Miracles, Tender Mercies, Blessings and Thanksgiving
We should not underestimate or overlook the power of the Lord’s tender mercies. The simpleness, the sweetness, and the constancy of the tender mercies of the Lord will do much to fortify and protect us in the troubled times in which we do now and will yet live. When words cannot provide the solace we need or express the joy we feel, when it is simply futile to attempt to explain that which is unexplainable, when logic and reason cannot yield adequate understanding about the injustices and inequities of life, when mortal experience and evaluation are insufficient to produce a desired outcome, and when it seems that perhaps we are so totally alone, truly we are blessed by the tender mercies of the Lord and made mighty even unto the power of deliverance.
We should not underestimate or overlook the power of the Lord’s tender mercies. The simpleness, the sweetness, and the constancy of the tender mercies of the Lord will do much to fortify and protect us in the troubled times in which we do now and will yet live. When words cannot provide the solace we need or express the joy we feel, when it is simply futile to attempt to explain that which is unexplainable, when logic and reason cannot yield adequate understanding about the injustices and inequities of life, when mortal experience and evaluation are insufficient to produce a desired outcome, and when it seems that perhaps we are so totally alone, truly we are blessed by the tender mercies of the Lord and made mighty even unto the power of deliverance.
A Quote by David A. Bednar
Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles April 2005
This story begins in the early morning hours of April 25, 1989. Lisa and I were wandering the halls of the maternity ward in the Merced Community Medical Center. As Lisa's contractions increased in intensity and frequency, we made our way into the delivery room. Being this was our third child, we figured this delivery would be a breeze. Lisa's doctor arrived and the pushing began. It seemed like an eternity of pushing , but no baby. So, Lisa was instructed to push harder...and the harder Lisa pushed, the lower the heart rate of the baby would drop. With a look of panic in the doctor's eyes, and voice, I was told to leave the delivery room, as she gave orders for Lisa to stop pushing. Over the intercom came several frantic pleas for any available help to come to the labor room "stat!"
It was the time of morning when the shift changes were taking place.
As the Labor room prepped to do an emergency C-section delivery, another doctor and several other people went running into the room. I could hear the new doctor swearing and hollering at the makeshift staff that was now in the room.
Lisa's doctor entered the room where I was standing, looking very distressed.
She explained that the umbilical cord was wrapped around the baby's neck and the more Lisa pushed, the less oxygen the baby was receiving. She said to me.....all you can do now is hope and pray... that things did not look very good for the baby. She went back in the delivery room, and what seemed like another eternity, I prayed like I had never prayed before. Finally I heard a baby scream! The 2nd doctor made the decision to scrap the C-section and use forceps to pull the baby out. The baby's heart rate had flat-lined. The make shift staff unwrapped the umbilical cord from around the baby's neck 5 times and revived her within minutes.
A miracle had occurred for little Brittany Rose.
Fast forward 30 years....
We received a call from Brittany that she had been to the doctor and had a sonogram, and that she had lost her baby boy in the 2nd trimester. The decision was made to wait until her doctor could set up an appointment to deliver the baby. The appointment was made for Monday morning, at the University of Utah Medical Center. As family, we thought that was strange that it took 6 days to obtain an appointment to deliver the baby.
Jessica had been inspired to drive 13 hours from Washington State with her 3 children , all under the age of four, to be of help to Brittany and Garrett and their 2 boys.
A tender mercy!
Monday arrived and we received a phone call from Jessica (at 4:30 am, Tuesday morning in NZ.) She was in tears, letting us know that during the planned 1/2 hour surgery there were some complications, and that Brittany had gone into cardiac arrest as she was being wheeled out of surgery. Two interns were alerted by the anesthesiologist and they quickly started CPR. After a few minutes they were able to resuscitate Brittany and she was now in the Cardiac ICU, unconscious.
We called and spoke with Garrett, and he confirmed what Jessica had said.
Oh how my heart ached for this little family and for Garrett, who was waiting alone, not knowing what the outcome would be. Very similar to my experience 30 years prior.
