Not Just Another Day

At almost 100 miles per hour, the front of the ambulance began to shake a little. Fortunately, our exit was in sight. Hurriedly making our way through a maze of corridors like lab rats in search of cheese, we arrived at the labor & delivery suite. I didn’t knock; time was short. As the doctor checked our patient’s cervix one more time, I shook her hand, introduced myself and told her, “We only have one rule – no babies in the ambulance.” She smiled and nodded, shaking my hand. “I don’t plan to have this one today.”

Tracy (not her real name) was as kind and pleasant as any patient I’ve known. She smiled often, despite the circumstances. But not out of denial or ignorance. She was genuinely happy and blessed by the hand of God and she knew it.

This was her 5th pregnancy. Tracy began having labor contractions a 2 am and her husband drove her to the nearest hospital. It was 13 weeks before her due date. If her child were to be born today, his chance for survival and a normal life would be slim. She’d already had one child who died from complications after being born at 27 weeks. She didn’t want history to repeat.

We were called to transport her to a hospital with a neonatal intensive care unit. In the event that her child was born today, he would need specialized care not available at her local hospital. We switched the IV’s to the transport pumps, lifted her to our gurney and whisked her out the door.

Once inside the ambulance I briefed her on what to expect during the ride. I told her that many of my patients do better than expected. She was curious so I shared a few stories about how the presence of God follows me around and how He sometimes makes people better without much interaction on my part.

She said she experienced the presence of God following her, too. She felt His presence as soon as we closed the door of the ambulance. We talked for a while about the things we’ve seen God do. I shared some healing stories and felt led to pray a blessing over her unborn child. I declared that he would live and not die and that he would live to be old and blessed with good health. I asked if she’d chosen a name for him. She said his name was, Nayim, which is Arabic for ‘Blessing”.

As we made our way to our destination, we came to a dangerous intersection. With the lights and siren on, my partner carefully went around some vehicles that had stopped in the intersection. One car didn’t stop until it slammed into the back of a taxi. Dragging its front bumper down the road, it eventually came to a stop a few hundred feet from the accident scene.

With a sigh of impatience, my partner left to check for injuries. I was happy to be stuck taking care of Tracy. In a few minutes, the engine arrived. We gave the Lieutenant our report and continued on our way. There were no serious injuries.

We arrived at the destination hospital. Tracy didn’t have a single contraction the entire time she was with us. When we dropped her off in the labor and delivery suite, I had a conversation with her nurse about healing. Her husband has a back injury and is thinking about surgery. I gave her and the patient cards to the website and told them to contact me if there was anything I could do for them. this was just one call out of many in a very busy day.On another call, I prayed with a little old lady who was assaulted by her son because she was listening to worship music in her house and she told him Jesus loved him. He beat her up her and hit her head on the corner of a coffee table. She had a laceration to the back of her head. As we dropped her off in the emergency room, I said a quick prayer of healing and blessing over her. She was all smiles and thanked me.

We went on another call that tried my patience a little. We transported a man with Lou Gehrig’s disease to a doctor’s appointment. He’s on a ventilator, which makes everything a little more complicated. I’m always aware of how much oxygen we have in our tanks. Ventilators run on compressed oxygen. If we run out of oxygen, the vent doesn’t work. When the vent doesn’t work, I get to breathe for the patient after that. On this particular call the appointments were running an hour behind schedule. To make a long story even longer, we had him on our vent for almost 4 hours. It was the call that didn’t want to end.

As we waited, I quietly prayed for him to be healed. His wife was kind enough to buy me a mocha at the coffee stand in the clinic. He wasn’t healed. At least not that I could tell. He happens to be in a room just down the hall from my friend Scott who also has Lou Gehrig’s. I’ve been praying for Scott too. To be honest, I was weary of well-doing by the end of the day.

It’s been a hectic month. I’m praying for many people and seeing a lot of them blessed and healed. I’m also getting opportunities to teach others about healing which is just as important.

Wishing you a peaceful and joyous holiday season,

Praying Medic