Inspirational Teachings

A visual journey through our spiritual messages

I Have Walked through the Valley of the shadow of Death.

It was my birthday, June 7, something special about June 7, and we had got together at a local restaurant, Texas Roadhouse to have a birthday get together and there were eight or ten of us and we had just sat down and ordered our meal. My whole life changed in an instant while we were ordering that meal my aorta which is the largest artery in your body it comes out of the top of your heart, as the blood gets pumped through your heart it goes into the aorta and then it has a “Y” and it feeds the lower part of your body and then the upper part of your body, my broke! In retrospect, and what I’ve learned since, of course, is that it is very serious and when that happens in an emergency set of circumstances, most of the time you don’t even survive to get to the hospital. So, I’m telling you this story for several reasons one is so that you feel the joy maybe  that I feel now, and you understand when you’re in the Lords hand and the Lord is taking care of you nothing will stop him and you will see as this story unfolds how important it is not to be indifferent to God. I believe his promises and to be in his hand is just amazing. So, I get up to go into the men’s room because I’m feeling bad all of a sudden, I just started feeling really awful, my stomach was upset, I had a terrible headache starting, I went into the men’s room, and I didn’t come out! I don’t know how much time passed but Pastor Billy came in looking for me and he looked at me he said you’re green and you’re not Kermit the frog we’ve got a problem here and I said yes I have no idea what’s wrong I want to go outside so we got up and we went out of the men’s room and we went outside into the parking lot. Rose came out and I guess I was looking pretty bad and they said well I think we should take you to the hospital what’s wrong I had no idea what was wrong I just knew that I felt really bad, because it is Vermont and the men are in charge in Vermont I said no no no I don’t need to go to the hospital I’ve never been sick I mean I’m only 30 years old there could be nothing wrong with me! You look surprised. 30 is not working, OK. I though just take me to my office which is at the airport about 1 mile away I have an office there and I knew that I had a clean bathroom. Because I wasn’t feeling well and that was going to be handy I also had a sofa and some comfortable chairs, so I said no, Rose just take me to my office. When we got to the office and walked inside I didn’t get very far into the building, I went right down on my knees. I couldn’t even stand any longer I lost all my strength, and I felt I don’t know what it felt like just felt very sick and Rose of course got extremely concerned and again when the Lord’s taking care of you and working for you things fall into place that you don’t expect. Now you need to understand, and I think you do that the Lord knew that my aorta was going to break, and he also had arranged a plan that I would live to be here with you today. That bigger picture is one of those things that we generally don’t always get to see. So, I was there on the floor and Rose says, “we should have taken you to the hospital!” You know how your wife will straighten you right out when you, when you make a mistake, and I said, Well there’s a door right there, pound on the door. On the other side of that door was another office and in that office is a helicopter pilot, a medic and a nurse and I said POUND on the door and ask them to come in and she did! They came in bring all their gear with them they’re people that we know because being next door and pilots we knew each other. They then they started asking me all kinds of questions that I couldn’t answer I had no idea what had happened to me and there they’re very concerned. One of them I can see his face right now in my mind’s eye he was scared, they hooked me up to a blood pressure device and they started an IV I couldn’t answer their questions they didn’t know what to do, they didn’t know what was wrong with me. Yet what they had that made the difference and again when the Lord is working for you, they had a two-way radio now the ambulance is generally way off over on the Shelburne Road at the fire station by South Burlington High School. That’s probably 5 miles away and it would take quite a while to get to me at the airport. I understand in retrospect from the doctor that when this thing happened to me I had a about 40 minutes to live. What was happening, is every time my heartbeat the blood was coming out that break in the aorta and I was bleeding to death inside. They called the ambulance on their two-way radio and said they needed it right now at the airport! Here is a surprise for you, the ambulance was driving by the airport! It didn’t have to come from 5 miles away the Lord had a plan, yes and the plan was that ambulance was going to be ready to take me to the hospital. So, they pulled right in the driveway loaded me up and the hospital is maybe 2 miles from the airport and my office, I was there quickly.  Then a couple of things happen one of them has to be a small miracle I mean really I wouldn’t use that word lightly but as we drove into the hospital parking lot at the emergency room there were 25 people standing around filling out paperwork waiting to be seen. But I was in the ambulance I went to the head of the line yes and you know no paperwork, you know there were no bureaucracy, there was no one or anything that needed my identification or me to fill out anything. Then something happened that’s the little miracle, I’m sure it’s a special miracle. A man he came out of the emergency room door, and he looked down at me on the stretcher his name was Mead Ferris he wasn’t supposed to be there if I had arrived 4 minutes sooner or 2 minutes later he wouldn’t have been there he would have been back in the hospital. He came down to the emergency room just to see why there were so many people outside the emergency room door he had an operation in about two hours. Doctor Ferris was a cardiovascular surgeon, the only man available who could be there in time to save my life. The Lord had to put him there! He looked down at me, and then it was the first time I heard it. He said to the nurse; this man is dying. I need an operating room right now! I remember hearing that. I can hear it right now. I was dying. I was just tongue tied, which for me is interesting, isn’t it? Tongue tied. he looked at the nurse and says again I need an operating room right now and the nurse says we don’t, we don’t have one they’re all in use, he said, Well I have one in two hours he says is it ready can we use it she says I don’t know I’ll call, and check and she did. She came back and said your operating room is ready and at that point in time he had cut a slot in my neck don’t know and I never did ask him just why and he did a lot of checking and I remember him saying this is a lot worse than I thought he said I need an MRI right now and I went and had an MRI in about 3 minutes it seemed like. I remember going and coming back it was very quick at that point Rose had arrived with my daughter and he spoke to them, and he said, he’s in very bad shape maybe he has a 20% chance to live and of course, Rose, I’m telling the story I sometimes I forget how it’s still upsets her. She wasn’t the