My Creator

In 1947, I went into Sacred Heart Hospital (Pensacola FL) for a tonsillectomy as a six-year old child. I stayed in the hospital for two extra weeks due to excessive bleeding. Though the power of many rosaries (and the beautiful Sisters of Mercy),  the bleeding suddenly stopped one day and I went home healed. Since 1947, I have been blessed by outstanding health and have not had any surgeries other than having a benign cyst removed  from my back in 1997 at a clinic (outpatient  and went home in two hours).

In Sept 2001, I crashed my car into a six-foot ditch at 40+ mph to avoid a head-on collision with an oncoming (small) Honda who had been rear-ended in the opposite lane and knocked head-on  into my lane. My seal belt held as the car careened into the deep ditch but not the shoulder harness did not hold and the last thing I remember was violently striking the steering wheel with my forehead. I was knocked unconscious for over 20 minutes. When I awoke, my car was lying on its side in the ditch at 60-degree angle and I had a Rosary in my right hand. A man  was able to open the door on the opposite side and I felt an unusual lifting power and climbed out. Subsequent X-rays (and later an MRI) revealed no problems and I walked out of the hospital that afternoon with only a mild headache. The hospital could not get an X-ray of my heart until I removed my Scapular Medal.

I have not needed a doctor in over fifty years. I have no medical problems other than allergies. On Monday morning, I stopped eating solid food to prep for an upcoming (routine) screening procedure. I stepped on the scales and weighed  259 pounds. On the day of the screening procedure (Wednesday. Oct 01, 2003) my life was about to suddenly change.

Trust In Our Father:

Wednesday Morning (Oct 01): I went into a local Surgery Center for a routine screening (colonoscopy) and was sent home with supposedly “no bleeding”. One flat polyp had to be scrapped (not cut) and there were no other problems. I felt fine (no pain) and came home about one o’clock. At about 3 pm, Cindy (my wife) and I went to a grocery store and I noticed what seemed to be significant discharge of blood in the bathroom (but was told that could happen from the surgery) and it later occurred again at home about 6:30 pm but the post-op sheet said this could possibly occur twice. When I again experienced a discharge at 9:30 pm, we contacted the on-call doctor (who was not familiar with my case) and told him about the discharges. He said if there was more than a cup of blood discharge again to go to ER (so are you suppose to measure this or what?). At 1:30 pm, I actually measured a bloody discharge of significantly more than a pint of blood and felt dizzy and became very nasueous.  I realized for the first time that I had been experinecing massive hemorrhaging and was now in a life-threatening situation. I had by now probably lost more than 50% of my blood supply and asked Cindy to get me to ER quickly. I was about to pass-out but did not tell her. In retrospect, the continuing loss of alot of blood over intervening hours had significantly affected my ability to think clearly and make any rational decision about my life or situation. I did not have any other life experience that I could really relate to in this situation. Everything had become a knee-jerk reaction to rapidly worsening situation.

At ER, my BP was 81/50 (standing) and the last reading I remember was 78/45 as I was rushed into ER. As I collapsed onto the stretcher out of breath, I very clearly remember experiencing this enormous White Light coming to me (not blinding like the Sun at all but very soft and a great feeling of Peace and Joy came over me) as I was able to look into The Light and I knew instantly it was The Father, My Creator).

The Message from My Father: As I lay on the stretcher in ER, this beautiful White Light seemed to envelop me and I heard a beautiful voice saying to me:

“Stephen, no matter what happens to you, place all your trust in Me, Your Father. This is not about you, I wish you to pray for all the others in this Hospital [and the World].”

I could not even lift my head at this point and I truly realized my entire existence came {and always had been} through the Will of My Father. I said: “Father, I am sorry for ever having offended You, please forgive me, I love you.” Again the words were spoken to me: “Pray for these [my lambs], Stephen for each is of equal and infinite value [and Loved] to Me”. I wished only to remain forever in the Light, it was my entire existence. I realized at this point, the man named “Ricky” who admitted me and taken my BP was a beautiful gift from The Father to me/others and was  much loved by the Father for his smile and loving, caring soul for each of those admitted.

