If you've seen any of my last posts about my sister, you know what they're going through. But, this post is from Dave's point of view, and in his words.
I was born on October 25, 1974. My parents were God-fearing, born again christians. My dad was an assistant pastor at Galilean Baptist Church, and my mom was the church secretary. I went to church three times a week.
One Sunday morning when I was four years old, my pastor, Dr. Herbert Noe, preached a sermon on Hell. I was scared to death. That afternoon, I couldn’t sleep through my usual nap. I was so scared, that after church that Sunday night, I asked my dad how I could keep from going to hell. He took me into his office, and showed me how to be saved.
Growing up, I was a good kid, but I wasn’t really interested in the things of God. I went to Bible School at PBI (Pensacola Bible Institute) when I was twenty-two. I met my wife, Mindi, and didn’t like her at first. God works in mysterious ways, because three years later, I ended up marrying her. She’s been the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I am so thankful to God for her. She has been a wonderful wife and mother to our children. She is my rock. I love her so much.
A year after we got married, along came Rebecca. She is fourteen, and has been a huge blessing. This past month especially, she has really stepped up and been a help with everything. I think she is finally growing up.
A year after that, along came Iris. She is thirteen, and is very helpful. She got diabetes when she was five. At the time, I was working for the fire department, so they knew who I was. That made things go a bit smoother. For the most part, aside from quite a few episodes of seizures, and a couple hospital stays, she’s been alright. God has been so good helping with her care and her health.
Four years after that, along came surprise number three, Alyssa Claire. She is a sweetheart. She’s very helpful and kind most of the time. Sometimes, she tries to be so helpful it’s annoying. I call her a nerd, because she likes schoolwork, just like her mother.
A year and a half later,another girl, Evelyn Grace. She’s the tomboy of the bunch. She would rather be outside than anything. She’s very difficult to keep clean. As a matter of fact, She gets in trouble almost every day for going outside without permission. She’s also stubborn, like me. A lot of times, she would rather get in trouble than do what she’s supposed to.
I was thinking, that I would never have a son. But God gave me one. December 6, 2010, He gave us Tobias Colton. He is so full of energy, and fun, and spoiled rotten by his sisters. He sure loves his daddy. Every time he prays, he asks for me to get better. It’s such a blessing, it thrills my heart to have my three year old son pray for me. Sometimes it makes me cry. He’s a mini me. And he’s huge, about 4ft tall, and 54 pounds. He’s such a blessing.
All these rascals are the loves of my life, and I love them all so much.
For the past 10 years or so, I’ve been dealing with neck pain. It started out sporadic, and slowly got more intense and constant to the point where I couldn’t stand it. All this time, I was pretending to be a good Christian, going to church and doing the things I was supposed to do, but I wasn’t reading my Bible or praying. My heart wasn’t right with God. I was joyful on the outside, but inside I had no joy in my heart.
God needed to get my attention, and he did.
In February, I had an MRI which showed bone spurs growing into my spinal cord. I wasn’t able to get into the neurosurgeon until May 12th. Those past few months were the most painful of my life.
On May 20th, I had neck surgery (Anterior Cervical Diskectomy and Fusion) to remove the bone spurs and then fuse the vertebrae together to prevent further issues. It was supposed to be a routine surgery that they have done thousands of times.
The surgery went well, but somehow they lost the oxygen to my brain during it. That was bad. Because of this, I was in a coma for 18 days. Through everyone’s prayer and my wife’s stubbornness nagging the doctors, I’m alive today. They thought I was going to be a vegetable for the rest of my life, but God had other plans for me.
I pray every day to thank him for letting me live another day. I thank him for what happened to me, and ask him what he wants to do with my life. I know he kept me alive for a reason.
When I woke up, the first thing I saw was my wife. I’m very thankful for that.
I couldn’t move at all. I could only move my eyes. My wife held up an ipad with a word on it and asked if I could understand it. I blinked that I could. That was a blessing to her, telling her that I wasn’t braindead.
