In The Time It Takes to Snap Your Fingers | Previous Challenge Entry

how it works

TITLE: In The Time It Takes to Snap Your Fingers | Previous Challenge Entry
By Jimmy Thiel
09/06/08
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It was five o’clock in the morning when I was awakened from my sleep. The pain that I had been feeling in my arms had escaladed to the point where it was no longer just a nuisance. I sat up in bed rubbing my arms in an attempt to get some relief. The effort was futile, although the movement was enough to stir my wife from her slumber as well. She asked me if I was alright. I explained to her that I was feeling the same pains as the night before, only much worse. She had given me a muscle relaxer before I went to bed under the assumption that I had strained or pulled the muscles in my arms. It obviously had not worked. She asked if I needed to go to the hospital which I responded with a questionable “I don’t think so”. She suggested that I try to take a shower and see if that would help. I agreed, but only until I had made it to the door of the shower stall. It was at this point that my legs became weak and I started to feel a sick sensation in my stomach. Something was terribly wrong. By this time she had made it to my side and was supporting me. She asked again if I needed to go to the hospital. I knew at this point that I did. I stopped and took an aspirin as I was waiting for her to get dressed. She questioned me for taking it because she feared it would hinder the hospital from giving me pain medication if I needed it. I told her that I took the aspirin because I thought that I might be suffering from a heart attack. She immediately asked me if my chest was hurting. It wasn’t. She laughed and said “Well I guess it’s not a heart attack then.” We would soon learn that she was zero for two in the diagnosis department.

We were about half way to the hospital when I felt the first pain in my chest, and if God was trying to get my attention it worked! The pain shot through my chest like a bullet and I soon found myself sweating and laboring for every breath I took. As soon as I got to the hospital I was hooked up to an EKG machine. I could tell right away by the nurses’ reaction that the news wasn’t good. The doctor and nurses threw everything they had into what I now realized was an effort to save my life! They did not have the resources that the task was going to take. I had to be transferred to a larger hospital.

I don’t remember the trip in the ambulance, but I do vaguely remember arriving at the Macon Medical Center. I was taken straight to the cardiac unit and placed on a table equipped with lots of monitors. I only remember a nurse smiling at me and saying “You’re doing fine”. I smiled back and drifted into darkness.

When I woke up I was in a recovery room. My wife sat beside me holding my hand. I don’t remember ever seeing a more beautiful sight. She just smiled and whispered “You made it; you’re going to be ok.” It was not until a short time later that I learned that my blood pressure had bottomed out and my heart had stopped beating. I had a 100% blockage in my left coronary artery. I had no idea how close I had come to death.

I bowed my head in prayer. I thanked God for pulling me through this horrible ordeal. Well God must have been talking back because I immediately had a revelation. This was the first time that I had prayed in a long time. I had to ask myself if I had been living my life the way that God would want me too. The truth is I had not.

I thank God for giving me a second chance. I know that not everybody gets one. I made a promise to Him that I would be a better Christian. That’s a promise I intend to keep.

Our life here on earth can change or end within the time it takes to snap your fingers. If you’re not living every day for Jesus as if it’s your last, it’s time to start! We can’t always count on one more chance.

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