This time around however, it was strange how it started in my left wrist, worked
it’s way up my arm, then into my chest, back and left jaw. It frightened me because I had never experienced pain like this and I knew that something was definitely wrong, so I
called 911.  The ambulance came, the paramedics radioed the E.R. (just like on TV)  and the paramedics were instructed to give me nitro glycerin, start an I.V. and then hooked me up to a heart monitor and also ran an EKG while they were at my home. After reporting my vital signs to the hospital they then were instructed to bring me to the Mission Hospital which is near my home in south Orange County, CA. I stayed over night for observation and to have an Echo Stress Test (Treadmill) the next day, along with yet another series of EKG’s. Again the doctor told me that nothing was wrong with my heart and suggested that I may have had an Esophageal Spasm because I had been experiencing severe heartburn and reflux. So, they sent me home.

On Thanksgiving night while watching TV with a friend, it happened again, i.e. the pain strangely started just in my wrist and then forearm area but soon radiated up into my chest, back and jaw- but again it was over within a few minutes.
Then 2 days later, on Saturday evening I was alone watching TV (I should stop watching TV?), and it happened yet again.  This time the pain was so intense that it almost brought me to tears. I immediately called 911.  Again and they rushed me to the ER where all kinds of tests, EKG’s and blood work was done.To no surprise, once again, they couldn’t find anything wrong with my heart.

Meanwhile the doctor took more blood to be analyzed and told me that he would probably send me home once again but this time with pain medication. I was to follow up with my general practicioner the next day.

He left the room to go check on my blood work.  The medication that was given to me made me drowsy, so I closed my eyes.  I asked God to help me and to touch me with his healing power. Like a brief movie, my life’s moments began to play out in my mind. Everything that I had done, both good and not so good, flashed before me. I thought especially about the lives of my children, my new grandson, and all the friends that I’ve known. I was afraid, and confused.I had questions like, what could be wrong with me? Why was the pain so unbearable? Why couldn’t the doctors tell me what was wrong?

Here is the miracle, and I am convinced that an angel visited my hospital room that night:

As I lay there, someone touched my hand. I opened my eyes and standing next to my bed was a small woman who looked to be Phillippino. She wasn’t wearing a nursing uniform so I didn’t think that she was a nurse. She was well dressed in a brown suit, with long flowing brown hair and I noticed that she was also quite beautiful. She said, “Mr. Horn, please don’t let them send you home again. Tell them that you want an Angio-gram”. I had no idea what that was, but thanked her for her advice, then rested my eyes again.
Not more than what seemed to be a few seconds later, I opened my eyes and she was gone.

The doctor entered my room and sat down at my bedside. He explained that he couldn’t find anything on my EKG that would indicate any heart problem and asked me what I wanted to do. I told him that I wanted an Angio-gram, and that I wanted
to be admitted to the hospital. I did not want to be sent home again without some kind of answer.  I could not bear the pain any longer.  I had reached my pain threshold. He said alright we can do that and sensing my frustration he said “don’t worry, I promise you that we are going to find out what is wrong with you”.
He stepped out of the room, then returned a few minutes later to tell me that my blood work was finished and that my heart was releasing enzymes. He explained that this was something that the heart did when it was under duress and that an Angio-Gram would in fact be a good idea. So, he referred me to a cardiologist who immediately instructed the E.R. to admit me to the hospital. The hospital informed the cardiologist that there were no immediate beds available except for one in the Cardiac ICU to which the doctor instructed them to take me there since he had seen my blood work and didn’t want to take any more chances.

The next day they prepped me for the test and explained what an Angio-gram was. I mentioned to them that I was unfamiliar with the procedure, but that someone had visited me the night before and told me to demand that one be done! No one, in the hospital that I asked could ever tell me who the person was.  They couldn’t imagine who would be in the ER dressed that way and without an ID badge.

During the Angio-gram, they discovered 3 clogged arteries. One 95%, one 70% and the other was about 50%. The doctor informed me that my condition was very serious and that surgery would have to be done immediately. I was shocked and frightened. At 50, how could this be happening to me? I never dreamed that I would have a heart bypass, no not in a million years. My oldest daughter immediately flew in from Texas to be with me for the surgery and on Wednesday December 3rd the operation was a success.  The next day (Thursday) they had me walking around the hospital wing and I was home in my own bed by Friday and on my way to an 8 week recovery.

