The turtle associated with this blog is the newest member of our family. His name is Perry Turtle. As we prepared to leave our rental this summer at the beach, we couldn’t find the remote that belonged to the condo. Thinking that our grandson may have tossed it over the balcony, we began searching the bushes below. We didn’t find the remote there, but we did find this plastic turtle buried so deeply inside the shrubbery that it seemingly had been there for years.

He was so cute that we decided to adopt him and soon agreed on the name Perry Turtle, in honor of the All-American wide receiver who hauled in the winning touchdown against Nebraska in the 1981 Orange bowl to secure Clemson’s first-ever national championship. Not only were we both attending Clemson at that time, but we were dating, and well on the way to marriage (now 42 years and countless medical hurdles later)

Why is Perry Turtle a part of this blog? Because, last week, he traveled with us to Emory University Hospital in Atlanta where doctors amazingly reversed the colostomy that had been part of my health story since I had emergency surgery for a perforated colon in March 2025. The picture was taken from our room which had a beautiful view of Atlanta in the distance and an even more stunning view of God’s grace that occurred during surgery. Here are a few impressions of what God has shown us in this challenging season.

(1) The value of relationships

In August of 2025 I met with the surgeon who operated on me five months earlier when I came in very sick to the Emergency Room with what turned out to be a perforated colon. During my hospital stay at that time, we had briefly talked about the possibility of removing the ostomy bag by reattaching the colon. But when I met with him in August, he said that he wasn’t comfortable with putting my body through that surgery because of my previous surgeries and radiation therapies. After hearing of the many variables that can go wrong with such a procedure, I resolved to consider living with the ostomy bag as well as the very large hernia that occurred as a result of the initial surgery. But over the next few months I began to look outside of Spartanburg for a uniquely trained surgeon who would have confidence that moving ahead with the reversal would be a reasonable risk.

It’s amazing how God would lead us to that special surgeon. After reading a few articles about hospitals who specialized in colorectal surgery, we believed that the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota was a premier facility for this surgery, especially with my medical past. Obviously, we would prefer not traveling this distance. God solved this predicament by “bringing Mayo to us.”

Five years ago I drove to Atlanta and attended a wedding of the daughter of long-time friend, Bryan, whom I’ve known since our Clemson days in the early 80’s. At the wedding reception, I spent time with a friend of his who works as an anesthesiologist at Emory. Though we had never met, I had actually prayed for this man’s son several years earlier who had his own medical battle.

In September of last year, I asked Bryan to pass along this question to his anesthesiologist buddy; “If you were having surgery to reverse a colostomy, what doctor would you use?” Without delay he offered one name, Patrick Sullivan. As soon as we received this name, we began reading about this man. You can imagine the joy in our hearts when we came to this line in his biography; “Dr. Sullivan joined the Department of Surgery at Emory University School of Medicine after completing his fellowship in colon and rectal surgery at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.”

Imagine that. We had been especially drawn to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota and now God had brought a Mayo-trained physician to the Emory family in Atlanta that had become so familiar to us through four previous surgeries. Who could have ever known that when I was hanging out with Bryan at Clemson in 1983, forty-three years later, God would use that very relationship to bring an important physician into my life. Though our journey through the years has sometimes been a confusing blur, God reminds us that it was always perfectly clear to Him;

I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.’ (Isaiah 46:10)

(2) Fearfully and wonderfully made

As a shepherd boy looking at the star-filled sky over the hills of Judea, the biblical writer David rightly said,

the heavens declare (reveal) the glory of God (Psalm 19:1)

Just imagine what David would’ve written if he had 21st century knowledge of the human body. Over the past few weeks, I have shined the spotlight on my colon. But now I want to illuminate your colon as well. I will not pretend to speak with medical school precision about these wonderful machines in our bodies called the large and small intestine, but even with my kindergarten knowledge, I’m confident you will applaud God more than ever for His brilliant design within your body.

One of the marvelous aspects of the human body is the digestive system. It begins when food is swallowed and enters the esophagus and moves toward the stomach. This ride takes about eight seconds. When food reaches the end of the esophagus, a muscle called the lower esophageal sphincter opens, allowing the food to pass into the stomach.

As food enters the stomach, digestive juices are secreted which break down solid food into liquefied form. The digestive juices are powerful hydrochloric acids that are so strong they would destroy the stomach were it not lined with a thick protective layer of mucous. The liquefied food in the stomach empties into the small intestine where it is mixed with more digestive juices from the pancreas, liver, and colon so that liquefied food will be pushed further along the 20 foot journey in the small intestine.

The walls of the small intestine are covered with tiny, finger-like projections called villi. It is through the villi that nutrients from the food are absorbed into the bloodstream and sent to nourish the entire body.. Whatever part of the meal that is not useful for our nutritional needs is sent from the small intestine to the large intestine, also known as the colon. The colon absorbs water and salt from this waste, causing it to become firmer and eventually turn into stool. The stool is pushed through the colon toward the rectum by way of a series of muscle contractions called peristalsis.

When food fills the rectum, nerve endings send a message to the brain that it would be a good idea to find a toilet. As this message is sent, the internal sphincter releases so the content can move further down into the rectum. Finally when you have found a bathroom, you consciously allow the external sphincter to relax so stool can be eliminated. The average time for food to pass through the digestive system is about two days. The more we learn of the marvelous workings of our body, we cry out with the Psalmist

You created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful. (Psalm 139:13,14)

Human Skill and Sovereign Grace

Not only do we applaud God for His brilliant design of the human body, but also for His provision to teach the medical community how to repair it when it breaks. Shortly after surgery, we read the physician’s notes that he dictated about the operation. Below is an excerpt from his report. I have not included it to bog anyone down by trying to understand it. No, it is part of this blog just to increase your praise to God for sending an army of talented men and women whose devotion to learning makes them useful tools in the hands of the Great Physician.