Lisa and I immediately made flight plans to travel home to the US. Less than 20 hours later, we left our home in Wellsford, NZ, and traveled to Auckland, then to Sydney, to Los Angeles and finally to Salt Lake City...a total of 30 hours of travel. It was the busiest travel day of the year, the day before Thanksgiving...yet we did not have any difficulty getting flights or have any of the anticipated delays expected due to a major snow storm in the US and the record number of travelers.
We were again blessed with tender mercies from the Lord!
Jared picked us up at the Airport in SLC and we went straight to the hospital.
The following are some thoughts that Brittany posted on Facebook:
Because we shared the good news, now I feel like we should share the bad news. We found out we lost our sweet baby boy last week. We’ve lost babies before, but never this far along. Walking into a hospital to deliver a baby you know you won’t get to hold and take home is beyond words. During the procedure I formed some blood clots in my heart and lungs and coded. Thankfully they did CPR and brought me back but broke a few ribs in the process and I have been hanging out in the cardiology ICU. This whole thing has been extremely heartbreaking, emotionally difficult and physically painful. But we’re also blessed we were at the right hospital for all this to happen at. I feel like this one is going to take a little longer to heal from in a lot of ways. But we are so blessed with so many friends and family close by (and showing up from afar) to help us get through this. When I get out of the hospital, I’m going to be sure to hold these guys a little closer.
It was the time of morning when the shift changes were taking place.
As the Labor room prepped to do an emergency C-section delivery, another doctor and several other people went running into the room. I could hear the new doctor swearing and hollering at the makeshift staff that was now in the room.
Lisa's doctor entered the room where I was standing, looking very distressed.
She explained that the umbilical cord was wrapped around the baby's neck and the more Lisa pushed, the less oxygen the baby was receiving. She said to me.....all you can do now is hope and pray... that things did not look very good for the baby. She went back in the delivery room, and what seemed like another eternity, I prayed like I had never prayed before. Finally I heard a baby scream! The 2nd doctor made the decision to scrap the C-section and use forceps to pull the baby out. The baby's heart rate had flat-lined. The make shift staff unwrapped the umbilical cord from around the baby's neck 5 times and revived her within minutes.
A miracle had occurred for little Brittany Rose.
Fast forward 30 years....
We received a call from Brittany that she had been to the doctor and had a sonogram, and that she had lost her baby boy in the 2nd trimester. The decision was made to wait until her doctor could set up an appointment to deliver the baby. The appointment was made for Monday morning, at the University of Utah Medical Center. As family, we thought that was strange that it took 6 days to obtain an appointment to deliver the baby.
Jessica had been inspired to drive 13 hours from Washington State with her 3 children , all under the age of four, to be of help to Brittany and Garrett and their 2 boys.
A tender mercy!
Monday arrived and we received a phone call from Jessica (at 4:30 am, Tuesday morning in NZ.) She was in tears, letting us know that during the planned 1/2 hour surgery there were some complications, and that Brittany had gone into cardiac arrest as she was being wheeled out of surgery. Two interns were alerted by the anesthesiologist and they quickly started CPR. After a few minutes they were able to resuscitate Brittany and she was now in the Cardiac ICU, unconscious.
We called and spoke with Garrett, and he confirmed what Jessica had said.
Oh how my heart ached for this little family and for Garrett, who was waiting alone, not knowing what the outcome would be. Very similar to my experience 30 years prior.
Lisa and I immediately made flight plans to travel home to the US. Less than 20 hours later, we left our home in Wellsford, NZ, and traveled to Auckland, then to Sydney, to Los Angeles and finally to Salt Lake City...a total of 30 hours of travel. It was the busiest travel day of the year, the day before Thanksgiving...yet we did not have any difficulty getting flights or have any of the anticipated delays expected due to a major snow storm in the US and the record number of travelers.
We were again blessed with tender mercies from the Lord!
Jared picked us up at the Airport in SLC and we went straight to the hospital.
