Breath

“Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD.  Praise ye the LORD” Psalm 150:6.

This year we decided to celebrate Thanksgiving a little early, on Sunday with our partners.  Probably like many of you, we have incorporated several family traditions.  One of our traditions is to make name cards, and have a Bible verse printed inside each one.  Everyone takes turns reading their verses and sharing what they are thankful for.  This year, Rebekah volunteered to make the name cards, and she chose the Bible passages to be read.  One of the verses included was Psalm 150:6, “Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD”.  She spent quite a bit of time perfecting each one, and did a great job.  Just a few hours after she finished her project, she no longer had breath, literally she could not breathe.  After a few moments, she calmed down and could breathe but was definitely having a difficult time.  It was 9 p.m. and Stephen decided to get Rebekah to the hospital as quickly as possible.  Knowing that the situation was critical, Stephen drove very quickly out of the village to a nearby provincial town.  This town has two hospitals, a government hospital and private hospital.  Stephen decided to go to the private hospital, but discovered that they were closed for the night.  Stephen had a difficult decision to make:  go to the local government hospital or drive two hours to another private hospital.   Rebekah’s situation seemed to be getting worse.  She said it was getting harder to breathe and that her hands were tingling.  Stephen basically had no choice but to try to the local government hospital.  Stephen and Rebekah entered the emergency room and Stephen just about “tackled” the doctor.  The doctor told a nurse that the girl needed a nebulizer.  The nurse went out into the hallway.  Not really knowing what was happening, Stephen and Rebekah waited in the emergency room.  A few moments later, the nurse was calling “Beautiful”.  After about the fifth time calling “Beautiful”, she called “Foreigner”.  It then dawned on Stephen that the nurse was calling for Rebekah to come out into the hallway.  Within a few minutes, Rebekah was being treated with a nebulizer that appeared to be helping her.  An hour later and after a second round of medicine, the doctor said Rebekah was doing better and could go home.  On the way home, Rebekah was talking and singing non-stop.  Praise the Lord, she had her breath once again.  They arrived home about 12:30 a.m. and we all went to bed.

Twelve hours later, we sat around our table to celebrate Thanksgiving.  Each one of us went around the table and read the verses Rebekah had prepared the day before.  Stephen, the last one to read his verse, read, “Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD.  Praise ye the LORD”.  We truly thank the Lord for the breath He has given to each one in our family.  This Thursday, and even at this moment, praise the Lord that He hath given you breath!