Last night I got the call. That one that you never expect. The one that you are never ready for. The one you never want to hear. The Bush's were leaving our house and my phone rang with a number I didn't recognize, so of course I didn't answer it. You do that too, right? Well it called right back while I was in the other room and I missed it and thought man I should call them back maybe they need something. Then the text came.

I remember reading it and shrinking down to the floor as the words hit my brain. It was from my brother and it said, “Call Kristen. Mom's in ER for her heart.”

I frantically called my dad (who had been trying to call me on a number I didn't have saved) and he told me that he didn't know much but he thought mom was having a heart attack and was at the ER.

I get that sick feeling in my stomach even as I type this out. My heart was racing and I knew I had to go. I live about 3 hours from where she was so I took a quick shower, since we had just done our long run, and left the house in about 20 minutes. I left Aaron and the Bush's to figure out a plan!

As I was driving I got more of the story and here's how it went down. You tell me when you read this if you don't see the HAND OF GOD all over this situation.

So my brother, Jordan, and his fabulous wife, Kristen, had a baby on Friday night. Welcome to the family Lilly Ruth. I was once again bummed that I missed the birth, but thankful to have my sweet boy Amos home to love on. My mom and dad were there and it was great. My parents took Porter, their 2 year old, home with them Friday night to spend the night and play.

Saturday morning Jordan and Kristen were thinking they would get discharged that afternoon, but instead the doctor decided to keep them another night, so my mom brought Porter up to the hospital to hand him off to Kristen's parents. As she was in the room with them she started getting tight pains in her chest. She being the person that doesn't like attention didn't say anything and left and went to the bathroom down the hall to sit down and try to catch her breath. Then she walked downstairs and got in car thinking the pain would just go away. As she got ready to leave she realized it wasn't going away so she drove around the building to the ER and walked in saying”I have this tight feeling in my chest and am short of breath”. She said they whisked her back there.

She told them that her son was upstairs in room 214, but not to call him unless it was serious. A few minutes later a nurse shows up at Jordan & Kristen's room and asks Jordan to come outside. She then says that his mom is in the ER and he needs to go down there immediately. He had no clue what was wrong b/c she had just left. He called my dad and he got on the road to get there.

When he showed up in the ER he found out that my mom was having a heart attack and they were already working on getting the dye thing (sorry I forgot the technical word) to see where the blockage was. He called me and filled me in and I was on the road.

Within in 3 hours she had the dye thing, had the balloon thing (forgot the technical word) and was in a room in ICU recovering.

OH MY WORD.

Come to find out my mom's heart is very healthy. I mean she's a vegetarian, has celiac, doesn't drink, doesn't smoke, doesn't have high blood pressure, isn't overweight, and walks at least 6x's a week. She is healthy. Very healthy. One of the best cardiac doctors in the country is at this hospital and he was on duty that night and is now her doctor. He found a tiny vessel that was 100% blocked and his diagnosis is that it was probably from stress.

GOD WAS ALL OVER THIS DAY:

• Had Jordan and Kristen been released that morning she would have been driving and not been at the hospital when this happened.
• Had Kristen not delivered this very weekend she wouldn't had been at hospital.
• Did I mention Kristen works at this hospital and HIGHLY recommended this doctor that just “happened” to be there that night.
• The doctor was surprised she had a lot of pain. SHE did and it was enough to send her to ER and if you know my mom it had to have been bad.
• My brother was at the hospital, and so she was not alone during all this.

I get tears in my eyes to see how much God protected my mom and was all in this. I hate that this happened to her. As I was driving last night I hated that I wasn't there to hold her hand during this and to be there with her. I love my mom so much and we talk daily and I am so happy that we live in TX now so that I can just get in my car and go. I'm so thankful that Aaron and I have THE BEST friends in the world that will drop everything to help us.

I was reminded lat night that each day is a gift. We are not promised tomorrow. I am thankful that if my mom would have suffered from a fatal heart attack that I am confident that we would meet again. I'm confident that our relationship is good and I would have no regrets. I am confident that she would leave a legacy with big shoes for me to fill. I am confident that God would be glorified through her life.

Oh how thankful I am that this heart attack was minor. I am so thankful that yes her heart will heal and she should suffer no long term damage.

Thank you Jesus for protecting my momma!

*December 2009 – my super cool grandma and my super cool Mom and all my kids (at the time!)