My brother was vacationing in Florida, but when we were able to reach him and he heard they were calling in a helicopter, he immediately began packing his bags. We were at the cusp of losing someone so very dear to us.
They finally got my Mom loaded in the ambulance, only to drive a few feet down the road to where the helicopter had landed at the nearby golf course.
Like any tragedy, it draws a crowd. I went to the road to talk to the neighborhood girls and to pray with them. My Dad and Austin stayed back to talk to the Sheriff who told them, “The Holy Spirit was definitely there.” He was the first responder on the scene and he told them he had never seen someone with aganol breathing respond like she did. What I didn’t realize is that right before they took her out of the house she came to and asked if she had been in a car wreck……a stopped heart, no oxygen to the brain, a blue face, a vapor; talking.
After the helicopter flew past we started packing all the way down to the dog, everyone had to go. We were about 30ish minutes into our trip when an Indianapolis number calls my Dad’s cell. We all assumed it was the hospital. My Dad answered and then said, “Well what’s up?”. With a smile in his voice. He quickly turned on speaker phone. We were all amazed to hear my Mom’s voice!! She was telling us to come pick her up! Not many minutes before this she was at death’s door! A breath, a vapor.
After many tests, 5 broken ribs because of my Dad doing CPR, and a two night stay, their conclusion was that she had a vasovagal syncope which means she had something trigger her to pass out. The way she landed cut off oxygen to her brain which led to the agonal breathing. She had a span of about 30-40 minutes of being unconscious…..and yet no brain damage.

Life is but a vapor, a breath. It can be here one minute and gone the next. But God!
Genesis 2:7
“And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”
Genesis 2:7
I have no doubt that God breathed life back into my mother. The tragedy is over, but the testimony has just begun! Like the lyrics to the song….
It's Your breath in our lungs
So we pour out our praise, we pour out our praise
It's Your breath in our lungs
So we pour out our praise to You only!

This has forever changed our lives. I am thankful for this tool to show my children how the Word of God can come alive. Praying the Word is a powerful thing. We are testament to that.

I’ve said it before, but it’s worth repeating, the Bible tells us that life is but a vapor (James 4:14). You don’t realize how fast life can be lost until you lose it, or you feel it slipping out of your fingers.
On a Friday afternoon, on May 3rd in Brazil, Indiana, my husband and I were chatting at the stove. I was about to pull out our dinner, when all of our Alexa devices started to ring; it’s my Dad calling us. He has done this once before as an accident so I answer with a smile on my face only to be greeted by the distress in his voice. “I need Austin! Mom has had an episode! Send Austin now!” Austin jumps into action and rushes out the door. We’ve been blessed to have my parents build their home right next to ours, so the jaunt next door was not far. Our kids could hear the call so they came running into the kitchen. Before I could hang up I could hear my Dad talking to the 911 operator who was giving him instructions on CPR.
For all accounts and purposes, my mother was dead……life is but a vapor. She had been sick with a cold for several days. She had just reached her home when she felt like she was going to get sick so she ran into the bathroom. While there, she felt like she was going to pass out so she remembers starting to try and sit on the floor, about 10-15 mins later my Dad walks in to find her face against their bathroom vanity door, and her body laid across the floor. Her face was blue, her eyes glazed and her body was doing what is called agonal breathing (a defense mechanism when your brain isn’t getting oxygen).
He thought she had tripped and broken her neck. After calling out to her with no response, he turns her over, calls 911. He can’t get a pulse. He knows what he is about to do so he apologizes to her before he begins CPR and the operator starts counting.
Back at home I gather the kids and take them to our calendar of prayer. Just that morning we were praying for healing for someone, Grammy being one of them. I clutched the Bible and reminded the kids of what Brooklynn had read just a few hours ago; if any are sick among you…and the prayer of faith shall save the sick. James 5:13-16. I reminded them that this, this is when we grab hold of the Word and really apply it to our lives.
After prayer I left them and hurried over to my parents. There were so many emergency people. My Mom sounded awful. The prognosis was bleak. Austin and I were calling and texting people. Please pray! Was our continuous plea.
I went outside and around the back of the house. I laid my hands on the wall and began to cry out before the Lord. I went to the back of the house, not because I was trying to hide, but because it was the closest to where she was laying. I didn’t care who saw me or who heard me. I was bold as I approached the throne room. “You are our help!” I cried “Our healer, our redeemer. The One we can run into and be safe”. I plead the blood of Jesus over her body, as I know countless others were doing.
I went back inside and heard them say they were calling for a helicopter. A life, my Mom’s life, was on the line. A vapor! The Bible translates the word vapor into the word breath; we cannot live without it. As the paramedics were puffing air into my mom’s lungs with intubation, we kept saying, “In Jesus name.”

My kids loved this!

Our family has loved the prayer challenge kit!! The kids are motivated to check off each day so they can get the reward 😆. Thankful for a fun resource like this that benefits us all!

Our family has loved the prayer challenge kit!! The kids are motivated to check off each day so they can get the reward 😆. Thankful for a fun resource like this that benefits us all!