Lael and her Dad's relationship changed this weekend. I'll get to that in a bit.
Meanwhile, let me say... What a weekend! Mike and Lael took Bret and Remi and some of their friends to a high school worship retreat at Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion, Indiana. Lael was the chaperone for the girls, and Mike was the chaperone for the one boy that went. I know what you're thinking. Why didn't you chaperone Sammy? Hey, staying the night in a stinky, crammed college dorm is just not my thing. Don't judge.
Anyway, Marion is about a 2 1/2 hour drive from our house. They left Friday night and didn't return home until late Saturday night. Partly because when they left Marion it was doing this.
Meanwhile, we were having high winds here too (thankfully, no snow). Apparently, the high winds wreaked havoc on power lines all over the Midwest. Our electricity was off most of Saturday. The power company didn't get it back on until Sunday morning. Hey Duke Energy, I think you might need to hire some more linemen!
OK, back to Lael and Mike. Here is the picture again, to get you in the right frame of mind.
So Mike and Lael were having lunch Saturday in the IWU cafeteria. Mike was trying to eat healthy, and it almost killed him! He plucked a cherry tomato from his salad, and when he popped it in his mouth, it went straight down--whole (by the way, the tomato above is not the one that almost killed Mike). Mike told me he wasn't sure what happened at first, and he didn't want to make a scene, so he swallowed hard trying to force it down. It was a big cherry tomato, though, so trying to force it down just lodged it even deeper and tighter in his throat. It was also then he realized he couldn't breathe. Mind you, this all happened in the span of a few seconds. But Lael had already noticed he was acting weird, and asked him "Dad, are you OK!?" She said he violently shook his head "no" (he couldn't talk). He started pointing at his throat, and they stood up together. Lael yelled for someone to help her but no one did (despite the cafeteria being packed with hundreds of other people).
Mike said at this point his mind was racing, because he knew he was in serious trouble. He was trying hard to breathe, but couldn't get any air down. And the tomato would not budge. He felt like he was about to lose control. Thankfully, that's when Lael went into action. She put her arms around his waist and did the Heimlich Maneuver--three times. The first time, nothing happened. The second time, a little lettuce that apparently took the ride down with the cherry tomato came up. The third time, the cherry tomato flew out of Mike's mouth.
Mike put his arm around Lael and said, "Lael, you just saved my life!" A man from another table came over, put his hands on them and prayed. When he was done, Lael sat down and burst into tears.
It was Lael's first time to save a life. And a friend of mine who is a nurse told me it is harder to deal with the emotion of saving a relative. While Lael may have broke down right after she saved her Dad's life, I hope it shows her she is going to make a great nurse. She just filled out her papers to start her fourth and final year of nursing school.
I know God was using and teaching Lael this weekend. While they were all there at Fusion worshiping our heavenly Father, He was using Lael to save her earthly father's life.
And I think you can see a tear in Mike's eye. : - ) He is one proud Daddy. Lael is the three-year old girl who didn't want anything to do with her new Dad the day she first met him (or for the year after that, for that matter). Literally, the day she met her new Dad, she took her shoe and threw it at him as hard as she could when he came too close. That little girl was thrilled to have a Mom instantly, and wanted nothing to do with her new Dad for a whole year. But yesterday, she saved his life.
"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28
Well the story gets a little stranger--or actually a lot stranger. All of us are still getting over Mike's scare and Lael having to do the Heimlich on him. But, not surprisingly, Lael is going through even more dealing with the shock of having to play nurse for real and knowing soon it will be her actual job. So God decided to tell her again today, "these are the plans I have for you."
After church today, we were doing our usual out to dinner thing. We usually have lunch at the same restaurant every Sunday after church. Another family from our church came in the restaurant. They've been eating there a lot too. The man sometimes leads the communion. They have an extra adorable little girl about 2 1/2 years old. I was told the Mom had a hard time conceiving. They adopted a little boy and ASAP she got pregnant with this little girl. My point is, I'm sure their little girl is extra special to them, since they waited so long for her.
We were in the middle of our lunch when the father of the little girl rushed by our table. Then he rushed back by again. He had his cell phone out and looked and sounded panicked. It was clear there was a serious problem. I looked back, and we heard someone say the little was choking and couldn't breathe. I told Lael, "you have to go help!" Lael responded, "I can't do this again!" I said, "You have to Lael!" Lael got over it and literally jumped out of her seat and ran back to the little girl. The mother kept saying, "she can't breathe." Lael asked the mother if she wanted her to do the Heimlich. The mother handed the little girl to Lael. And Lael did the Heimlich on the little girl! One day after she did it on her Dad.
Unlike Mike's episode, where Lael's performing the Heimlich clearly saved her Dad's life, at this point we're not really sure when the little girl spit the chips out she was choking on. They might have come up before or after Lael got there. But the little girl did not appear to be breathing when the mother handed her to Lael. And Lael did her job--again. And after all was said and done, Lael cried one more time. : - )
A few minutes after helping the little girl, Lael had to leave for work. As soon as she got to work she called me. When she got to work, she had an email waiting for her. Lael got the internship she interviewed for at the hospital of her choice!!! It is ranked one of the best hospitals in the country by U.S. News and World Report! Obviously, Lael had to compete against several other nursing students, and she had been praying about it for several months.
Me: "Lael why do you think you were able to get this internship?"
Lael (giving a bob of her head): "Jesus!'
"Need To Breathe" performed a concert at Fusion. It was not lost on us that the top act's name summed up the most climactic experience Mike and Lael had there.
This is the gang Mike took to Fusion. They are getting their picture here taken with Jordon Nicole Brown. She is not as famous as "Need to Breathe," but Lael loves her. I know the Asian thing has something to do with that, but Jordan Nicole Brown really is talented. Check her out at this link.
I'll post more pictures and some videos from Fusion later. For now, here is one more with Lael and her Dad. What a weekend, and what a girl!
