The vigil at Josiah’s bedside continued, and with each new day, a stark realization of how he could’ve died in the early morning of December 10th, but by the Grace of God, he did not.
One of the most miraculous things was that God stopped the bullet from exiting his shoulder. I told earlier of how my husband applied pressure to Josiah’s wound to control the bleeding. Had the bullet exited in the back, the blood loss would have been so much more dangerous. It was as if God’s hand kept it from exiting.
My husband recalls such a Peace that came over him as he helped our boy. He just knew this wasn’t Josiah’s end.
Sometimes You Have To Laugh
The TV in Josiah’s ICU room had 2 stations. Your choices were “Forensic Files” or “The Hallmark Channel” and with it being December, we had a steady stream of Christmas flicks. There’s a long running joke in our home. If you want to clear a room, announce that it’s time for a Hallmark movie! The kids respect MY desire to indulge, and even though they decline to join me in my happy fantasies, it doesn’t stop them from giving me the essential movie-watching gear. Not to mention that I have EVERY Hallmark meme that’s been invented!
It was the middle of the night, somewhere around December 13, that I had a movie playing while Josiah slept. Noticing he was awake, I switched it back to “Forensic Files” so he could watch a more manly show. He quickly reached for my phone to type me a message and the result was the following….
The next night I was channel surfing, or so I thought, our 2 choices to avoid commercials. I noticed the nurse kept coming to the door each time I tried to switch the channel. Call it sleeplessness, but I thought the channels weren’t switching because the remote needed batteries. Finally after the nurse asked for about the 5th time if we were ok, Josiah once again reached for my phone. His message this particular time was….
I PROMPTLY APOLOGIZED😁
Fighting Fear
Josiah was having a restless night after getting choked a few times from his tube. Each time we would try to explain his fears of not feeling as if he could breathe, there was one particular nurse that would give him such a difficult time. Let’s just say her bedside manner was VERY LACKING!
After being told by “Miss Congeniality” that he was making all of this up in his head, and that “THERE IS NO MEDICAL WAY HE COULD CHOKE!!” she pivoted and walked out the door. Let’s just say that I followed her into the hall and we had a conversation of the most Godly kind.
Open His Eyes Lord
“Mom, I’m afraid!” The tube had finally been removed and Josiah explained how traumatic that was for him. He wanted me to read scriptures that would help him overcome that fear.
Grabbing my phone, I typed in Scriptures to Fight Fear and began to read down the list……Psalms 56:3-When I am afraid I will trust in you. Isaiah 41:10-Don’t be afraid, for I’m with you..I will strengthen you and hold you up with my righteous right hand.
As I continued down the list, I came to a verse from 2 Kings 6. Elisha’s servant was frightened as he looked outside to see that they were surrounded by an army of horses and chariots. Elisha assured his servant in verse 16, “Don’t be afraid, for there are more on our side than on theirs!” Then I read on down in verse 17 where Elisha prayed, “Lord open my servant’s eyes so that he can see!” The Lord opened the young man’s eyes and he began to see the horses and chariots made of fire that surrounded the hillside.
I began to read over and over again of “The Servant’s eyes being opened.” The more I read the more excited I became because I KNEW I HAD FOUND JOSIAH’S VERSE!!! A verse to believe in, that he would SEE the horses and chariots of fire surrounding his circumstances.
I informed the family that we were CLAIMING, STANDING ON, and DECLARING this Scripture for Josiah!! We were believing that God would continue to Open his eyes so that he could see.
With each new day, his vision became more clear. He was determined that he was done with toxic relationships, believing in his heart once again that God had a perfect plan for his life. His excitement was building about watching it unfold. His eyes had been opened!!!
Josiah always teased me that his next ink would be a Big Red Heart with the word “Mom” so I got one for him. Of course, it had to contain his verse!
My Prayer For You
“Lord, help us to open our eyes so that we may see. What was once cloudy, please make it clear. When we think that we’re surrounded by our circumstances, may we look beyond to recognize that we are surrounded by YOU! Help each Mom to know that You will fight our battles. In Jesus Name!”