Thursday Morning (Oct 02): I awoke about 10 o’clock in the morning in a room with a patient who had passed out from a stroke/heart attack and broke his tailbone. I had been on IVs all nite but was still discharging blood and totally anemic.  I knew instantly I was to pray for the man next to me when I saw him and began trying to pray the Rosary to myself.

At about 11 am, a nurse came in and said I had to drink another gallon of GoLently to prep for an emergency hemostatis to stop the GI bleeding. I tried to drink the stuff but could barely get any down (only very slowly). It was the worse I had ever felt in my life but it was a Joy to pray for the man next to me as it was The Father’s Will. “No matter how bad I felt, I was to pray for those around me”.

As I prayed the Rosary, I did not know if I was going to make it through the night.

At 1 pm, I remember a heart surgeon telling the man next to me he had a stroke but it was “too small for their machine to find” and the appeared to be fully recovered (except for his tailbone) and could go home. An hour later, two nurses with a stretcher for surgery. I kissed Cindy and told her I loved her. I felt cold on the operating table but realized the White Light still was with me and I said thank you Father for all your gifts to me. I was not sure I would live much longer at this point and I clearly knew what it meant to place all my trust in The Father and I felt ready and excited to meet my Creator………………………the material world had no longer any value or meaning. As I leave the room the man tells me he will pray for me and I tell him I will also pray for him.

As I awoke Thursday evening, Cindy is at my side with her beautiful smile and eyes. The doctors later told me that there had been so many blood clots that they were unable to see the ulcerated area to make any repair but something told them to stay at it and keep trying. I was told the blood-clotting suddenly cleared at the site of the hemorrhage and the doctors were able to inject the area with epinephrine and thought most of the bleeding had stopped and it had been a good hemostatis. I became aware that one of the surgeons who came to see me and shake my hand had a “gift of healing”. I learned later he had first been an engineer (my profession) and later became a doctor.

Friday Morning (Oct 03): As I awoke, I became aware of severe chest pain and immediately told the nurse. When you say “chest pain” in a hospital it automatically invokes a day of x-rays, EKGs, echocardiagrams, and nuclear scans. I spend almost five hours in a wheel chair taking blood transfusions while being wheeled from one procedure to another. At 2 pm I see the man next to me who keeps crying for help. He is badly diabetic (only one leg and eye) and has had a major heart attack. I instantly know I am to pray for him.

By four pm I am beginning to bleed badly again and asked the nurse next to my wheel chair to contact my doctor. My primary physician rushes over from surgery and while I am under a machine doing my last nuclear scan of the day [with a continuing migraine headache and chest pain], the doctor tells me I am going to ICU for the next two days and two surgeons are on standby and will perform emergency surgery in the next 24 to 48 hours in an attempt to stop the GI bleed. The surgery cannot yet be preformed because they need to continue blood transfusions during the night and continue injecting antibiotics as well as monitor heart functions. The electrodes do not work and somebody rips them off my chest and starts all over.  As I leave the Cardiac Ward room, I see the man who had a major heart attack sitting up in bed and smiling and watching a baseball playoff game on TV as if nothing has happened. My son, Randy has come in from Atlanta and is talking baseball with the man who a few hours before was screaming in pain and could not breathe!?