The following are some thoughts that Brittany posted on Facebook:
Because we shared the good news, now I feel like we should share the bad news. We found out we lost our sweet baby boy last week. We’ve lost babies before, but never this far along. Walking into a hospital to deliver a baby you know you won’t get to hold and take home is beyond words. During the procedure I formed some blood clots in my heart and lungs and coded. Thankfully they did CPR and brought me back but broke a few ribs in the process and I have been hanging out in the cardiology ICU. This whole thing has been extremely heartbreaking, emotionally difficult and physically painful. But we’re also blessed we were at the right hospital for all this to happen at. I feel like this one is going to take a little longer to heal from in a lot of ways. But we are so blessed with so many friends and family close by (and showing up from afar) to help us get through this. When I get out of the hospital, I’m going to be sure to hold these guys a little closer.
A thought from President Thomas S Monson:
Our Heavenly Father, who gives us so much to delight in, also knows that we learn and grow and become stronger as we face and survive the trials through which we must pass. We know that there are times when we will experience heartbreaking sorrow, when we will grieve, and when we may be tested to our limits. However, such difficulties allow us to change for the better, to rebuild our lives in the way our Heavenly Father teaches us, and to become something different from what we were—better than we were, more understanding than we were, more empathetic than we were, with stronger testimonies than we had before.
Only the Master knows the depths of our trials, our pain, and our suffering. He alone offers us eternal peace in times of adversity. He alone touches our tortured souls with His comforting words:
“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
“Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
Whether it is the best of times or the worst of times,
He is with us. He has promised that this will never change.
He is with us. He has promised that this will never change.
A few more comments from Brittany:
We have had such an out pouring of love and support this week. Like an overwhelming amount. So many messages and flowers and food delivered and hospital visits and people begging us to let them help in some way. I wish I had the words to describe how thankful I am and the time to thank each of you personally. We are home and recovering. So many people have stepped up and helped with out being asked. My parents are here from New Zealand for a couple of weeks to help out. My sister has been here from Washington and had been taking care of the boys. My brother and his wife have been behind the scenes helping with kids, grabbing things for the boys,grocery shopping, and doing all the things you forget need to happen. And cool uncle Matt has been here entertaining the kids so the grown ups can catch a break with 5 kids under the age of 4. It’s been a wild week, to say the least. But we are so loved and we feel it. I am so thankful I had such an amazing team of doctors from my cardiologist, to my obgyn team and the anesthesiologist. They all visited me every day I was in the hospital and reminded me how lucky I am to still be here. What happened was a super rare thing and I shouldn’t have survived it. But I am here and sooo thankful for that. Thank you to every one for your thoughts, prayers, good vibes and everything else you sent our way. We have truly felt it all. ♥️
Lisa and I have so much to be grateful for! Our wonderful children, their spouses, our grandchildren, and all the love and support they give to us and each other.
We are thankful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the blessings that come to us daily.
It is a wonderful opportunity that Lisa and I have to be missionaries in New Zealand, serving others and inviting them to come unto Christ.
Lisa and Brittany have always joked about having a little black cloud over their heads.
We have learned while in New Zealand that in order to enjoy the rainbow you must endure the storm.
It definitely was not in our plans to be in the US at this time, but being able to be with our loved ones has given us the boost and the strength to carry on.
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland: “The wounds in his hands, feet, and side are signs that in mortality painful things happen even to the pure and the perfect, signs that tribulation is not evidence that God does not love us. It is a significant and hopeful fact that it is the wounded Christ who comes to our rescue. He who bears the scars of sacrifice, the lesions of love, the emblems of humility and forgiveness is the Captain of our Soul. That evidence of pain in mortality is undoubtedly intended to give courage to others who are also hurt and wounded by life, perhaps even in the house of their friends”
On the drive home listening to Christmas music "Come Thou Fount" started and the first few lines really stuck with me this Thanksgiving that I think aptly apply to this post:
ReplyDeleteStreams of mercy, never ceasing
Call for songs of loudest praise
So much to be grateful for this season! Love you and miss you lots!