The patient was brought back to the operating room placed in the supine position…He was endotracheally intubated…We did a cystoscopy as well as bilateral ureteral stents. An incision was made over his previous hernia in the midline…The bowel was reduced and we could easily see the confines of the hernia. This hernia was approximately 5 cm and it was perfect to be able to use for a HandPort.
We took down some of the adhesions to the anterior abdominal wall from the omentum. We then placed a trocar just to the right of the umbilicus to 1 inch of the left lower quadrant…We then were able to take down some adhesions of the omentum and the left upper quadrant. We then mobilized the left colon by carefully incising along the white left line of Toldt…The splenic ligaments were divided.
The lesser sac was entered and the omentum was taken off the transverse colon. Through the wound we transected the stoma just at the fascia…We then…identified the rectum and carefully dissected the posterior mesorectum. We then mobilized the presacral as well as the left lateral attachments…
We were able to use the EEA sizers and picked a transection point where the narrowing tapered at the rectosigmoid…We then transected with a contour stapler blue load…We opened up the colon proximally and placed the anvil in a side to end anastomosis with a 29 EEA. The anastomosis was tested under water and it was airtight.
We made sure we have good hemostasis. We were able to bring the omentum down over the midline. We then took out the previous stoma site. The fascia layer was closed with a running 0 PDS in a CT2…We then closed the midline by taking out some of the redundant skin. …We closed with a 0 PDS in a CT2 irrigated out the wounds and reapproximated the previous ostomy…and then stapled the rest of the wounds…The patient tolerated the procedure well.

Again, I have no intention for anyone to understand much of these surgical notes. But what thrills my heart is for the number of men and women in medicine who have immersed themselves in such knowledge. There are more than eleven million doctors worldwide, yet studies reveal that there is need for an additional six million doctors to adequately care for global needs.

My point is this. So much of what God purposes to do in the world will be accomplished through men and women whose lives have been given to the discipline of learning a skill and then devoting their life to using and improving that skill. It doesn’t matter whether you are the surgeon who cuts in the OR, or the welder who builds the hospital, everyone plays a valuable part in this massively interconnected world.

One of the techs who came into my room each night to take my vitals was just two days younger than me. Twenty-six years ago she left an exceptional accounting job in New York City in order to move to Atlanta to reduce her cost of living so she could take ANY nights/weekend job that would allow her to homeschool her children. When she began working nights at Emory, taking temperatures and blood pressure, it was a colossal reduction in salary. But twenty-six years later, she raised four children who love the Lord and are influencing the world from teaching to nursing to law. I have no idea what you should do with your life, but I do know what you should not do with it – don’t waste your life! As the apostle Paul said;

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10)

The third section of this blog post is dedicated to human skill and divine grace. I have already spoken to the human skill part. Yes, yes, yes, a great deal of my healing can be attributed to human skill. And for that I am most grateful. But now I want to briefly address the divine grace aspect.

Before the surgery began my doctor ran a number of tests to determine if operating on me was a reasonable risk. This was necessary because there were several potentially limiting factors. The most concerning one was whether or not my colon had been harmed by the amount of radiation it had been exposed to over the years.

But when the doctors opened me up in surgery, they discovered that there was no damage at all. The doppler test on both ends of the colon revealed a very healthy blood supply which almost guaranteed that the anastomosis of the colon (fusing the two sections together) would very likely be a success. There is only one explanation for the health of my colon at the point of fusion, and that is the grace of God.

In addition to the grace of God before surgery, we also marvel at His grace after surgery. That is, once the surgeons finish their work, the human body especially begins its work. Immediately after the last suture is made, the body tells the blood to clot in order to stop bleeding at the surgical site. Once clotting takes place, the body sends an army of white blood cells to the site in order to ward off infection. As infection concerns are address, the body then tells the blood platelets to send messenger proteins (cytokines) to the site in order to start absorbing white blood cells that had been released to fight off infection (but now need to get out of the way so different cells can come and begin healing). The cells that kick in for healing (to rebuild tissue at the surgical site) are called fibroblasts. They secrete collagen proteins into all areas affected by surgery.

This symphony of healing within the body is so complex that it is obviously the result of God’s magnificent design. As I recently shared these facts with a friend, he responded, “Evolution is such a joke it is criminal.” This is the same conclusion of the apostle Paul in Romans 1:18-21;

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them…his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.

The world is under divine judgement not because its sins are worse than those who follow Christ. It’s under judgment because of its willful refusal to acknowledge and honor the majesty and mercy of God. The world simply refuses to applaud God.

Epilogue:

I am writing this post on the morning of my follow up appointment to remove the twenty-one staples in my stomach. We asked for prayer to ward off infection, and we are most grateful for how you prayed and how God answered. The next step on the healing process is for my bowels to adjust to their new configuration after an eleven-month layoff for some parts. Currently they are so excited about being together that they are working a bit too much. I compare them to an overly affection dog. No matter how many times you rub its head, the moment you stop, it thinks you should keep going.

The Emory team says my system may be a bit temperamental for a few more weeks, or it may require several months for my body to settle into a rhythm. But they believe a favorable outcome is just around the corner. No matter how long it takes or what the future looks like, we have been so carried along by the grace of God that we continue to rejoice as Mary did in her famous song;

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord…because He has looked upon the humble condition of His servant…the Mighty One has done great things for me…His mercy is from generation to generation on those who fear Him” (Luke 2:46-50)