I am about to share a true story with you about a young girl named Gem.

Laying on the ground and looking up the clouds was Gem’s favorite thing to do. She would pretend she was a bird and could just fly away. Gem was sick a lot, in and out of the hospital for various illnesses. She was never as sick as that one day in July.

Gem complained of a headache, which was not one of the symptoms she usually had from the other illnesses. Then came a high fever, a very high fever. The family doctor was called and thought it was a typical virus that Gem had picked up. She did, after all, have a weakened immune system. The doctor said to take an over-the-counter pain reliever to help bring down the fever and relieve the pain from the headache. That is what we did.

Out of nowhere, Gem’s fever went up to 103 and then 104 and kept climbing. A trip was made to the hospital, the same hospital where Gem had been admitted many times for various illnesses. This was different. She tried to focus on being a bird and flying away. The nurses plunged Gem into an ice bath to bring down the fever. Gem was losing consciousness, it is hard to know if that was because of the pain, the fever, the stress on her body or the shock of the ice.

One of the nurses yelled, “We are losing her!” as they tried to fight whatever illness was ravaging her frail body. Gem was placed on a high table so it was easier for the medical team to work on her. There were tubes, cuffs, and machines hooked up to Gem very quickly to assess her organs and take over her breathing. Everyone was running around and yelling instructions. The bright lights over the table were blinding, they burned Gem’s eyes. Those lights were the last thing Gem saw.

All the chaos and the yelling and the pain was gone. . .

Let’s pray. Father in heaven, thank You for every breath we take. Thank You that You fill our lungs with air and give our hearts the strength to pump blood throughout our body. Thank You for medical teams and for healing. Thank You for Your peace and love. Help us to share You with everyone we meet. In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.