Early morning lesson today

Cameron has been having some inconsistent mornings lately. Let's us sleep until about 6:30am on the weekends, 4:00am during the weeks sometimes. Either way, I get up, feed him and 9 times out of 10, he goes right back to sleep. That has allowed me some time to get in the Bible and do some reading.

Throughout my 31+ years on this Earth, I have hit every book of the Bible one time or another. I want to read it from cover to cover, in succession. I started this past week and remembered a sermon by a pastor that referred to Genesis 12. A specific verse is what he was talking about and when I re-read it at 5:15am this morning, it challenged me and shocked me even more this time around. I am referring to Genesis 12:11-13. It reads,

¹¹ As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I know what a beautiful woman you are. ¹² When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live. ¹³ Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.” (Gen. 12:11-13 New International Version)

Abram, later called Abraham, is considered one of the greatest men in Christian History. His “big sin” is usually referenced to his wife, Sarai, giving him permission to have intercourse with their servant instead of trusting God to providing them a child. However, I look at this passage and it blows my mind. How could you deny knowing your wife?

His reasoning behind it does not help him either. He wanted her to say this could he could save his own tail. A crazy level of selfishness just reading this! I could never do this. My wife means way to much for me and I love her too much, right?

Looking back on my childhood, I would consider myself selfish. I wanted many things and felt like I deserved them. But things have changed. Once I got older, I began to realize we deserve ABSOLUTELY NOTHING in this life and we are only saved from eternal damnation from the blood of Christ.

I have thought about this long and hard and come to this conclusion: Through the love of Christ and we are taught to walk in the same path as Him, if asked, I would in a heartbeat give my life so that my wife may live. Christ did it for us. Why can’t I?

Is it that simple. Well, yeah. I am no way saying I am equal to Christ; however, we are taught to follow Him and be like Him and if that means I have to give my life for my wife, then it is a done deal. I will go home and wait for my gorgeous bride when her time comes. God has a great plan for all of our lives and my great plan has that and more. I have a gorgeous bride and an awesome 1 year old son. I have family and friends that care about me for who God made me.

I thank God that he has got me to this point. He has led me away from selfish behavior. Abraham was a great man and who loved his God and later offered up a son for God’s satisfaction. God did not allow this to happen; however, this showed God that Abraham had grown from this event from Sarai. So I thank Abraham from this lesson and lesson learned.

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March 11, One Year Later

Well, March 11th started very early for me. I was awoken at about 1:15am and told that they were taking me downstairs as my wife was due to give birth within the hour to our baby boy. I went from dead asleep to wide awake real quick!

I got wheeled into the room and many shocking things were going on. First of all, I was being wheeled into the room on a stretcher, well because I could not do anything else after the surgery. Secondly, I see my mother and mother-in-law in the room assisting the wife through the contractions. Thirdly, I see one of my closest friends, whom I have known since I was six, in the room taking video of the birth. Emotions were running high!

My wife was simply amazing through the process. With all the stress that she was under, she had such a great strength from God and man did she have to show it.

A doctor finally arrived as we waited on our doctor to drive to the hospital. The doctor and a nurse were going back and forth over why he was not called sooner and on and on. I think all of wanted to yell at him to shut up and do your job!

Well he did his job. At 2:15am on March 11, 2011, Cameron Andrew Young was born into the world. And I quote the doctor, “Here is your toddler.” I was just excited he was here. Then came the fun news. We were waiting to see how big he was. The nurses looked at each other and then directly at me. I knew he was a big boy but how big?? Especially if the nurses are “glaring” at me?????

10 pounds, 3 ounces.

That’s right. The wife did this naturally and with all the stress of my surgery. WHAT A WOMAN!

I was able to cut the umbilical cord. Our doctor arrived about 5 minutes after the delivery. She kept apologizing but everyone did their job and we are so grateful to this day for that hospital. The worked around us and our situation. We are thankful that God put that hospital into our lives. He knew what we were going through and for us, that was the only place to be cared for properly.

I thank God each day for my wife, my son, my family, my friends, St. Clare Hospital, and most of all, to God. All we can say is, “How Great is our God.”

Technorati Tags: Birth,March 11,How Great is our God

March 10th, One Year Later

So as we are in the hospital waiting to be induced, I said "I do not feel very we..." That was the last thing I remembered for the next twelve hours.