I arrive in ICU at 7 pm and all the nurses are waiting to start the next blood transfusions, hook-up oxygen, IVs, electrodes, BP armband, etc. As I am wheeled by another ICU room, I see an elderly lady lying in bed and barely breathing and I know she is close to death and I know am to pray for her and her family. Cindy comes into the room and I tell Cindy that I am to pray for these people and not to worry about me – it is not about me. I ask Cindy to pray for the elderly lady too. A young nurse starts the fifth or sixth transfusion of blood and I immediately react badly. It feels as if someone has injected ice water directly into my heart and I began to convulse. {Later, I become aware of a voice that says: “Imagine the pain I feel in My Sacred Heart each time an abortion is performed and stops a baby’s  heart – it is as if “ice water” is being injected into My Sacred Heart. My Sacred Heart convulses violently for each child and their mother when an abortion ends My Creation but the living heart is returned to me for mankind cannot kill My Creation.”}. A senior nurse rushes in and stops the cold blood being injected into my heart. It seems it was not heated to body temperature or not matched for anti-bodies. The unit of blood is removed and sent back to the Blood Bank.  A new unit is installed but the blood is warmed first and I feel a great relief and the “icy cold” feeling leaves my body. No human can ever imagine the pain Jesus feels when an abortion is performed. I am given a sleeping pill/medication and my son and I are in the room together alone for a brief minute. I am aware he is crying. I tell him I love him and say goodnight as I touch his hand and I kiss Cindy. I have a beautiful nurse who touches my hand and I know she has the “gift of healing” – she will get me through the night and I feel the White Light envelop me again. I feel Peace and Joy. Before going to sleep, I place my hands on my stomach and ask the Father to heal me through the Archangel Raphael if it is His Will.

Saturday Afternoon (Oct 04): I awaken around 1 pm, it has been a rough nite with constant interruptions. The BP device squeezes your arm every 15 minutes and someone rips tape off your arm every three to six hours to take blood. If I want to feel better - I know I will have to leave the hospital. Overnite, the oxygen has dried out my nose and mouth and my lips are badly chapped but a nurse has come in to add a humidifier.  I have trouble talking. It has now been over 100 hours since I have had anything to eat – just IVs and some chipped ice but nothing in ICU.

Strangely, I feel much better and the transfusions/IVs are working. My blood pressure is reading 123/65 and pulse is steady. All chest pain is gone.  Outside in the hallway, there are three generations of a family who has been called to say goodbye to the elderly mother, grandmonther and great-grandmother. I continue to pray for her. Her time of death is finally called at 2:32 pm. The Father has called her to Heaven to be with Him and The Blessed Mother has come to take the lady to Heaven.

The senior nurses look puzzled but agree  with me when I told them I am going to be fine. A surgeon comes in with the same puzzled look and also agrees with me that there is no more bleeding. In fact, I tell him I can get up and walk out of ICU right now. He agrees that I can be transferred to GI ward but says it is the GI doctor’s call and not his. We try for hours to reach the “on-call” GI doctor. Finally he comes in at 6:30 pm (not anybody I have met before) and tells me I am staying in ICU one more night. I tell him I am not staying in ICU, that I have been healed by prayer and I am going to a room in GI ward and get a good night’s rest. I want something to eat after 100+ hours, a prior medication I needed had not been given in the last 40 hours of my requests and I told the doctor that after the last 80 hours I was going to wash the blood off of me [and I was going to go do it now]. Suddenly, he turns and writes out a transfer to the ICU Director that I may go to GI ward and start on a clear liquid diet. He sounds like a French doctor to me and after he leaves all the nurses tell me that he does not respect them or answer pages and they cannot believe what just happened. Apparently, this later gets around all over the hospital and nurses come up to me at different times and say hello and shake my hand. I knew the Holy Spirit came upon this doctor during this incident and he was changed by it. He immediately thereafter answered all pages and was very cordial everytime he spoke with nurses or me. My “super ICU nurse - Henyi” personally takes me down to GI ward where another nurse greets me with this big smile (it turns out these two nurses lived by each other and rode to work together). I am in good hands. It is the gift of the nurses [thru The Father] that have saved my life. I tell them all they have special gifts from God and to share them with everyone.

Sunday (Oct 05): A request has been made for someone to bring me Holy Eucharist today. Cindy and I are starting to watch our televised Mass (10 am) from our church in Panama City, FL – St Dominic’s. We were suppose to be Eucharist Ministers at this Mass. I feel like I am attending the Mass when watching it and really appreciate the Mass being televised to the sick. As the Mass starts, a young Korean lady (with two daughters) walks in carrying Communion from our church and we all know each other. We sit together and watch the Mass and when the priest starts giving Communion, I receive the greatest gift from the Father – His Sacred Heart.

