Marcus Redding Feels The Heat

It was 3:45 p.m. on a Thursday in the middle of June. No clouds. Just sun. The heat index had to be over 100. And there was no shade where they were working.

All three of them were in a waist deep hole, tossing muddy dirt up and to the side. Justin was used to working outside in the hot weather plus he was 18 years old. Mr. Johnson, he’d been doing things like this all his life. He had on jeans and long sleeves and a cowboy hat and it didn’t seem to bother him any. But Marcus wasn’t used to this kind of work. He was a hard worker all right, he didn’t know any other way, but he didn’t know how to pace himself, and the 20 ounce Gatorade he brought with him wasn’t quite enough.

That morning Marcus had checked one of the bed-and-breakfast cabins on the ranch, getting it ready for some folks who would be staying the weekend. When he turned on the faucet, there was no water pressure. He called Mr. Johnson who said they replaced a leaky pipe a couple weeks ago outside that cabin, that must be the problem. They needed to fix it now because the cabin had to be ready by Friday morning. So Mr. Johnson brought the tools and the pipe and met Justin and Marcus at the cabin.

They almost had the pipe dug up when Mr. