOD, AND THAT WITHOUT THE SURGERY, I WILL DIE. IT COULD HAPPEN AT ANYTIME, BUT IT WILL HAPPEN...

I KNOW THAT DEATH COMES TO EACH OF US, BUT FOR ME IT IS IMMINENT...

I AM ADMITTED TO THE ICU UNIT, AND REMAIN THERE UNTIL FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21ST, 2007, WHEN MY HUSBAND AND I ARE TOLD, THAT THE NEUROSURGEON WANTS TO KEEP ME IN THE HOSPITAL OVER THE CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY, TO DO THE SURGERY THE FOLLOWING DAY, IF NOT SOONER...

I TELL THE NEUROSURGEON THAT I WANT TO LEAVE. MY REASON FOR THIS, WAS THREE WEEKS EARLIER, I CAME HOME FROM A CLIENT'S HOUSE SO DEPRESSED, THAT I SAID TO THE LORD, "YOU MUST END THIS ONEWAY OR THE OTHER", AND HE SAID TO ME, "IT WILL ALL END SOON". NOW, THAT I KNOW MY SITUATION, I HAVE TAKEN THIS AS A NOTICE THAT MY LIFE WAS ENDING, AND I WANTED ONE MORE HOLIDAY WITH MY FAMILY...

THE LORD SUSTAINS MY LIFE THROUGHOUT CHRISTMAS, AND ON DECEMBER 27TH, 2007 THE SURGERY IS DONE. AS I AM BROUGHT INTO THE OPERATING ROOM, I AM OVERWHELMED BY THE SMELL OF ROSES, AND I KNOW THAT ROSES WOULD NOT BE KEPT IN AN OPERATING ROOM, BUT THE SMELL IS SO OVERPOWERING, THAT I BEGIN TO LOOK AROUND FOR THEM...

AFTER I AM PLACED ON THE OPERATING TABLE, I AM INJECTED WITH MEDICATION INTO MY I.V., AND BEGIN TO LOSE CONTROL OF REALITY. AS THE ANESTHESIOLOGIST LOWERS THE MASK OVER MY FACE, I SAY ONE FINAL PRAYER TO GOD, AND ASK THAT HE JUST ALLOW ME TO WAKE UP. THEN, I AM IN TOTAL DARKNESS, IN THE HANDS OF THE LORD, AND THE SKILL OF THIS NEUROSURGEON...

AT THIS POINT, I HAVEN'T ANY KNOWLEDGE OF THE LETTER MY BROTHER RECEIVED, SO I DO NOT EXPECT TO SURVIVE THIS OPERATION. MY HUSBAND SPOKE WITH MY BROTHER, WHO RECEIVED THE LETTER, THE NIGHT OF DECEMBER 21ST, 2007, EXPRESSING HIS DEEP CONCERN, BUT MY BROTHER SAYS TO HIM, "THAT EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE ALRIGHT", AND WHEN HE HANGS UP THE PHONE, HE QUICKLY RETRIEVES THE LETTER, WRITES MY NAME ON IT, AND SENDS IT OUT IN THE MAIL...

I DO NOT KNOW JUST WHEN THIS HAPPENED, BECAUSE I REMAIN IN TOTAL DARKNESS, BUT I HEAR A VOICE CALL "CATHY" JUST ONCE, AND I KNOW THAT GOD HAS ALLOWED ME TO LIVE...

I AM TAKEN TO THE SURGICAL ICU WARD, AND ON NEW YEAR'S EVE DAY MORNING, I AM RELEASED TO RETURN HOME...

ON JANUARY 2ND, 2008, I CALL MY BROTHER, TO TELL HIM WHAT THE LORD HAD SAID TO ME, AND THEN HE TELLS ME ABOUT THE LETTER. HE ALSO TELLS ME REPEATEDLY, THAT ON JANUARY 3RD, 2008, THE LORD HAS PROMISED A HEALING FOR ALL TRUE BELIEVERS IN HIM, WHO SUFFER FROM DEPRESSION AND OR ANXIETY. WHEN I HANG UP THE PHONE, I NOW KNOW WHAT THE LORD MEANT, WHEN HE SAID WHAT HE DID TO ME. IT WASN'T THAT I WAS GOING TO DIE, IT WAS THAT I WOULD LIVE AND RECEIVE A HEALING...


ON THE MORNING OF JANUARY 3RD, 2008, I AWAKEN, AND SIT ON THE EDGE OF MY BED. I AM HOLDING A BOTTLE OF "LEXAPRO", MY ANTI-DEPRESSANT PILLS IN MY HANDS. I BEGIN TALKING TO THE LORD. I TELL HIM HE HAS PROMISED ME A HEALING IF I AM A TRUE BELIEVER, AND TO SHOW HIM HOW GREAT MY FAITH IN HIM IS, I GET UP, WALK INTO MY BATHROOM, AND JUST THROW THE BOTTLE OF PILLS AWAY. NO SOONER DO THE BOTTLE OF PILLS LEAVE MY HANDS, THEN MY BODY IS STRUCK WITH AN OVERWHELMING SENSATION OF PEACE, JOY AND LOVE...

I KNOW THAT THE HEALING HAS TAKEN PLACE, AND THOSE WHO KNOW ME, CAN SEE A DIFFERENECE IN ME. WHAT MEDICATIONS AND DOCTORS COULD NOT ACCOMPLISH THROUGHOUT MY LIFE, THE LORD HAS DONE IN LESS THAN THE BLINK OF AN EYE...

I HAD COME SO CLOSE TO DEATH, THAT I COULD FEEL IT'S VERY PRESENCE UPON ME. AND THEN, TO LEARN THAT THE LORD WENT BEFORE ME, INTERVENING TO SAVE MY LIFE, AND THEN GIVE ME A HEALING, CHANGED MY WHOLE PERSPECTIVE, ON THE POWER OF THE ALMIGHTY...

EVERY NOW AND THEN, WHEN I THINK BACK TO WHAT HAPPENED TO ME, AND I AM ALONE, I BEGIN WEEPING UNCONTROLLABLY...

I HAD REALIZED THAT I HAD TAKEN A STEP FROM THE WORLD OF THE BELIEVABLE, INTO THE REALM OF THE UNBELIEVABLE, AND FOR ME, A MOMENT IN MY LIFE WHEN THE LORD GAVE ME A MIRACLE...

"WHEN I CONSIDER YOUR HEAVENS, THE WORK OF YOUR FINGERS, THE MOON AND STARS, WHICH YOU HAVE SET IN PLACE, WHAT IS MAN THAT YOU ARE MINDFULL OF HIM"... PSALM 8:3-4 NIV

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