After the Mass, I am talking with the Korean lady and she tells me she was abandoned after birth and left for dead for “three days” by her mother in the corner of a room because she was not born  “a male”. I realize “the greatest gifts of healing the spirit, uplifting the soul and the greatest virtues of love, charity and patience” are given by The Father to all women [mothers, nurses, soulmates]. They are such beautiful and enduring gifts to all mankind – the world would quickly collapse in chaos and have ceased long ago without these gifts of The Father “to all women”.

In the afternoon, I am aware I should pray for all the people on the GI ward. Later a technician comes in to take my BP. He is well-mannered and appears to be Arabic. I shake his hand and feel a “Gift of Healing” from him. I thank him for the gift and he smiles at me as he leaves. Two surgeons come by and ask me how I am doing. I ask one of them if his father was also a surgeon. He says yes and asks if I was a former patient of his father’s. I told him no but that he also had the same beautiful gift that was given his father and that he was a first-class surgeon. I tell them I was sent here to pray for others and I was in a beautiful light. Later, I tell the evening nurse my mission at the hospital will be complete soon and I will be discharged by Wednesday. My son, Randy, is with me for the afternoon but leaves to go back to Atlanta after I assure him I am  fine. A lady comes in to change the sheets. Her name is Theresa. I tell her about the Little Flower and how everything she does is  beautiful and important to God. She tells me her son is in the Army and in Iraq and would I pray for him well as as her sister who is also in the military in Iraq. Her sister had a baby who was only two months old when she was ordered to Iraq!? The baby is now nine months old. Her sister will see her baby this month.

Monday (Oct 06): I get up and sneak a shower before the 7 am (shift change) – it was luxury and we do not know how well off we are. A cleaning lady comes in to mop the floor. I thank her for her gifts and tell her she has a beautiful gift for taking care of people and everything she does is just as important to God as the work of doctors or nurses. The Arabic man comes in later to take my BP and I tell him I know he has a Gift of Healing. He tells me he was a doctor in Iraq and he came here in 1995 to escape Saddam. He took whatever jobs he could to learn the medical system. He says it will be three or four more years until he can become certified. I tell him to continue to become a doctor because it is going to happen and remember what needs to be changed because some day he will be in a position to make significant changes [perhaps in his country of Iraq?].

The young cardiologist comes in and tells me my heart is fine and there is no blockage in the arteries. I thank him and tell him I already knew that information though the power of prayer.  I ask him if I can start eating the skin off the fried chicken again. He smiles and I tell him not to worry about passing his Boards (every ten years). He will do fine and he will have a great and exciting career. He thanks me and leaves with the Blessing of The Father.

In the afternoon, my primary physician comes by and says I can go home tomorrow and that I can immediately start a full diet. I order a hamburger (no fries) and ice tea and lemon meringue – and thank The Father for all the gifts to mankind. I tell the Father I realize how special everyone in the world is to Him. I ask pardon for all those who have committed abortions.

Tuesday (Oct 07): A nurse comes in and tells me I will be discharged from the hospital today and it seems as if a number of people are being discharged from the GI ward but she tells me it “will fill up again soon”. In the afternoon, I walked out of the hospital on my own – no wheel chair to take me out. The nurses all wish me well  and are smiling. I will never look at the world the same way again.

When I got home I weighed 241 pounds (18 pound loss in six days). I never felt better in my life.

Tommorrow and Forever: Our Father wishes you to share your gifts with each other. The Father now wishes to come and dwell in each one of our hearts if we are in the state of grace. What I experienced goes way beyond the concept of Our Father sitting on a “Throne in Heaven” observing our actions and sending a messenger angel. He wishes mankind to know He will come and dwell in each one of our hearts if we ask Him. Tell Him everything that happens to you each day as when you were a child talking to your father. He loves for you to tell Him everything even though He already knows it. He is truly The Father of Eternal Love.

My name is Stephen Rinehart and I have a heart made in the image and likeness of The Father and so do all of you reading my story. Go out into the world with your hearts on fire and send this story around the world – your Father loves you more than anything else and He gave His Life for you in His Second Person.

Stephen Rinehart

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