Glimpses of Grace
by M. Alex Montgomery
Have you ever heard the lines talking about how God is good all the time? But when you go through those hard trials and those fearful storms come, do you keep on saying to yourself that God is good all the time? I find it hard to, yet still God prevails and shines His light through those dark clouds. The following is a true account of how God is good and how He leads you by the hand through those stormy times.
Malcolm and Sheryl Montgomery were on their way to Virginia to begin a job interviewing process. They checked into their hotel and went to bed early to be fresh and awake for their psychiatric evaluations in the morning along with their physicals directly after. Awakening to the unpleasant sound of her husband vomiting in the bathroom, Sheryl Montgomery got up out of bed to attend to him, gently teasing that he shouldn’t have eaten that cold potato soup for dinner. The symptoms were mainly vomiting with diarrhea and a climbing fever; typically all normal signs that something you had to eat did not agree with your stomach. Malcolm was sick for most of the night but was adamant that he could make it to the evaluation the following morning.
They spent a restless night but managed to get some sleep and go to the psychiatric evaluation in the morning. Malcolm did not feel well, but the evaluation went fine to which they traveled to the hospital clinic for their physicals. Upon reaching the clinic, Sheryl grabbed the needed registration forms for both of them and the pair sat down to wait as Sheryl began to work on both of their forms. During this process, Malcolm emitted a strange sound; between a groan and a throaty warble. His pupils had lost their focus. Sheryl yelled out in desperation “Help! Something is wrong with my husband!” To which the nurse responded by giving a Code Blue signal, used to signal that someone either knows or suspects immediate loss of life*.
A team of paramedics and surgeons from the Emergency Room came rushing in and strapped Malcolm into a gurney; wheeling him to a room. The nurse came in and hooked him up to an IV to re-hydrate him, following the Doctor’s declamation that he was suffering from dehydration. That evening, almost twenty-four hours after Malcolm had first began to feel bad, he was running a one-hundred and five degree fever with his blood pressure having dropped extremely low and refusing to stabilize. The nurse told Sheryl that he needed to be in the Intensive Care Unit, or ICU, as she did not feel that he could receive the proper treatment in his current location.
After hooking Malcolm up to vital monitoring machines, the doctors began to attempt to discover what the problem was and how Malcolm was doing. Sheryl waited outside in the waiting room until the Doctor came out and informed her that a young man in better physical condition who was experiencing this, would not have survived. Malcolm Montgomery was dying. The Doctor graciously allowed Sheryl to sit by her dying husband’s bedside in the ICU as his body thrashed from side to side. In just twenty-four hours he was in organ failure and his body was jerking in death throes. Sheryl stayed by his side until the shift changed at 3:30 in the morning, during which she was required to leave.
Exhausted and seeking a place of refuge, Sheryl made her way up to the clinic chapel to which she began praying earnestly for God to spare her husband’s life. While in this fervent prayer, she felt the presence of God, like she was at the footstool of His throne. Deep down in her heart, she heard Him say “I have heard your prayers.”
Moments after this occurred, Sheryl went back to the ICU and watched as Malcolm’s body began to stop thrashing and within the hour, it had stopped completely and his blood pressure was beginning to slowly stabilize. The nurse confirmed Sheryl’s observations and told her that she should get some sleep and that he was doing a little better. Sheryl slept for an hour and a half, and then went to find the Doctor to ask about Malcolm’s condition to which the Doctor replied, “He is ten to twenty percent better but he is not out of the woods yet”. Sheryl also inquired if the Doctor had been able to procure a diagnosis and she received an emphatic no.
Malcolm was in the ICU for seven days, then was moved to a normal hospital room and finally, on the ninth day, was released still without the knowledge of what had caused this near-death experience.
Malcolm was later diagnosed with being given a contaminated shot in the fat of the buttocks which caused an infection that could not be defeated. Later on, he had 175 grams of Staphylococcus aureus** infected tissue removed from his buttocks. I often look at my father, his now healthy and ruddy complexion, and thank God, who is good all the time for letting him be spared.
Special Thanks:
Malcolm and Sheryl Montgomery for their input
God for his wonderful and amazing grace.
Lance Bell for the amazing banner
* Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hospital_emergency_codes#Code_Blue, accessed 10-16-07
**Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staff_infection, accessed 10-16-07.