I must thank all of you who prayed on my behalf before, during and after my recent surgery. It was a very difficult time for me. I had been through the surgery before ten years ago. At that time I was out of it for the first three days, then out of the hospital three days later. This time I was awake and aware 3 hours after the operation, awake for five days in intensive care, then four days on the post-surgical floor.
The care was fantastic. the food not so much, but the ability to select food in advance helped.
The five days in the ICU in bed all the time caused me to develop a panic-like reaction whenever I drifted off to sleep. Once I had access to a chair in my room that is where I slept, the bed was to be avoided.
When I got home and got into my own bed the panic continued. I had to get out of bed and into my lazy boy chair after the first hour. I spent the rest of the nights sitting up.
We at SouthWest have a tradition of passing around prayer shawls for the blessing of all those present to be given to those needing comfort and grace. I cannot count the number of times I have held a shawl in my hands, closed my eyes and offered a small prayer for someone I probably did not know personally.
The Sunday before my first scheduled operation the Elders present gathered around me and prayed for me. Our Pastor Beryl Barraclough gave me a prayer shawl.
We did not take the prayer shawl to the hospital.
My third day home I was still unable to stay in bed more than an hour. I was about to take an afternoon nap in my chair, Dorothy covered me with the prayer shawl. I slept for 3 hours without a panic awaking. Later when I went to bed the shawl was on the bed and although I awoke several times, no panic, just sleep.
The next time I lay my hands on a prayer shawl, I’ll know the power of prayer.
Thank you all once more.
Dennis Brown
A screenshot from the March 21 service.