Cow Bells and E.R. Rooms

As I stated in the latest post, this past week our family enjoyed a lovely time in Germany for an annual meeting with our company. We arrived last Saturday, August 1 to the scenic mountain views of Bavaria. Among other things, this area is well known for cheese. So treasured is this cheese that their cows wear bells while grazing on the mountain slopes. Apparently farmers need to know where these treasure chests roam and thus the tinkling bells serve as the farmers radar. In addition to the great views, it was so good to reconnect with fellow as well as new colleagues that work all over western Europe. The speakers were riveting and inspiring. The girls were treated to a team of volunteers from the U.S. that had all sorts of activities planned for them during the week. A good time was had by all.

Monday evening, during a session, I noticed Chris' breathing was heavy. I thought it was just because I was sitting unusually close to him leaving him breathless but alas, this was not the case. He dismissed himself from the session. When it was over, he told me he felt weird and needed help. I grabbed a nurse practitioner, she took his blood pressure and after getting a reading of 200/100 she sent someone after a doc from the states who had come to this meeting to volunteer his time. Turns out this doc just happens to be an E.R. doc who suggested we send Chris to the nearest E.R. Accompanied by a nurse and nurse practitioner, we headed to the ER in Immestad, Germany.

Wednesday afternoon, accompanied by 3 colleagues, I went to retrieve Chris from his stay in the hospital. After 2 EKG's, heart monitors, sonograms and a battery of blood tests, we feel certain it's Chris' blood pressure.

Was this scary? Yep. Trying to tell 3 little girls that Mom needs to take their Dad to a hospital because his heart is hurting is scary. Leaving them with some colleagues and traveling to a German hospital in a town 30 minutes away was scary. Not knowing anything other than symptoms and not being able to stay with Chris in the hospital was scary. However, instantly I heard God telling me ... "I have not given you a spirit of fear but of a sound mind." God was bigger than my fear.

Was this weird for Chris? Yep. Not knowing the condition of these weird heart things, he was unable to sleep the first night in Intermediate Care for fear of not waking up. That was weird. Not being able to speak the language well to the care givers that were treating him was weird. Trying to wrap his brain around the reality of the situation he found himself was weird. However, God was very real and intentional with Chris. God kept reminding him of Psalm 23 ... and the words "He makes me lie down in green pastures" kept running through his head. Chris could give you more detail about the specifics of how God met him. However, suffice it to say that God in all wisdom and mercy took a situation that was scary and weird and turned into a situation that He could use for His glory. God gave Chris the opportunity to share his faith with 3 roommates (4 to a room in Germany) as well as connect with an intern. God doesn't waste anything!

I want to share a side note here worth mentioning. One of the speakers shared Psalm 23 on the first day of our meeting. It was to be his topic for every day we met. When Chris was in the hospital, God kept using this verse to minister to him. In fact, the second day Chris was roaming the halls. They had just told him we wouldn't be going home and he needed to clear his thoughts. He noticed something on a bulletin board, written in German. It was Psalm 23. He wrote it down for his roomy and was able to share God's word with him. Addison then told us, today, that God used Psalm 23 to speak to her heart about her Daddy. Wednesday morning she was directed to read Psalm 23 and prayed that for her Daddy. God's word is sufficient and meets our needs. If God spoke those gorgeous mountains that the cows and their bells roamed around on in Bavaria into creation, I'm thinking God wants us to know that His words are powerful!

Chris, despite a new prescription for blood pressure, walked out of the hospital hearing God in a fresh way. Control is God's job, not ours. Release is the result when we surrender. And peace is what we experience when alone and scared when we turn to God.

So, now we start a few days of R and R ... back home in Austria. Don't know if we'll go on any mountain hikes, but perhaps watching movies and eating healthy snacks may be on our agenda. It doesn't matter. We're together and God has once again proven faithful and everything else is just extra.

Until next week ...
Christina