one with the broken aorta, but she was the one dealing with her husband dying and he said to her that I had maybe a 20% chance, I had the MRI, and the MRI results apparently weren’t all that good because. Oh my gosh he said again, it’s worse than I had thought, and he told Rose and my daughter that I might not make it through the operation. So, that was the second time I heard I was probably going to die. I don’t know how to explain to you why I wasn’t terrorized, but I was calm somehow the Lord had arranged to keep me calm I wasn’t afraid. You see I knew that I was in the Lord’s hand and that if I was going to die that was going to be OK, he would take care of me and that if I was going to live, well, I guess I don’t even remember thinking about living much. I was convinced at that point being told twice I was going to, I was going to die. The next thing that happened is he’s getting ready to wheel me down to his operating room and he said to me, he said, do you have something you would like to say to your wife and your daughter? I ask you gentleman what, what would you say to your wife and your daughter you’ve just been told you’re not going to live. I said the only things I really knew for sure at the time that came to me right away I said to Rose I’m in the Lord’s hands if he chooses that I’m here tomorrow morning I will be, but if I go to be with the Lord, it’s OK I remember saying I’ve had a good life and you will have a good life please, please don’t be really upset either way the Lord will take care of me. I then remember as we went down the hall to the operating room, on the way I heard for the third time, the doctor was speaking to the anesthesiologist. This isn’t good, I don’t think he’s going to live through the surgery but we’re going to do everything we can. I went to sleep through the night Pastor Billy and Rhonda came the doctor had told Rose to bring in my family if they were close, because I was probably going to die and if she wanted she could have the family come into a special waiting room, they had at the hospital so my son and my daughters came from all over the state and spent the night in the hospital with Pastor Billy and Rhonda praying for me! YES! It worked!! incidentally just if you hadn’t picked up on that I’m here, Praying works. The next thing of course I remember was waking up for me, and this is pretty amazing as well I woke up about 14 hours later the surgery had gone on for around six hours so, as they the family sat in the waiting room the clock just kept ticking and after about 6 hrs. The Doctor came in and told them I was in real trouble and the next 12 hours would make the difference but that I was still alive. For me I remember after about 14 hours I saw an extremely bright light, and of course I’m in the emergency recovery and the lights are very bright. I remember seeing that bright light and thinking oh I didn’t make it; Then I thought the Lord’s coming he will be here in a minute, am I standing in the right place, I was trying to remember my military training, I was trying to stand at attention in my mind. Still thinking that Christ is going to be here I want to make sure that I’m doing all the right things. All of a sudden I heard in the background beep, beep, beep my heart monitor? Right away I realized oh I didn’t die! I’m still here. I’ll tell you something else that you might enjoy, now in retrospect and even at that moment I remember thinking oh, OH. I was a little disappointed I thought I was going to see the Lord. I was thinking and waiting for Job 19:25, to happen, I wanted to see God you know with my eye. This is now a couple of years behind me, and I know just how blessed I was. It’s amazing that he took care of me, and he decided I should live, and he had made all those arrangements so that I could. I think of how I could have been so calm where that strength came from certainly wasn’t coming from me, but he gave me that strength at that time, when it was needed. The doctor said subsequently, you know your calmness and your attitude have contributed greatly to your recovery. Something inside of you maintained just enough blood pressure so I could continue to make repairs. We used more than 6 units of blood. Right away I remembered 1John 4 and as I quoted it to the doctor, he smiled, in your case I will give all the credit to God. Again, that was the Holy Spirit and the good Lord just taking care of me I was in his hand. I wasn’t indifferent, I was in his hand. I was bleeding to death at a very quick rate, I wasn’t in pain he had given me the calmness that I needed, he kept the pain from overcoming me it’s an amazing feeling to still be alive. To be able to come here and tell you the story, hopefully it doesn’t upset you. I hope it brings you joy and gives you strength in the faith that God gives you because it’s God’s gift of faith that keeps us. I never realized that I would have a testimony to share with people that could make them feel like this seems to make people feel, that is very humbling. You remember Shadrack Meshach and Abednego in the Old Testament in Daniel and they wouldn’t worship king Nebuchadnezzar II so he decided that they should go into the furnace. So, they were put in the furnace and during the night the guards would look in into the furnace and they would see four people in the furnace. You see Jesus Christ got right in the furnace with them and protected them. In the morning when they came out of that furnace, it’s my understanding from reading Daniel that they didn’t even smell like BBQ not a hair on their heads had been burned. It is just amazing what the Lord will do for you. Now it’s obviously, it is the Lord’s will, if it had been his will that I didn’t make it through the night I would have seen God. The good news is that he loves us, he cherishes us, he created us to be with him and he will take care of us. Pastor Billy taught me some time ago that each day you should pray for wisdom and strength, and I do that. I’ve even added a little repentance to the prayer for wisdom and strength because we are probably each day pick up a few sins along the way and we need a little repentance. I know that prayer works and the reason I know it works is this, I pray for wisdom and strength each day and God gives me difficulties you know that I have to fix and take care of, so I gained strength from taking care of those difficulties, so my prayers been answered right! I encourage you to trust in the Lord to study the word. it’s a wonderful thing to come out the other side, and to stand here and tell you people about how the Lord took care of me how much he loved me, I remember days of my life when I didn’t even love myself, I wasn’t particularly sure that anyone else was going to love me. Somebody said once that we’re all on the same ship. I think we’re all on the same ocean. I learned some time ago that we are not necessarily on the same ship. It is true we have very many things in common and we’re probably all on the same ocean. But some people have really big ships, and some people have canoes, and you know some people are swimming trying to hold on, even drowning! Reach out your hand and help those people because they need you! Please remember that smile, the one that God gave you, the one you can used to store up treasures in heaven! GO. Make disciples! Thank you very much for letting me spend this time with you. May the Lord bless you.  

