Amputated
“Don’t delete it.”
My dad would say those words when I scrolled through the pictures on his iPad. His iPad contained lighthearted pictures of his grandkids, and maybe the occasional picture of my mom, sisters and me. It contained funny videos he would take recording the moments he beat his grands in a game of monopoly. Those words weren’t said as I scrolled through the fun pictures. Those words were said when I came to a picture that always caught me off guard no matter how many times I saw it. It was the horrific picture of his amputated toes. Every time I saw it, I threatened to delete it, to which he would respond, “don’t delete it.”
One day I finally got tired of seeing this horrible sight amid all the funny pictures and videos he had, and I was getting ready to delete it, when He got very firm with me… “Don’t delete it.” I knew at that moment according to his tone I would never bring up the subject again. Before I let it go, I asked him why he was so insistent on keeping the horrific picture.
His response? “I never want to forget where God brought me from.” Wow! His response was powerful. I will never forget it. I never thought about deleting that picture again.
What was it dad never wanted to forget? Was it the many times he was told by doctors he needed to have his leg amputated to the knee?
Was it the doctor who was ready to amputate to the knee who said he would be in a wheelchair the rest of his life?
Was it the surgery he was entering to have his leg amputated when they literally saw blood in his toe area which caused doctors to cancel the amputation surgery and instead send him home to heal? A miracle took place in seconds.
Maybe he didn’t want to forget the more than 6 months of setbacks which could cause anyone’s faith to waiver until finally seeing complete manifestation of the healing He received the day they sent him home?
Maybe he didn’t want to forget how it took 2 years of everything from hyperbaric chamber, skin grafts, surgeries, toe amputations, being told leg amputation was imminent, to a finality that he not only didn’t need his leg amputated, but he was able to walk with no help for the rest of his life.
God performed miracle after miracle so that dad could walk for his final years of life. I will never forget the huge miracle moment when the doctors saw blood instead of performing a leg amputation. I will never forget all the other miracles before and after that led to my dad walking without assistance for the rest of his life.
Thank you, dad, for not allowing me to delete the picture.