Obama Wins--Day 177/Day 3/Day 3/Day 14

"I let Jesus Christ into my life. I learned that my sins could be redeemed and if I placed my trust in Jesus, that he could set me on a path to eternal life."

I hope Obama meant this when he said it. I pray that God's will is done through our new president. Congratulations, President Obama.


I forgot to mention Jason's heroics on Monday. I'm sitting in the lunchroom reading The Purpose Driven Life, while the other guys are playing euchre like normal. All at the same time, all their chairs move backwards. I look up to see what's going on. Everyone had really awkward looks on their faces. Suddenly, Jason bolts up out of his chair and walks quickly behind Carl as Carl stands up. It looked like the beginning of a fight from the look on Jason's face. Instead, he wraps his arms around Carl and starts giving Carl the Heimlich maneuver. A large chunk of Carl's roast comes up along with some assorted extras. Carl walks around for a bit and while he's gone for a minute, it's mentioned by one of the guys that took the CPR and First Aid class with me a couple weeks ago that he should probably go to the hospital. Carl seems fine. He had actually cleaned up the floor and sat back down to play for a bit. Not long after though, he got up again. He said it feels like something is still in there. I get my stuff together and plan to take him (he advises we use his car) until he stops in the lobby and sits down. He says he needs someone now. He is able to talk, but feels like he can barely breath. Obviously worried and not sure what to do, he asks me to give him the Heimlich maneuver again. After a couple thrusts, he says he is able to breath a little better. By this time, the paramedics have been called and show up soon after. He ends up going to the hospital and waiting several hours before seeing a doctor. He ends up in the O.R., and a 20-30 minute procedure turned into hours. The doctor said that in his 20 years of work, he had never pulled up such a large chunk of food.

Carl got lucky. Once in a while I'll watch the guys play cards for a bit, but would I have realized what was going on and reacted as quickly as Jason did, especially with his back to me? As I said, Tom knew what to do, but I think he was either in shock or really didn't know what was going on. Jason hadn't taken a class since sixth grade and used that knowledge to save Carl's life.

I thought it interesting that I had been reading these words shortly before all this happened:

We are often challenged to do great things for God. Actually, God is more pleased when we do small things for Him out of loving obedience. They may be unnoticed by others, but God notices them and considers them acts of worship.
Great opportunities may come once in a lifetime, but small opportunities surround us every day. Even through such simple acts as telling the truth, being kind, and encouraging others, we bring a smile to God's face.

Jason is a believer, but doesn't attend church. I'm sure his faith is about where mine was back in February. I don't think he does much "for God". That's actually been an important theme in many things I've read and listened to recently. It's very important and I'm not sure how many of do things "for God" on a regular basis. This was a very kind thing Jason did, and he is very humble about it. He says his reactions merely took over. Do I still believe this brought a smile to God's face? Yes I do and I told him so. I hope we all do things that bring a smile to His face. I hope I don't ever have to go through something potentially life-changing and surreal, but if I do, I'll know God is with me and my courage and strength will come from Him.

God is Good.