 BE FAITHFUL, AND TRUST IN THE LORD: A PRAYER,        

By, L. LEIGH SYKES 

We were not supposed to walk alone, as 2025 arrives to meet us. There is one waiting to take your hand. Wherever you are now, he is there, waiting. 

God has said to you today, do not worry about tomorrow, for he is already there. Each day comes with its own trials and pain, also with joy and glory. I have promised to be with you through the good times and the difficult times. Come to me, let me share the burdens you carry. All those fears about the future and concerns about what tomorrow may bring. As you pray for wisdom and strength, I will give you strength for this moment, grace in this hour, and peace for this day, with wisdom to do the next right thing. Trust that my love is enough, that I always know what you need, and I am blessing you even now. You do not need to carry tomorrow’s worries, for I am your salvation. I am walking with you and preparing all that you need. I see the moments in you when anxiety, then the fear comes. I know you wonder how you’ll face the troubles ahead. Calm your spirit, for I am your refuge. When that fear tries to overcome you, come to me and find rest in my promises to you. I am your God who meets you where you are. I give you strength for each step, wisdom for every decision, and peace for your spirit. My grace is there for you. My mercies are new, with each new day. My assurance to you is you are loved. Remember that I am with you. I have a plan for you, with many blessings. You don’t have to try to control the future. I am the one who holds it in my hand. I have plans for you that are greater than what you have ever dreamed of. Enjoy the blessings of this day. Trust in me that I am working in your best interest all the time. With every breath you take and every step you take into your future, I am with you. “I have not given you a spirit of fear, but of power, of love, and a sound mind. I am with you always until the end of days.”