Donald Eilers
mariee51#cox.net

This is a story of Don’s life from August 5, 1970.  I was a normal American boy and young man up until that time.  I didn’t care much about God or His Son and thought only of myself.  Up until that time, life was just what I had to do to enjoy myself.  There was a lot of “booze” which worked into other drugs.

          I joined the Air Force in August, 1966 to keep from being drafted into the Army.  I spent 3 years stationed in England as a Security Police Officer, canine patrol.  I was reassigned to the United States, Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota.  All four years of my off time I spent “partying” with the guys.  Then on August 4, 1970, 10 days before I was supposed to get out of the service, I was out with some friends.  We started drinking before noon and had a car accident the next morning around 1:00 or 2:00 A.M.

          The car went off the road and when we tried to get back on the road, the front axle snapped and from what I’ve been told, the car rolled 3 times and went end over end 3 times and ended up against a tree.   That was the start of my road back to God.

All I know is what I hear which is that I was shipped to Fitzsimons Hospital in Denver, CO and my folks were called and told about the accident, where I was, but were told not to hurry out because I probably wouldn’t be alive

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when they got there, but my God had other plans for me.

          I spent 2 months unconscious, with a refrigerator blanket on top of me as well as under me to keep my temperature under control.  They had me strapped in bed so I wouldn’t pull my IV’s out and was fed through tubes.

          This whole time the Doctor’s kept telling my Mom that I probably wouldn’t live, but if I did, I would be a vegetable.  In October I came out of it but knew very little of the accident or anything else in my life. I couldn’t walk, I couldn’t talk very good.  That was the start of my recovery.  From Fitzsimons I was shipped to the VA Hospital in Omaha, NE so I would be closer to home.  I spent almost 2 months there before they let me go home in a wheelchair.

          The next 3½ years were spent trying to get better, learning to walk, talk and finally meeting the best woman in my life.  Every year I had to go back to the VA hospital for an exam to see if I have gotten any better.  At my yearly exam in 1974, the Air Force decided I was fit for world wide duty and gave me the option to come back in or they would give me an honorable discharge. 

          Thank goodness I had a father that told me I could never get any insurance for myself, so I would be best off to go back into the Air Force.  I

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went back in and was retrained into procurement, where I spent another 3½ years at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.  I had a Master Sergeant who worked to get me permanently discharged for medical reasons.  A doctor on base agreed and said he would do all he could to help me.

          After they gave me my medical discharge, I came back to my home town with my wife and two boys.  That’s when God really started working.  I accepted Christ as my savior in 1980.  Things didn’t change much and in the mean time, I tried to do as much as I could and not thinking of depending on God as I should.

          From 1980 until 2000, I had had seven (7) operations.  One operation for plastic surgery on my tracheotomy scar; three operations for an abscess in my abdomen; one operation just to see where all the drainage was coming from; one operation removing my left kneecap and one back operation.  On February 18, 2000, I had my left knee replaced but it didn’t work out very good and 1½ years later I had to have it replaced again because I was falling down too many times.  Sometime during those 2 years between knee replacements, Papa really started working on me, breaking me down to where I had to be totally dependent on Him. 

          He became my Papa, my Savior, and my Guide.  I still have a lot of

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problems, but He has given me a peace that goes beyond anything I can tell you.  It has become a relationship that grows with every minute of my life. 

          There are a lot more things I could tell, like taking a 34 year smoker and helping him quit in one night or the things He has told me.  These things should be enough for anyone to see my God and the kind of relationship He wants with each and every person.

          I hope this helps explain where I am at with my Papa and as far as writing the story, I don’t think most would believe it anyway, but if I can convince just one person to trust Christ as savior then all I go through is worth it.

                                                With Love in Christ

                                                Don

P.S. This has happened to me since I wrote this. On September 11^th 2004 while I sat here at this computer my wife of 32 years had a grand maul seizure in another room and died. That whole night I kept asking the Lord how much more I had to give, but God is  faithful and did answer me in His time to show me why and bring a peace back in me. I still mourn my loss, but He has helped me greatly.