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"His heart was the size of a football. I just don’t know how he was going on like that. But, the surgery went well."

That was the heart surgeon’s report to me after replacing my husband’s faulty heart valve with a mechanical one. I breathed a heavy sigh of relief thanking God repeatedly.

My husband, Keith, had been born with a heart murmur. This meant no playing football as a young boy. It also meant that his dream of being in the Coast Guard was shattered.

Keith and I were high school sweethearts. It was during one of those high school years that he felt God’s call on his life to go into fulltime Christian ministry. God had used Keith’s heart murmur to steer him away from other potential careers.

We were married soon after I graduated from college, and then we were off to seminary a year after that. Keith’s heart did not seem to slow him down so we just went on with life. It was not until we had moved to our second church that his heart became an issue again. After moving, Keith had to have hernia surgery. As soon as those doctors examined him, they thought they had made a discovery. We quickly explained that he had always had the heart murmur; it was not a recent development. After he had recovered from his hernia surgery, however, he was promptly scheduled to see a cardiologist.

"After comparing past records with current findings, I think your heart valve has worsened. Do you become winded easily?"

"No, in fact, I still push-mow my yard."

"With the severity of your case, you should definitely be winded and even possibly blacking out. Have you ever passed out?"

"Not that I know of," Keith replied with a chuckle.

"You will need a valve replacement, but I don’t normally schedule the surgery until the symptoms warrant it necessary."

The doctor seemed amazed and somewhat confused with the lack of symptoms Keith was exhibiting. He was scheduled to come back at regular intervals, and we were to watch for any indications of the symptoms the doctor had explained.

About a year later as the summer was just winding down, Keith began to exhibit extreme fatigue and shortness of breath. This time when we visited the doctor, we knew the time had come for the valve replacement.

As the surgery date drew closer, I became more nervous. By the time the day finally arrived, I was truly scared. I wished that I did not know so much about the procedure, because I had learned that during the operation Keith’s heart would be stopped. Would God allow all to go well or would He take my husband from me? As I lay in our bed listening to him breathing there next to me, I prayed and begged that God would let him live. Suddenly I felt a peace and a message came to me, not audibly, but just as clear.

"He will not die. I have used this heart condition to keep him reigned, but now it will not hold him back from serving Me fully."

When that surgeon emerged from the operating room wondering how my husband had kept going in his condition, I knew the answer. It was all God!

Four years have passed since the surgery. Most certainly God has kept His word – my husband ministers at the speed of ninety miles-per-hour. He has been compared to the Eveready Bunny because he keeps going and going and going. When people ask how he can keep going like he does he answers, "I have a mechanical heart valve which means I’m bionic!"

I just laugh, and then I think to myself, "You also have a God who keeps His promises to His children. He is also a God who proved Romans 8:28 which states: ‘And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.’"(NIV)

Copyright Paula Mowery