I woke up just around 11am in a hospital bed and I remember asking if we had the baby yet. The told me no and what had happened. I tried to act as if I knew what happened but there was a reason I never got into acting. The doctor came in and talked to me regarding the issue and that a spot of blood was on my brain from when I passed out. Apparently, I hit my head directly on the hospital floor and that is what caused the issue. Apparently I was awake for a certain amount of time afterwards and even when they did the first CT Scan on me. To this day, I do not remember any of this.

The doctor told me they wanted to see how the brain looked now to see if the bleeding had stopped. So at about 1pm on March 10th, I went in for my second CT Scan. It took just a few minutes but I knew something was wrong. I was so incredibly nauseous that when I cam out of the scan, I told the nurses they had ten seconds to find a waste can.

As they brought me back to my room, I remember asking my father a question and I will never forget his response. I asked if I was going to have to have brain surgery. He told me, "Travis, you are not going to need brain surgery. Just sounds like a concussion. You will be fine." The way he said it, I knew he was not sure about his answer. My dad may be finding this out for the first time as he reads this; however, his response shook me to the core. When he believes something, he is certain. But, you could tell he was scared. Heck, we were all scared.

The picture above is the second CT scan. If you look at it, the clear part just to the right of the middle, is supposed to be in the middle. Also, the large lighter shade to the left (was on my right side) is the blood clot. Before, it was just a small dot of blood and had expanded to that in about 12 hours time. I of course questioned the surgery if it was necessary; however, I am glad everyone else said to do it. Whew!

Around 2pm, the doctor came in and said, "It does not look good. The bleeding has gotten much worse and we need to get in there to stop the bleeding." My mom left the room to go tell my wife and my dad lost it. However, in that moment of ultimate fear, God sent someone into our lives that calmed us down. A pastor from our church walked in and prayed with my dad and me. He read from Psalm 34. To summarize what it said, David is praising God while going through a trial. It was so incredibly relaxing to remind us to praise Him through trials and to praise Him through glory.

I had to sign a document that stated I could pass away and I would not sue the hospital. WOW! So about 3:30pm I get wheeled to where my wife is and is preparing for an arrival into the world. We prayed, we cried but we trusted that God would get us through this trial.

I went under around 4:15pm or so. Next thing I know, the doctor is feeling my feet and asking me to wiggle my toes and then my legs and then my fingers. I was trying to figure out why he would and there was no issue. Then I remembered where I was. They were making sure they did not do anything during the surgery that did damage to other nerves. I called my wife and told her I was in recovery and she seemed happy, as was I. I went back to my room that was filled with family and friends. It is overwhelming to this day to have remember that, seeing everyone who came out to support us.

I was feeling so much better. I talked to friends and family for a few hours before I had to get some sleep. I talked with Stephanie a few more times before I dozed off. Baby would be coming soon, just not sure when yet. Last thing I remember from March 10th is waking up when my brother came in from school. He slept in the same room with me, on a lovely bench in the room. It was padded but not comfortable. He did not want to miss the birth of his first nephew; however, he was there to support me as well.



Next Blog - March 11th - Wake up, we need to wheel you downstairs!!

March 9th, One Year Later

Well, so here we are, March 9th, 2011. For 29 years, it was like any other day for me. Then came March 9, 2010.

I had just turned 30 and we were planning on heading in to begin the process of welcoming our first born into the world. It was going to be about five days early than our due date; however, Cameron was going to be ready to come out according to the doctors.

So I worked at the hotel that day where I had been GM for just over a month now. I was trying to get everything taken care of before I was going to take a week off with the new baby. Everyone wished me luck and off I was.

I went home and picked the wife up, who to say the least, was excited. We were going to the airport to pick her mom up from Arkansas. Once we did that, we met my parents at a Deli for dinner. We all sat there, prayed and enjoyed our time together.

We arrived at the hospital at about 10pm to get all situated. We got to our room and her mom and my parents went home for the night. The plan was to get Stephanie started on the induction process. The drugs were going to working throughout the night and a baby would be arriving later the next day. Well, plans were to be a changing.

So, I was in and out of sleep as we waited for the nurse to come in and get the drugs going. I took the following picture at a little before 11pm while waiting before the drugs started and sleep would come over the both of us. The wife is not a huge fan of it, but it is all over Facebook so not like it has not been seen before. I love you wife!!

So, the nurse comes in and starts to get the process going. I got up and walked around to the other side of the bed. The wife is terrified of needles and wishes them all harm. They were having an issue getting the previously mentioned needle into her arm. She began to cry from the pain. I stood there and held her hand and tried to calm her down. A feeling started to come over me like I needed a soda or something with sugar. The last thing I remember is saying “I don’t feel very we…..”

Next Blog – March 10th – I just came for a baby.

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