Live Like…
Dan Kunz
If you are a regular reader of these blogs, you may remember that several weeks ago I wrote about a friend who had passed away. At that time, I used one of my favorite phrases, “If the bus pulls up, you have to get on. You don’t have a choice.” Well, God recently tapped me on the shoulder to remind me the motor is running. The bus hasn’t pulled up, but the motor is running!
My wife and I were at our granddaughter’s birthday party, just hanging around after lunch and the present opening were finished. My mouth suddenly began to water for no reason and within a minute it was getting hard to swallow. I motioned for my wife to come over and we stepped into the next room, as I didn’t want to alarm anyone. When I said I thought she needed to take me to the emergency room, she realized I wasn’t talking normally. My voice was very soft and I slurred my words a little. My first thought was, “I’m having a stroke!” We immediately left for the emergency room, about ten minutes away.
If you ever want fast service at an emergency room, tell them you think you’re having a stroke! They took me to a room and a nurse and EMT were already there. Over the next hour, I had a dose of Benadryl, a CAT scan, a heart monitor and a blood pressure cup attached, and pretty much anything else they could think of. Everything was normal! After about ninety minutes, my voice and swallowing were back to normal. To be on the safe side, they had me spend the night in the hospital for monitoring. Again, everything was normal. Nobody seemed quite as frantic as they originally did. An MRI a few days later revealed that I did, indeed, have a slight stroke (TIA). I was put on a blood thinner, but, other than that, nothing else needs to be done. I’m not overweight (not much anyway), I exercise four times a week, I eat healthy (relatively), and I haven’t smoked for over thirty years. God was simply tapping me on the shoulder and reminded me the bus is coming someday, not today, but someday.
It was a scary and meaningful experience! We can do everything right to insure good health, but sometimes that just doesn’t matter. We’ve all heard stories of exceptionally healthy people, athletes for example, who suddenly, without any warning, fall over from a heart attack, aneurism, or stroke. You may remember Tim McGraw’s hit song, “Live Like You Were Dying”. The point of the song is to make full use of each and every day because it may be your last. The advice is valuable since any day could be our last. Noone is promised tomorrow. As a Christian, how do you deal with that? Starting with God’s Word is the right place. Psalm 31:15 My times are in your hands;… Acknowledging that God is God and we’re not, means he gets to call the shots and, being God, he always knows what’s best. He knew we couldn’t save ourselves so he sent Jesus to do what we couldn’t. Love like that should lead us to trust in him above all and then, as the song says, “live like you were dying”.