How is this possible?
Well. In 1985 my father died because he chose not to remove his prostate which had cancer so it metasticized into other organs and finally bone cancer by 1985 and then he died in August. I was 37 at the time and because of his needless death (he was so healthy otherwise he likely would have lived to 100 or more. But, I lost him at 69 and this destroyed my life for around 13 years into Middle Aged Crazy and grief at losing my Dad when I didn't have to.
But, when I almost died myself for 9 months from a heart virus when the doctors told me I wasn't going to die because unlike most people my heart had healed itself from the Heart virus I was very surprised I wasn't going to die then.
But, it changed me during the 9 months when they thought I might die from middle Aged Crazy to being grateful for each and every moment I had with my family and friends. So, this is where I have been since may of 1999 when the doctors told me not only that I wasn't going to die from the heart virus but also that there was a high likelihood I might live a long life still. I was 50 years old in 1998 and by May of 1999 I had just turned 51 and had been forced to retire in the fall of 1998 or else I would have surely died.
I had been praying for the "Leisure to Practice" since about 1980 when I learned it was a real thing which basically means you are praying for the ability to theoretically or actually pray 24 hours a day to help your family and mankind and the earth and God. So, God gave me this by almost killing me for 9 months to where I thought I likely was going to die and prepared for 9 months to die. But, I didn't die and I am still alive and relatively well here at age 75.
Why have the years since June of 1999 been the best years of my life?
I was never thrilled at having to work all the time even though I have always enjoyed running my own businesses. So, my illness forced me to retire and I was actually very surprised that God allowed me to do this and to have enough money for retirement ongoing. One reason is that my wife and I still owned one business which does very well for itself which allowed me to retire in fall of 1998.
However, most people (maybe 99% of people likely would have died worldwide that were in my same physical condition. However, God obviously had other plans for me and so I'm still alive today at age 75.
So, gratitude is what I feel for every moment I have left in life. God has taught me in most ways to be both humble (even if I have enough money) and to be bold (even if I have a hernia from a burst appendix operation in 2015). So, God has really put me through the ringer but mostly I'm happier than I have ever been before since I recovered from my heart virus in May of 1999.
IN the fall of 1999 I took my then 10 year old daughter and my mother to Scotand and then to Munich, Germany where we rented a 6 passenger Motorhome and picked up my then 25 year old son and his friend who had just gotten his physics degree from UCSC in Santa Cruz, California.
Then we drove to Oberamagau in Germany and then to Austria and then to Switzerland to Zurich where my family came from around 1725 when the 6 brothers of my fathers ancestry moved to Philadephia, Pennsylvania and rode wooden Ship like a Schooner to up the river to Philadephia in around 1725. Since then my relatives have spread out to Illinois and Kansas and Washington and California through my grandfather and my father and my aunt (all of whom are passed away now. But, I had 3 children and my cousin who lives in Southern California had 3 children and some of our children had children so there are many more of us now here in California.
So, my life since May of 1999 has mostly been very good which is surprising after almost dying for 9 months from fall of 1998 to May of 1999.
So, I live only by:
God's Grace
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