I am so thankful that God heard my prayer that night when I asked him for help and sent a beautiful Angel to intervene. She could have been hospital staff, she could have in fact been an Angel, but either way this kind woman was certainly an Angel in my book.  Perhaps, God used her to save my life. I will forever be grateful and I feel like the luckiest man alive today! I found out later that, according to my Cardiologist, when there is heart damage
it shows up on an EKG. But my heart had not been damaged and I didn’t have a
heart attack, so that’s why the EKG’s and other tests never revealed any problem. He told me that the news caster Tim Russert had died of a very similiar problem to mine, one that is initially hard to detect until it’s too late. God is soooo Good to me!

I wanted to express my gratitude for the wonderful outpouring of well wishes and prayers, there were so many who came to the hospital, called and sent their thoughts and prayers. I never realized how many friends that I had who love me, it was just amazing at the support that I received. Thank You to my family in Texas for their thoughts and prayers, including Mary and Adrianne who had sent their well wishes and called my former home church family to inform them and ask for their prayers. Thanks to my best friends John and Quenten for helping me so much after I got home, I couldn’t have done it without you! God Bless you and Thank You all for your thoughts and prayers. Gratitude is a word that I’m really learning the true meaning of, and most of all thanks to my Angel!

Abraham Lincoln

Lot’s of times I get responses that say “Paul, your timing was impeccable” or “this couldn’t have come at a better time” and to those I say thank you back because it brings me encouragement and great joy knowing that something was said that helped encourage someone else. It’s in these times that I draw strength from that and when I send out something it is because I need it first and foremost and I just always want to share it because it seems we all have challenges that we face and most of the time it’s about the same time that we all need it.

Recently I had been going through a difficult time with the side effects from a new medication that I’ve since had to start taking and it has been challenging to me but the worst of it seems to have subsided and my body has been adjusting more and more each day. I’m not going to work anymore and leaving the hot water in the sink running anymore or leaving all of my lights on and I’m starting to get my joy back and not feeling despondent or angry and some other things anymore and I’m feeling so much better! For anyone taking chemo I’m told it’s similiar and my heart goes out to you.

The God of my understanding doesn’t want us to live with a “barely-get-by” attitude. He has new seasons of increase in front of us. He wants us to thrive, to live an abundant, overflowing life. Sometimes when things seem difficult, it’s easy to slip into a “survival mode.” When times get tough, it’s tempting to just hunker down and settle where you are and accept whatever comes our way. If we are not careful, we can develop a survival mentality that will keep us from growing and releasing our faith. You’ll be happy just to “break even.” But as beings of this universe, and I believe created beings of someone compassionate, we’re not supposed to just break even; we’re supposed to break through to a new level! We’re supposed to believe for more of God’s favor, increase, and promotion no matter what is happening in the world around us. Make up your mind today that no matter how difficult things seem, you are going to thrive every day! Take hold of the promises and declare that you are rising higher. As you continue to expect favor and increase, you’ll see The hand of blessing in your life, and you will thrive and live in victory all the days of your life.

Here is a great website that is promoting something good, it is called
www.godblesshumaity.com and it’s all about rising above our situations and helping others.
There are several articles from ordinary people that are very inspiring. The website does not promote any particular religion or faith.

My good friend Gayle Etchevery is the owner of the website who by the way is in Viet Nam this week working on a painting project there. Stop by her website say hello and check out the great articles that she and others have written.

Have a great week!

Paul

does it happen overnite. Each day, you must choose to expect good things

to happen to you. When you get up in the morning, the first thing you should

do is set your mind in the right direction. Say something such as: “This is

going to be a great day, God is directing my steps, His favor is surrounding

me. Goodness and mercy are following me. I’m excited about today!”

Start your day with faith and expectancy, and then go out anticipating good

things. Expect circumstances to change in your favor. Expect people to go

out of their way to help you. (stop your negative thinking) Expect to be at the

right place at the right time. It takes practice, how do you unprogram so

many years of stinking thinking? By changing first of all what comes out

of your mouth and out of your heart and mind, learn to catch yourself!

Perhaps you are scheduled to give an important presentation, and you

are really hoping to snag that big contract. Don’t be surprised if you hear

a voice whispering in your mind, “You don’t have a chance. This is going

to be a lousy day for you. Nothing good ever happens to you. You might

as well not even get your hopes up.” (See how we’ve let programming effect

us?) Don’t listen to such lies! The God of my understanding wants me to

get my hopes up! How about yours?

