Continuing after my near death experience 46 years ago
Last week I wrote that June 11, 1971, might well have been the last day I lived. Instead, God gave me another 46 years.
The accident took place on a Friday, early afternoon. Someone found my ID and left a note, which I never saw, for my roommates. Someone from the church I was going to at the time called my family, which took some doing given the time of day. Contact made, finally, my family drove prayerfully from their farm in west central Minnesota to the hospital in Minneapolis. Was I dead? If alive, how badly hurt was I? All sorts of questions. Meanwhile, I was out of it.
No one was sure what exactly happened.
I was fortunate, to say the least. I had a badly bruised left foot, but no bones were broken. I had an injury to my left temple. The doctors told my family that a bit more in one direction and I would have been blind in that eye; a little more in another direction, and I would have been dead. Even though my heart had stopped and been restarted, I have no exciting views of heaven to share. When I go finally, I don't expect to be back with a report. I expect to be fully engaged in worshiping my Lord and King, Jesus Christ.
I left the hospital on the Sunday of that same June weekend, on crutches, and went home to the farm to recover. I got to spend some of the summer at a Bible camp, even on crutches. By August I was well enough to go back to the city and resume my job search.
I was able to get employment proofreading microfiche (Does anyone remember those?) Two years after that, I moved on to another employer, where I tried my hand at computer programming, learning Basic and Fortran (Does anyone remember those?) Then a brief stint with another business, until it was downsizing and last hired, first fired. From there, I found employment with the state of Minnesota, taking a variety of positions. By the end of 1984, I was poised to move to Illinois, to enter graduate school.
I expected to complete my degree in 18 months, as that was the time frame my advisor and I had worked out, and then return to my home state.
But the Lord, who had preserved my life in 1971, had other plans.
The accident took place on a Friday, early afternoon. Someone found my ID and left a note, which I never saw, for my roommates. Someone from the church I was going to at the time called my family, which took some doing given the time of day. Contact made, finally, my family drove prayerfully from their farm in west central Minnesota to the hospital in Minneapolis. Was I dead? If alive, how badly hurt was I? All sorts of questions. Meanwhile, I was out of it.
No one was sure what exactly happened.
I was fortunate, to say the least. I had a badly bruised left foot, but no bones were broken. I had an injury to my left temple. The doctors told my family that a bit more in one direction and I would have been blind in that eye; a little more in another direction, and I would have been dead. Even though my heart had stopped and been restarted, I have no exciting views of heaven to share. When I go finally, I don't expect to be back with a report. I expect to be fully engaged in worshiping my Lord and King, Jesus Christ.
I left the hospital on the Sunday of that same June weekend, on crutches, and went home to the farm to recover. I got to spend some of the summer at a Bible camp, even on crutches. By August I was well enough to go back to the city and resume my job search.
I was able to get employment proofreading microfiche (Does anyone remember those?) Two years after that, I moved on to another employer, where I tried my hand at computer programming, learning Basic and Fortran (Does anyone remember those?) Then a brief stint with another business, until it was downsizing and last hired, first fired. From there, I found employment with the state of Minnesota, taking a variety of positions. By the end of 1984, I was poised to move to Illinois, to enter graduate school.
I expected to complete my degree in 18 months, as that was the time frame my advisor and I had worked out, and then return to my home state.
But the Lord, who had preserved my life in 1971, had other plans.
posted by Ebeth | 8:06 AM
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