Heart Reflections Live

I' d been thinking of writing a Valentine's Day post, but thought I'd be a little different & share it as a testimony instead...


Those who know us personally, know that when my beloved husband committed his heart to me, I received it with joy & with 3 major & rare defects in it. My beloved is in short a "Miracle Man"- a wonder to the medical profession, not healed by the power of God, but kept alive & sustained by the One who breathed the breath of life into him & who gave him the promise of Eternal life.


Max has tricuspet artresia, transposition of the great arteries & pulmonary stenosis. People with just one of these defects often die between 16-20 years of age- Max is 42. Nothing keeps him down. He has had 17 cardio-inversions (Yep-the shocks) in the last 4 years- 2 of them in Malaysia & yet keeps on keeping on by the Grace of God, the love of his family & for the sake of the gospel.


One hospital worker once said to me, "You're brave taking him on!"But it doesn't feel like that when you are in the situation. God spoke to me as a single Christian Woman 3 months before I met him telling me that my future husband would have a mantle of evangelism over his life-He didn't tell me about his heart condition-I guess that shows that God considers his calling more important than any congenital defect!! When Max told me shortly before we began courting about his heart, I briefly thought of Mary & how she got the prophecy that a sword would one day pierce her heart, but then I remembered too the joy she would have had as the mother of our Lord; so I accepted that a rose has thorns & accepted the gift with its glorious scent.


When Max had his first turn 4 years ago, it was totally unexpected. I remember thinking as I waited for the ambulance "This isn't meant to be happening yet! God, you've joined us together for a purpose!"This was about 2 days before our eldest's first birthday! I spent Talitha's first birthday wondering if he'd even survive. This was before the hospital understood the uniqueness of his condition & how best to treat it. After a few days in hospital they sent him home on several different heart medications, but he still wasn't too good. At that stage I was working 1.5 days per week, while he cared for Talitha & I still remember one Saturday morning, going to work at his insistance (the half day) & getting a phone call from him 2 hours later "You'd better come home". I drove home the 30mins drive as quick as I could & found him lying on the bed with Talitha resting beside him. He had checked the side effect sheet given him by the hospital, rang them & discovered one of the tablets was killing him! I packed baby bottles & drove the 3 of us to the hospital. He wasn't doing well. I gritted my teeth as I drove & forced myself to say "Whatever happens the devil can't win!!" & then the revelation came to both of us-we experienced joy in the middle of an emergency. I started to sing & he came a bit better. The devil released his grip as he knew that fear wasn't binding us!!


To cut a long story short, the hospital kept him in for a while & changed his medication, but he was still in Aterial Fibulation . This left him very weak & unable to lift our daughter. While we were waiting for an appointment at Prince Charles Hospital in Brisbane, we received notification that my name had come up on a waiting list for major surgery at Nambour. This presented a problem. I would be out of action for 6 weeks & be unable to care for our daughter. We explained our dilema & the answer "Prince Charles" had was-Cardio-inversion for Max!! That's what they do to dead people I thought!!


Anyway Max was zapped accordingly, while I prayed alone in the waiting room. In came the Doctor "Worked first time!!" When he awoke from the GA he was a new man-full of life & energy again!!


That was 4 years ago & it wasn't even a week ago that I called the ambulance again as he woke up in AF & needed another cardio-inversion. We don't know how long Max will have on this earth. Heaven is very real to us. God is good regardless & Life is very precious. God just gives us more adventures than other people.


Happy Valentines my Precious, I treasure your heart- just as it is!!