Hi, dear ones -

Sunday, Feb. 20th when my handsome hubby Archie was taken to hospital by ambulance because he was having great difficulty breathing, I followed along in our car to see him safely established and to sign documents or answer questions the emergency-room doctor might have. Thus I was present when the following exchange took place:

e.r. Doctor: "Do you want to be resuscitated if you stop breathing?"

Archie: "Yes."

e.r. Doctor: "Hmmm. Well, I suppose what we're doing right now is resuscitation" (looking at the medicated oxygen, the i.v., the b.p. monitoring, and the morphine being administered to ease his constant pain)... "But you DON'T want the [electric shock defibrillator paddles] if you stop breathing, do you? because you have lung cancer, and those things would bring you back and the cancer sometimes gets really, really wild after that treatment..."

Archie: "Yes, I do; whatever it takes, even the paddles."

e.r. Doctor: "Mr. Howie, do you understand that you have lung cancer?"

Archie: "Yes."

e.r. Doctor: "But you still want me to do anything possible to keep you alive?"

Archie: "Yes."

e.r. Doctor: "WHY???"

Archie: "Because I have so much to live for."

At this point the e.r. Doctor turned to me and asked me how I felt about all this. I told her it wasn't my decision to make, but if it were me in Archie's position there's NO WAY I'd want to be kept alive. (Duh!) Then I went back to stroking Archie's head and wetting his oh-so-dry lips.

That was basically "it" for Sunday. I left once Archie had been admitted and came home to an empty house..

On Monday, Feb. 21st I was back at the hospital when Archie's lunch tray was delivered, just as the nurse came in with a wheelchair to take him for more X-rays. We helped him sit on the edge of his bed, but he was in SO much pain just sitting there that I asked if he couldn't be moved on a gurney (stretcher) instead. Bless her heart, she agreed, and went to get one.

After the X-rays, when Archie was safely back in his bed in his room, I fed him some now-cold lunch and we talked for a while. He was in misery, rambling, sometimes hard to understand, sometimes barely whispering, UNTIL one most wonderful exchange I'll never forget:

Fabulous:

Archie: "The doctor is a Christian. She has the same hope we have." There was a ***big*** smile on his face. Then, after a minute, he BURST out with a wonderful loud cry of joy, his eyes dancing and more alive than they had been for ages:
"Isn't He FABULOUS?"
There was no mistaking Who he meant: JESUS CHRIST, the Son of God, our Lord and Saviour. Archie had told me as early as last October,

"I don't pray any more. I TALK with God just as I talk with you or anybody else, and He answers me. I have found that night-time is the best time to ask questions, because by the morning I will have my answers."

Archie had come to know Him as a dearly-cherished Friend as well as Saviour. Even cancer can become a blessing in the hands of our almighty Father, praise Him. Hallelujah!!!

Forgiveness:

I asked Archie if he had dealt with a couple of issues that had greatly angered him and caused him much resentment in the past, and he said he had done that a couple of days ago. He said NOTHING was worth taking his eyes off Jesus for; he had forgiven certain individuals already. This bore out what he had told me at home on Saturday night when he was having a really terrible time of it but wouldn't hear of going to hospital. As the Bible tells us,

"If you have aught against any, forgive them, so that you may be forgiven in the same measure as you have forgiven others." (paraphrase?)

Ephesians Chapter 4 tells us not to let even one day end while you are nursing unresolved anger, because by so doing you are giving the devil a foothold on your spirit.... Now at last Archie had surrendered these ancient "footholds" to God for cleansing, and now at last the memories had no power to stir his anger. HALLELUJAH yet again. :-)

I know you don't need to know that last little bit as far as Archie's testimony is concerned, but it *is* vital for you to apply in your own life; because if you're like me, you need to guard against nursing hurts and letting them fester into something bigger. ALL such hurts have the power to draw your eyes away from Jesus and His teachings. Don't let them, okay? Life is too short! You don't need to waste it carrying a load of anger and resentment (or superiority complexes either, for that matter... If you think more highly of yourself than you ought, you're measuring yourself by the wrong yardstick. JESUS is the One whose measure we are to be growing up into... and nobody has attained HIS stature yet, at least according to my Bibles....).

Anyway, dear hearts, there you have it. I just HAD to share Archie's testimony, so you could see what great joy there is in our Lord even in the midst of pain and weakness and terrible illness.

And I wanted, too, to share our continuing faith, that God WILL heal my Archie. And even if He does not, it doesn't matter, for God is good, and He works all things together for good for those who love the Lord, for those who are the called according to His purpose. HALLELUJAH yet again!

Love to you one and all in Christ Jesus our Lord. :-)))

(((HUGS))) and blessings,

Doris

UPDATE:
What a joy my Archie was - a gentle, compassionate, sensitive and caring man who loved the Lord with his whole heart, and went to be with Him on February 25, 2005 after a brief but intense battle with lung and brain cancer.
Our grateful thanks to all who prayed. God's will has been done, and all is well. My Lord has walked with me - A Widow's Walk - Down Memory Lane for the past year and has again and again proven His faithfulness; and my Archie has been close beside me even when he has seemed farthest away, by the grace of our loving God.
May God bless you all! :-)

Doris H.