Tis the Season???

Boy, talk about being tested...
In the last month I've seen three friends pass away, one a very dear family friend and two that I knew from working with them. It sucks, but I'm doing alright with it. Terri is still battling with her stuff and she texted me last night when I asked how she was doing: "I'm good but please pray for my friend who had to be induced into a coma because she was having seizures non-stop. She was in remission but the cancer returned and spread to her brain." Oh boy... but that's Terri for you... even though she's got her own stuff to deal with, she's always thinking of others. So I told her that I would definetely be praying for her and her friend.
Just got back from a lousy weekend in Iowa. We lost both games we played out there but that wasn't even on my radar. One of the players, Lucas, was injured in the hockey game on Saturday and was laid out on the ice and wasn't moving. The trainer asked him if he was alright but he couldn't feel anything in his extremeties. The trainer pinched his hand hard and Lucas didn't feel a thing. So they called 911 and immobilized him, the EMT's came and put him on a stretcher. My heart sank with worry as I knew his family down in Florida was listening to the game. But the father of one of the other players had made the trip to Iowa with us and he stayed with Lucas the whole time. He stayed on his cell the whole time with Lucas' dad. One of the players who didn't dress for the game due to injury went over to Lucas as he was being carted off the ice to offer words of encouragement. Willy later came over to me during the broadcast and said that Lucas was cracking jokes to try and calm everyone down. After the game, we sent the players back to the hotel and our team bus driver carted the coaching staff and yours truly over the hospital not knowing what to expect. I feared the worst, but I prayed. Boy did I pray. And my prayer was answered, thank the Good Lord. All feeling returned for Lucas in his extremeties with the exception of his left arm feeling very sore, he was alright. I exchanged emails with his dad the next day and he told me that he was grateful for being kept in the loop via cell phone during the whole ordeal and that talking to Lucas really calmed him down. Lucas was released from the ER a couple of hours after the game and we ordered a pizza for him and everyone went back to the hotel with a big sigh of relief. I got back to my room, grabbed a bite of pizza, and gave thanks to God for Lucas' health, and then went to sleep. I interviewed Lucas on the air the next day during the game and I got hit with a ton of email from listeners thanking me for that because they were worried. He cracked a couple of jokes to try and keep things loose and I told him how good it was to see him. He smiled and said "yeah, I'm really glad I'm here to see you too." Now that I think about it, that about sums up what I'm feeling overall these days. I'm glad I'm here and I'm going to continue to pray for family and loved ones and that I endure...Because I know that this stuff too shall pass...