After a while, I was able to move my right arm a little bit. She made a “cheat sheet” with words on it. When she would point to a certain word, I would blink when it was the one I wanted. After a few days of this, it got to the point where I could move my arm enough to point to letters and spell out words. It was such a blessing to finally be able to communicate. Me and that cheat sheet were best friends. I panicked if I couldn’t see it or couldn’t reach it.
I began to think and realize that I wasn’t right after hearing Mindi read the Bible to me. I knew that I had a hard heart and started praying about that. I prayed for a soft heart. I couldn’t talk out loud, but I could pray to God. God did a lot of work in my heart during this time. I prayed A LOT since I had a lot of down time.
After a while, I could speak in a whisper. Mindi was pretty thrilled with that. She started making me say sounds like “Ahhh” and making me try to pronounce the alphabet. I was pretty mad and frustrated some times, but she kept making me do it. She’s been my best therapist ever. She worked so hard. After I could whisper just a little bit, she’d make me say words. I was so thirsty that “ice” was one of my favorite words to say. I was so happy when they let me start having a few ice chips.
After saying a few words: it, cow, wow, mom, ice, pop…. I finally said “I love you” to Mindi. It was my first sentence. I did love her. I do love her right now so much. She’s even typing this out for me as I talk. Right now, I’m about to cry just thinking about her (he is crying).
On June 19th, I was moved to the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, GA. This helped me out so much. The therapists are so awesome. I never had a bad day of therapy. They think I’m strange, but I loved my therapy. I enjoyed it all the time. I know the joy I had all the time was because of God. Every time they would come in the room, I’d be reading my Bible.
I did a lot of Bible reading rather than watching TV. All that Bible reading helped me so much. With God’s help, I’ve been a good testimony.
On July 3rd, I stood up for the first time since the surgery. It was such a blessing to be upright again. It was a miracle. I know it was only because God was on my side. He is the Great Physician. Philippians 4:13 was my verse. Every time I had a hard time in therapy, I’d quote it. “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” and I have.
Every time I go to therapy, I go farther and get stronger. I know this is because God is helping me.
On July 10th, one week after I stood up, I walked for the first time. I walked about 90 feet. I sure was tired. I was wiped out, but it was a good tiredness. Now I can walk with a walker (not all the time, just while I’m in therapy). I’m slowly getting stronger every day.
On August 5th, I graduated from Shepherd Center and moved to Shepherd Pathways, a more intense rehab place. One of the blessings of graduating was that it allowed me to move back in with my family. It is such a blessing not be back with them every day.
I’m in class Monday - Friday 11-4. I’ve only been there for a week, but already I’m noticing that I’m stronger and more steady on my feet. Between doing balancing drills and walking, along with my other therapies, I’m pretty tired by the end of the day. In Occupational Therapy, I learn things like tying my shoes. Today, I bent over and almost tied my shoes. Well, not quite, I ended up taking off the shoe and holding it in my lap to try. In Music Therapy, I’ve been practicing “It is well with my soul”. On August 24th, I’m supposed to sing with my family in the chapel here. I’m excited about it. I love singing. Pray that my voice will be strong. I know I’ll do fine with God’s help. In Speech Therapy, I haven’t started swallowing yet. I still eat through a tube in my stomach. I tell God it’s ok if he wants me eating like this for the rest of my life. It’s just kind of an inconvenience. They’ve been doing cognitive stuff with me to see if I’m a dummy. I’m not! I did very well with their testing, but I do have things to work on. I’m not brilliant yet…. almost…
This time has been a challenging but fun time for me. As crazy as it sounds, I’ve enjoyed all of it. I am so happy that God did this to me, so that I could be right with him. I’m a better father and better husband. You can ask my wife if you want.
I hope this testimony has been a blessing to you. If you’re not right with God, get right before God has to get drastic to get your attention.
I’m glad God chose this method of getting my attention, rather than anything happening to my family. As I sang It Is Well With My Soul today, I was thinking about the author’s story and how he lost his family. I’m glad I can truly say, it is well with my soul.
I’m His now. Completely sold out to God. I’m looking forward to finishing my therapy, getting home, and seeing how God can work through me.
If you’re not saved, I’d love to talk with you more and tell you how you can get saved. Giving my life to the Lord Jesus Christ was the best thing that ever happened to me.
Love in Christ,
Dave
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