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| A STORY WITH GREAT FEELINGS |
| Any Coach, whether it’s Little League, High school, College, or the Major Leagues will tell you that after a win-the feeling is indescribable. It’s the amazing feeling of a well played game and all the drama that surrounds a great win that drives many of us to further succeed in the sport that we love. So on that special day after my Hawaii Pacific University Sea warriors had won not one, but two games of a double header-that the drive home was filled with great joy and an uplifting sense of achievement for my players, coaches and for myself. All I wanted to do then was to get home to be with my wife Gail and my 2 1/2 year old daughter, Jessica. When I did arrive home, my “pride and joy” ran up to the front door to greet me with “Hi Daddy” and gave me a hug. Any father can tell you the feeling when their “little charge” runs up to them, puts their arms around them and gives them the warmest hugs that only little girls can give their fathers. The feeling was great like always, but today it felt even more so with the accomplishment of what we did on the baseball field. When I got further in the door I noticed that Jessica was running around and singing her usual “Barney the Dinosaur” songs. She was in a great mood and when I told Gail that we won both games and “HOW” we won both-the Sato house was just beaming with happiness and good cheer. Then after a about a half hour or so, Gail and I decided to give Jessica a bath. During her bath, Jessica was still in a great mood. Still singing and telling me “Love you Daddy” we finished her bath. Not one minute after Gail took her to dry her off and dress her-Gail brought Jessica back into the bath to tell me that we got to get her cleaned up again, that Jessica had thrown up on herself. When I looked at Jessica-she seemed totally a different person! Crying, fussing and screaming! She definitely was in some kind of distress. With all the turmoil going on in the bath-I did the best I could to get her cleaned up, then I hurried out of the bath right behind my wife and now, ill daughter. What took place next completely shattered all feelings of the happiness that we were dwelling in only minutes ago. Jessica was throwing up on herself and seemed to be slowly losing consciousness and turning an ugly gray color upon her face! With Gail carrying Jessica we made a beeline for the emergency room at a nearby hospital. The drive there is only five minutes away, but when you are in any sort of trauma-the drive seems like hours! Driving to the hospital I couldn’t help but ask Jesus to please take care of my baby… Once we got to the hospital, Jessica’s little body was totally limp! I get frightening thoughts as I write this at the memory of how she looked at that moment! The doctors immediately rushed her into the back of the emergency room, where they quickly tried to determine what was wrong and to get some information of her vital signs. Everything was happening so fast! I don’t know exactly what the doctors asked Gail and myself, my main focus was on Jessica as she was still throwing up what now seemed to be throwing up unconsciously. The doctor finally ordered a blood culture and explained to us that an I.V. line was going to be put in simultaneously. She was so out of it that she didn’t even flinch when the attendant stuck her with the needles. It was then that I looked at Gail, and although she was trying to be strong-was slowly buckling under to the strain that every parent goes through during crisis situations concerning their children. I stood from the bed, told Gail that I was going to call Stan… Stan is a great friend, who was really the one that was there for me when my life hit rock bottom some years ago. Stan was the one to explain the answer to the many questions that I had after I made a commitment to “The Lord Jesus Christ.” We would spend many long hours and late into the night conversing about the paths that our lives took and how Jesus, unknowing to us back then, was always there, like the poem of “FOOT PRINTS” where the person in the poem is only being mislead by the physical evidence of what he sees in the sand. We would also spend a lot of time-sharing with each other how grateful our lives are now, after accepting Jesus into our hearts…so it is no wonder that when I needed someone to talk to, it was always Stan. I needed him now as I thought of Jessica’s condition and now with Gail in her mental state of mind…”Stan” I said, “I’m here in the emergency room with Jessica and Gail. I don’t know what’s wrong with Jessica yet, but if you can please stay in prayer for her.” He just asked a few questions but told me “Jesus will be protecting her-for He loves the children and holds them in high esteem” and reassured me that he would go into prayer the minute we hung up. Then it was my mental state that was being tested, for by those words alone and the assurance of what Our Lord Jesus Christ has promised (that He will never forsake us, even at our worst of times) the tears started to flow down my cheeks. I had to stop and compose myself before returning to Jessica’s emergency room, I didn’t want Gail to see me like this when she herself was trying her best to remain strong. When I got to Jessica’s room-she seemed to be opening her eyes ever so slightly, but seemed very, very lethargic with her eyes glassed over and having no feeling in them. Just then the doctor came in again and told Gail and I that a CAT-Scan was going to be done in the event that she may have fallen, unknowingly to us and had a concussion. With the emotions in a single day going from one extreme to another my reaction was “A WHAT?” I knew very well what a CAT-Scan was but couldn’t believe that only an hour ago my baby was singing and dancing, and now a CAT-Scan! Then the doctor told me that it was only a pre-cautionary measure being that he had a hard time trying to pinpoint the cause to Jessica’s illness, and until the blood culture came back he was mystified. The nurse led the way to the CAT-Scan room which was a short walk from the E.R. Gail following the nurse, I was carrying Jessica-who now was very much