To Breathe Again
Nov 12, 2023 | by The Fellowship
“I am thinking it is about time for me to quit my job,” my 79-year-old husband said a couple of weeks ago. He works long days, getting up at 5 a.m. every school day because he is employed as a para-professional in an elementary school. My husband goes from class to class to help special education students comprehend the lessons being presented that day. He is also a prayer warrior and prays for each of the 38 children, ranging from preschoolers to 5th graders, that he helps. Not only does he treasure each one of them, they adore him.
“God has put you in that school for a reason,” I commented. “He will make it clear when it is time to leave!”
My husband’s first retirement was in 2007. For 32 years he had a very successful career as a salesman. The next eight years he devoted to helping his widowed mother who lived on a farm in the country. After she passed, he was not used to being inactive and decided to find something worthwhile to occupy his time.
Because of loving kids so much, he decided to be a school bus driver. When he went to apply at the school district, they looked at his resume and said, “You are qualified for way more than driving a bus!” Not only does my husband have a university degree, he finished all the course work for a master’s degree. However, his company transferred him to another state before the degree was finalized and he never got back to it.
The school district plugged him in to helping children with special needs. At first, he was a substitute. But before long, his abilities and rapport with the children were recognized. Within a short time, he was asked to take a 6-month assignment at one of the elementary schools. For the past five years, he has been on full-time assignment at an elementary school where the principal values him exceedingly.
The very next day after his remark about quitting his job, my husband had lunch room duty. While walking around looking for any of the students who might need a hand, like with opening their milk cartons, he noticed a first-grade boy gasping for breath and in obvious distress. My husband immediately administered the Heimlech maneuver that is used when a person is choking. Nothing happened! He had to repeat the maneuver three more times before the chicken nugget that was the problem got dislodged!
Certified in CPR, my husband has been called upon to put his skills into action many times. But nothing has been more gratifying than helping this young child to be able to breathe again. He gives all the credit to the Lord, but my husband became a hero at his school that day!
As soon as the child’s mother learned what had happened, she was beyond grateful. The next day the first-grader presented him with a picture that he had drawn. Every time they meet in the halls, the little boy runs over to exclaim: “I love you! You saved my life!”
It is a privilege to observe how my husband wants every day of his life to be spent in a way that honors the Lord. As long as he is healthy and able to be of service in some way to others (especially by praying for them), my husband will keep his boots on. Only God knows what the future holds, but we are certain that He will keep His light shining on our path as He continually says, This is the way; walk in it! Isaiah 30:21
In his heart a man plans his course,
but the Lord determines his steps.
Proverbs 16:9