July 4, 2010, introduced me to a whole new world of medical terminology that I had only heard mention of before. Aneurysms, brain hemorrhages, rebleeds, brain shunts and microscopic brain damage had previously belonged to someone else’s world in another galaxy far, far away. Suddenly, however, like an asteroid hurled from space, these words hit me head-on and crashed into our own little world. Fireworks of a different kind were going off — within my husband’s brain. One article describes an aneurysm as “a bomb exploding inside one’s head.” It’s harder to get any more graphic than that. If that were not enough, a second aneurysm came within a hair’s breadth of striking the final blow.

Today marks the third anniversary since Prit was rushed to the Foothills Medical Centre in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Those of you who follow our updates regularly already know our story. For our new followers, you can read of God’s marvelous reversal and restoration in my book, Into the Storm.

July 4 is a day of remembrance for us. The scenes of the daily trek of over an hour from Didsbury to the hospital in Calgary, standing by Prit’s unconscious body for almost four weeks, reading the Word of God continually to his still form, and clinging to the hope of a miracle still replay themselves continually in my mind. On this day, however, the memories are more vivid than ever. In the midst of this fiery trial, God became more real than ever — so very real. He’s more real to us in the furnace of affliction than anywhere else.

So, once again, we remember. We pay our respects to Pastors Richard and Beth Kope and to the members of the Chinook Winds Christian Centre who stood with me in more ways than I can count. We acknowledge our Haitian churches who warred relentlessly until their pastor was out of danger. We thank our family members once again who stood in the gap day after day until the dawn of a new day appeared. We also thank folks, many of whom we’ve never met, who took upon themselves the burden of intercession for my husband’s life.

July 4, for us, is a day of liberation for more reasons than one.