Last Monday (1/2) as I watched the Bills vs. Bengals game, along with the rest of the world, I dropped to my knees in prayer for Damar Hamlin.
As I watched the events unfold, it took me back to the events I shared in Ch. 6 of my book (….. Even When it’s Difficult). Please know, I am not saying my experience was the same, but it had some parallels.
The first thing I did was pray for Damar; I prayed for healing. Then, I prayed for Tee Higgins. Having been in a situation where I watched CPR unfold right before my eyes, while feeling guilty about the situation, I knew he needed prayers too! I prayed (and continue to pray) he does not feel guilt. That is easier said than done, so I also prayed he could release those feelings of guilt and I prayed he would have people in his life to tell him it was not his fault, just as I’d had in my situation in the letter I referred to in Ch. 6.
After praying for both Damar and Tee, I prayed for everyone on that field. When you watch CPR unfold like that right in front of you, you cannot unsee what you saw, and you cannot unfeel what you felt. Those are things you will continue to carry with you; it’s now a part of you. From my experience, those feelings come back to you at any time – it might be in a sound, a smell, or a song lyric, but it will come back. To this day, I still cannot listen to Nelly’s Over and Over without a specific line in that song taking me back to that moment in the gym all those years ago.
God has shown the world a miracle and people came together in prayer this past week. People witnessed that it is okay to pray on live television and there have been millions of dollars donated to Damar’s charity, which is amazing in itself!
Although my first experience that parallels this event ended in the loss of life, my second experience ended with my daughter still being with me today. (If you are unfamiliar with what I am talking about, I encourage you to read Chapter 6). In those moments, when she was not breathing, and her face was blue, she had a look a sheer panic in her eyes. Those were the same looks of sheer panic we saw on the TV of everyone on the field last Monday night.
To conclude, I pray you continue to pray for Damar, Tee, and everyone that was on that field. I also hope you continue to pray for the people in your life that you hold dear – you never know when your last moment with them on earth will be. Treat everyone with kindness and respect; you never know what someone is going through behind the scenes.
That’s all I have for now. Love and blessings to you.