Start anticipating doors of opportunity to open for you. Expect to excel in your

career. Count on rising above life’s challenges. In many circumstances

your expectations will set the boundaries for your life. Some people tend to

expect the worst and guess what? They usually get it. Other people feel so

overwhelmed by their troubles, they have difficulty believing that anything

good could happen to them. You hear them saying such things as “Oh, I’ve

got so many problems. My business,is in trouble. My health is going

downhill. How do you expect me to get up and say this is going to be a good

day, when I have this big mess on my hands?”

They are always speaking the problem, do you see that? Start listening to

what comes out of their mouths and yours too. That is what faith

and hope is all about, even the scientist will say that this is true because

the more you speak good things the more the universe will bring good

things into your life but the more you speak the problem then the more you

get more of the same. Start believing that good things are coming your way

and they will! This I Promise! What are you expecting in life? Are you

anticipating good things or bad things, significance or mediocrity? Don’t

allow your circumstances or feelings to dull your enthusiasm for life and

imprison you in a negative frame of mind. Starting today, expect things to

change in your favor. Expect to experience the goodness of the God of your

understanding!

Today’s Prayer or Positive Affirmation if you Prefer, Address your higher

power say:

Thank You, (God, father, universe,jesus) that you want me to get my hopes

up, that You want me to start expecting good things to happen in my life,

rather than worrying about what evil might come upon me. Where my faith

is weak, please help me to grow stronger so I can trust You for more and

have what my faith expects.
]]> http://angelriver.wordpress.com/2008/07/02/program-your-mind-for-success/feed/ 0 angelriver http://angelriver.wordpress.com/2008/06/26/get-a-better-picture/ http://angelriver.wordpress.com/2008/06/26/get-a-better-picture/#comments Thu, 26 Jun 2008 08:04:13 +0000 angelriver http://angelriver.wordpress.com/?p=9 ]]> You have eyes–can’t you see? You have ears–can’t you hear? Don’t you remember anything at all? Mark 18:18 NLT

We more than anything else need to start developing a new picture in our minds.

We need to see ourselves as strong, healthy, and living a long, satisfied life a life

that is trully worth living.

Only You can be the one to break that curse of low self esteen, ill health, or bad finances from

your life. But the first thing we must do is to change the

image that we have of ourselves on the inside. Get a NEW VISION. Make

sure your eyes are filled with light. We need to start putting up pictures of

the things that we want to accomplish in our lives, put them up where we

can see them when we first wake up in the morning. If it is a new house then

put up a picture of a new home where you can look at it everyday and start

speaking it into your life. (Speaking it into my life?) Just Do IT!

Ask the God of the universe to bring to you the things

that your heart desires, as you delight yourself in him. Sound like mumbo

jumbo? Well it is, that is to folks who do not believe in miracles and the power

of our own words. It is absolute nonesense to those who do not realize that everything

that comes out of our mouths we receive back to us and in greater measure.

If we speak sickness, lack and poverty all the time then

guess what we are going to get back? You got it. Sound foolish? Try

speaking positive things everyday of your life and see how your attitude will

change, go ahead try it! You will amaze yourself, you will produce what you speak

out of your mouth and keep in front of your eyes. What kind of pictures have you placed on the walls of your mind?

Do you see yourself getting stronger and healthier? Do you see yourself

getting out of debt or buying that new car you’ve always wanted? Do you see

yourself rising higher in life, accomplishing your dreams? Do you see

yourself with that special someone who seems to have eluded you for years?

In my bedroom, all around me I have pictures and drawings of things that

inspire me. I like looking at beautiful scenery, sunsets, lighthouses, the

ocean and beautiful gardens. This brings calmness to any potential storms in my life.

I like seeing eagles soaring in the sky it reminds me to just rise above it all when

the pressure is on. On my desk at home I have articles about successful people who’ve achieved their

dreams. And NO none of it happened overnight, nor did most of your circumstances just happen overnight!

I have pictures of my Children, Grandson, and my best friends all around me

that I cherish with all of my heart, pictures of us having

fun together and enjoying life the way it was meant to be enjoyed.

I like to put things in front of me that remind me of good times in the past,

while expanding my vision for better experiences in the future.

In your home or office, put things up that build your faith. You say well I don’t

believe in that faith stuff, yes you do and it’s either negative or positive

faith that is working in your life right now. It may be a combination of the two but

When you speak negatively all you are doing is speaking negative faith and any kind of faith

comes back and works in your life. So you may as well speak positive faith and have a

positive mind set. It takes practice and practice and training your thoughts.

