Great is Thy Faithfulness: A Modern Day Lazarus Experience

By Patrick Hawthorne

Great is Thy Faithfulness is an amazing testimony of “God Working”. The circumstances surrounding these events could not have happened by chance. The Word of God says He can save by many or by few. In this amazing account of God’s miraculous working, you will see that even in a complex situation God can work all things to bring about good. Intertwined in these events you will see the “hand of God” over and over again to save one man’s life. It is a testimony to what faith in God can do in a difficult situation. Be encouraged as you read to know that God is working behind the scene in your own life

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: May 24, 2013
• ISBN: 9780988430327

Book preview

2012

Chapter 1

First Visit to the Emergency Room

January 16th 2012

We’d had a long day. My wife Kathy (Kat) and I had been home only a couple of hours from a two day outing in Kisatchie National Forrest where we had assisted a friend who was hosting a horse trail riding competition. It was right around eight in the evening and we were just settling down for the night. I had no more than kicked off my shoes when my cell phone rang. Not wanting to be disturbed, I ignored it. However, a few seconds later the house phone rang. My initial thought was, Uh oh...this can’t be good.

Looking at the caller I.D, I saw that it was my dad. As I answered the phone, I immediately knew from the tone that he was in trouble. With a choking sound one makes as they are trying to keep from gagging, he said, Son, this is Pops...here’s your mom.

For years I have referred to my dad as Pops. How the name came about, I really don’t know. I guess it was from watching some old rerun like Andy Griffith. Whatever the reason for his name, he did not sound good.

Son! This time the voice was Mom’s. Your dad has just vomited a large amount of blood. I’m taking him to the emergency room. Mom’s voice cracked a little and I knew that she was shaken.

After finding out the details of where Mom was taking Pops, I quickly dressed and headed up to the emergency room. Being a paramedic, I have learned that many times those things which seem extremely urgent at the moment are not necessarily critical concerning life and death. For that reason I was not overly anxious as I drove to the hospital.

Upon arrival at the emergency room, I quickly located Mom and Pops sitting in the waiting room. Except for a few people, the large room was virtually empty and silent except for the lone voice of a news anchor on the television. When I approached the area where they were seated, I was able to get a good look at Pops. Apart from being a bit pale, his condition did not appear overly critical.

As I walked up to where they were seated, Pops half-heartedly feigned frustration at my being there. It is the typical manly man thing guys do to appear tougher than what we really are. However, I knew he was happy to see me, not only for himself, but for Mom.

Not being one to beat around the bush, I immediately launched into my questions concerning the bleed. As the story unfolded, my initial thoughts were that Pops had a bleeding ulcer. With the initial inquiry out of the way, we settled back for the wait. Eventually, our chit-chat turned into our usual discussions about Bible topics and work related issues.

After about an hour, we heard the welcome voice of a nurse as she called out, Mr. Hawthorne? In unison, we three stood and followed the voice as Pops was led back to a room.

Apparently the short walk back to the exam room was all that was needed to send Pops into another wave of nausea. In short time, he was anxiously asking for a bucket, a bag, or anything that he could use to throw-up in. Frantically searching for anything, I grabbed hold of the first thing I could find which was a trash can.

As Pops buried his head in the trash can, I immediately understood why mom was so visibly shaken. Waves of dark blood stained clots filled the bottom of the can. Apparently, Pops had been bleeding into his stomach for quite awhile. Having nowhere to go, the blood took the path of least resistance, which was up and