Saturday, December 7, 2024

Read Psalm 30

Weeping may endure for a night, by joy comes in the morning.”

Psalm 30:5

To escape the big winter melt of upstate New York in 1969, where he was ministering in his first parish, my husband (Bp. Phil) and I, with our 19- month- old son, David, were visiting my parents in Maryland when he received a call that his grandmother in Florida was dying. Immediately he flew to be with her.

Meanwhile, on the first morning of the Memorial Day weekend, I collapsed in the hallway of my parents’ home. My father got me up and helped me back to bed. I was weak and dizzy and thought I had the flu. I tried some Coke hoping it would settle my stomach. It didn’t. As the day continued, I grew weaker and paler.

Concerned, my parents called the doctor, who said he would come to see me when his office hours were over at 3:00. He took one look at me, and immediately called an ambulance, telling them not to waste any time. He diagnosed I was bleeding internally and was in shock. This was no simple case of the flu. In the ambulance the EMTs administered an IV of saline and the sirens blared as we rushed to the hospital’s emergency room. I remember the nurses discussing my blood pressure and heard one say, “eleven” and shortly thereafter another made a zero with her hand and shook her head negatively. My priest came to pray with me, and Our Lord covered me with His peace, dissolving all fear and anxiety.

Soon I received what would eventually amount to four pints of plasma. It was finally revealed that I was suffering from a ruptured tubal pregnancy and had lost our baby. I had to have emergency surgery, but on a holiday weekend, there was only one obstetrician available, who “happened” to be the doctor who delivered my younger brother!

Meanwhile, my husband was called in Florida, and after a race to the airport, he found the plane on which he was to fly to Maryland waiting for him. He arrived at the hospital right after I had awakened after a long, but successful surgery. When I opened my eyes, he was there. We praised God for His goodness. After a few days in the hospital, and several weeks of recovery, I was allowed to take the long drive back to upstate New York.

Understanding I would probably not be able to have any more children, my husband and I prayerfully decided to apply for adoption, completed the process and were accepted prior to my doctor releasing me six months after the surgery. One day after the six months was up, we received a call from the adoption agency. They had a precious little girl waiting for us. She was born on the very day I had my first symptoms of losing this pregnancy. Not only that, but shortly after, New York legalized abortions, and very few babies were then available for adoption. The Lord’s timing was perfect.

What first seemed like a tragedy, God, through many miracles, turned pain into joy and victory.

Prayer:  Help me not to be discouraged when things look bleak, when I can see no way out, and when everything seems to be going wrong. Give me the grace to cling to You and anticipate the joy which will surely come in Your time and in Your way.  Amen

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

How can I help others experiencing grief?

Jean Zampino

PRAYER FOCUS:  families separated from each other