awake. When we got to the CAT-Scan room the hydraulic bed had a hollowed out pillow for a patients head and I had to lay her down on the bed with her head sitting in the hollowed portion. Then I saw the straps and thought “ Oh, oh” they will never keep her in there strapped up long enough to get any kind of clear pictures with the CAT-Scan machine. My daughter is one of those kids that can never be strapped in or restrained-I have to actually pump the brakes at a red light just so she doesn’t start to climb out of her car seat thinking that the car ride is over! So strapping her forehead to the pillow, and strapping her body to the bed was going to be impossible-I thought. But what surprised me was when she laid there on that bed; she had total “peace” in her eyes and kept looking from Gail to me then back to Gail and around the room. Walking out of the room, I caught a glance of Jessica just before the door closed and seeing her laying there-I just had to walk to a quiet corner in the hall and just let out all the tears…why? I thought…Why her? What’s wrong? At that moment if I could’ve traded places with Jessica, I would have, before anyone had the chance to say, “GO.” I looked over at Gail and she couldn’t hold it in any longer as she was letting out all the emotions of the last hour with her face buried in her hands…It seems now that we had to release and unload on our own, in our own way, and make our own separate pledges to Jesus, just like the personal, and intimate relationships that we all as Christians have with our Lord Jesus Christ. Mentally drained and physically spent we waited for the attendant to tell us that the scan was over… The doors opened and I rushed right pass the attendant. By the time the attendant could tell us that the scan was over-Gail and I were at Jessica’s side. She looked up at me with the same “peace” in her eyes and even smiled at both Gail and I. I knew then she was her same self, only when the strap on her forehead came off was she then struggling to get out of the rest of the straps and reaching for me to carry her with her arms outstretched to me. I quickly picked her up and those great feelings from her hugs were there again as well. Gail came over to us and shared what Jessica calls “friends hug” where the three of us hug. Something that she has picked up watching “Barney the Dinosaur.” The attendant then told us that she would escort us back to Jessica’s original room in the E.R. What happened next changed our lives forever and solidified our faith in The Lord Jesus Christ even more. With the attendant leading the way, Gail following the attendant, I was carrying Jessica in my left arm leaving the room last. Just as we got to the door, Jessica swiftly swung her body to my right side and was looking over my right shoulder, staring in the direction of the CAT-Scan machine. Her actions startled me as we were the only ones left in the room and her reaction was as if someone had called her name. Then suddenly, waving in the direction of the CAT-Scan machine, She said “Bye Jesus, bye, bye!!” Then still looking in the direction of the CAT-Scan machine, her eyes began slowly following something that was slowly ascending in a spiral motion toward the ceiling! It was all Gail and I could handle for one day, we had to sit on the chairs outside of that CAT-Scan room and we just cried and cried and cried…The “FEELING” simply overwhelmed the both of us! The comfort, His promise, the love and the work of Jesus were truly indescribable!!! It’s a feeling unlike any other-true love in the true sense of the word… As we sat there, trying to gather ourselves, Jessica is like the same Jessica that she was when I got home from the game singing, laughing, smiling. We couldn’t understand a word she was singing, but we were just overjoyed at what just took place and the fact that she seemed well again. But what was even more amazing as we would find out a few days later was that she was not singing her normal “Barney the Dinosaur” greatest hits. I was told that everywhere Jesus goes, so does His angels. Many angels singing hymns flank Him singing hymns and praises to God our Father in Heaven, and instruments such as harps are played as well. Well what we heard from our daughter’s mouth was interpreted to be hymns and why we couldn’t understand it was because only the pure of hearts can clearly hear hymns. Which makes sense due to the fact that Jesus tells us to become like the children- pure at heart. Not that we had any doubts but everything just fit together perfectly with the confirmation of His angels and hymns. The Lord Jesus Christ is truly The Healer! After getting back to our original E.R, room we waited for the doctor to tell us what would be next. They stuck her with some I.V. because of her fluid loss, and still needed to know the results of the blood culture and the CAT-Scan. When the results came in, it didn’t shock us that they found both blood culture and CAT-Scan negative. The healing from whatever that ailed Jessica that night was done by Jesus Himself, as it was Jessica herself that voiced it. A girl who does not know politically correct or incorrect ways, and simply a girl who has no worldly knowledge of Jesus. Through prayer soon after, I made a solemn promise to God, The Father in Heaven and to His Son, The Lord Jesus Christ that I would share this story with whoever He sends for me to speak to. Being a former athlete, I still have many friends who have played the game who I occasionally see and one gentleman in particular-a huge fellow 6,5’ 300 lbs. Was brought to his knees, and in tears because the story of what Jessica went through solidified and renewed his faith in The Lord Jesus! Now, I feel really great for my players and coaches after a victory. It’s their reward for a week of hard work. I love this game called baseball and I don’t think that I will ever lose this feeling for it, but I am positive of a feeling that I will never lose. The feeling of what Gail, Jessica and I experienced that night in the hospital-the touch of Jesus in our lives! “THE GREATEST FEELING OF ALL!!!!!!” WRITTEN BY: "WARRIOR FOR CHRIST" |
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