Put out photos that bring back good memories of times when you know that you felt good

about your life . Put pictures on the wall or on your desk that show you or

someone living life to the fullest and strive to achieve that for yourself.

When you look at those pictures, don’t just go by them and say, “I

wish I was still that happy”, or “I wish I could still fit in that size clothes”, or “I

wish I was as happy as back then”.

N0, let the image of victory take root. Get it on the inside of you again!

For many people, it helps to decorate their walls with scripture, or positive

affirmations say On the bathroom mirror, refrigerator or where you get dressed, place

writings that give you faith and hope of what you want to achieve in your life

so that you are constantly reminded of them and so you are constantly

speaking your dreams to the universe. Put up things that build you up

spiritually, keep you filled with faith,hope and never forget LOVE, and that

help you to have a big vision for your life.

Don’t get stuck in a rut because a rut is just a grave with the ends kicked out.

Nothing may be going right for you today, but start seeing yourself rising out

of it. See yourself overcoming that addiction. I struggled myself for years

addicted to nicotene and other substances until one day a miracle happened

because I never stopped Envisioning myself as substance FREE and getting that

promotion or the new job of your dreams. Making that home business that you’ve

always wanted a dream come true. You know it won’t just happen just because your a sweet

person but that will be certainly a part of it. Let that image sink deep down inside

of you. To produce it on the OUTSIDE, you must first have a picture of it on

the INSIDE.

Pray to the God of your own understanding, whomever that may be and say God

help me to take down the negative pictures in my mind and to replace them with faith filled photos,

special memories, and images of hope for a tremendous future. I believe

that you want me to enlarge my vision, to expand my horizons, and to

engage in a life that will have eternal significance.

We MUST CONTINUALLY choose to keep our minds set on the higher things.
“Set your minds on things which are above”. Notice that there is
something that we must do…we must continually choose, day in and day
out, twenty four hours a day, to keep our minds set on the higher things.

What are those things that are above, the higher things? Quite simply,
they are the positive things of God. This is the God that I understand,
a positive and loving, caring God who made us very unique and special.

The New Testament Bible says it like this: Whatever things are true,
whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are
pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of a good report,
if there is any virtue and if there is anything
praiseworthy—meditate on these things”.
Learn to look for the best in every situation. No matter what you’re
going through if anything, if you look hard enough and keep the right
attitude, you can find something good about the experience. If you get
laid off at work, you can choose to be negative and bitter and blame God
or someone else. Or, you can say, “God, I know you are in control of
my life, and when one door closes, you always open a bigger and better
door. So Father, I can’t wait to see what you have in store for
me.”
When you get stuck in traffic, you can choose to be angry and
impatient, or you can choose say, “All things work together for good”. You
must make a choice to keep your mind focused on the better things.
It’s not going to automatically happen. You must be determined and put
forth some effort if you’re going to keep your mind set on the good
things of God and experience His best.
We must be especially on guard during times of adversity, in times of
personal challenge. When troubles strike, often the first thoughts that
come to mind are not higher thoughts; they’re not positive thoughts.
Negative thoughts bombard us from every possible angle. Right there, we
must choose to trust God and not allow ourselves to get down and
discouraged or just give up. Our mind is similar to the transmission in a
car. We can choose which way we want to go by engaging the gears. It
doesn’t take any more effort to go forward than it does to go backward.
It’s all in the decision process. Similarly, we determine by our own
choices which way our lives are going to go. If you choose to stay
focused on the positive and keep your mind set on the good things of God,
all the forces of darkness are not going to be able to keep you from
moving forward and fulfilling your destiny. But if you make the mistake
of dwelling on the negative, focusing on your problems and your
impossibilities, it’s similar to putting the car in reverse and backing away
from the victory that is in store for you. You must decide which way
you want to go. Psychologists are convinced that our lives move in the
direction of our most dominant thoughts. Throughout this day, engage
your mind in thoughts of Joy, Peace, Victory, Abundance, and Blessings,
and you will move toward those things, drawing them to yourself at the
same time. Now, that’s a magnetic personality!

Let this be your prayer today to the God of your own understanding:
God, help me to see as much good as I can in every person and in every
situation. Rather than seeing the glass half empty, let me see it as half
full. I choose to have an optimistic outlook on life.