Reflections on Breathing

"It's like a breath of fresh air..." How many times have you said that? How many times in the last 24 hours have your breathed air in? Breathed air out? Now how many times have you thought about it? In EMS when it comes down to basics there are only three Airway, Breathing and Circulation; and 2 of those 3 relate to breathing. Without it we are dead. Breathing is at our core yet we don't think about it too often. And even less do we give God thanks for it.

Here we sit at the hospital with so much going on around us trying to keep mommy alive. A huge number of people (and an even larger number of dollars) focused on her medical treatment and it still all comes down to breathing. At this point we have been forced to go above and beyond what nature (and God?) had planned for mommy and put her on a machine to do what she can't do naturally. There is a suitcase size machine with a lot of numbers on it and a lot of tubes coming out of it right next to her bed. It's sole purpose is to breathe for her Without it she will be dead. When we choose to no longer participate in this artificial existence and remove that simple three prong plug from the wall she will be dead.

A "simple" thing like breathing that we all take for granted will be the difference between mommy being here and playing with her children, loving with her husband and sharing her beautiful smile and personality with the rest of the world. It will be breathing that takes her home to be in the waiting arms of her loving Father and will reunite her with her earthly father who was taken oh so cruelly in the same way.

How is your breathing today? Are you appreciating every breath you take in? Hopefully you will be uplifted like we have, rising to the place where taking in "a breath of fresh air" has new meaning to you. Hopefully you can take the time like we now do to breathe your next breath and say "Thank You God for that last breath." How fitting is it that as I end this post I am hearing these beautiful words played in our room:

This is the air I breathe.
This is the air I breathe.
Your Holy presence, living in me.

This is my daily breath.
This is my daily breath.
Your very word, spoken to me.

I..., I'm desperate for You...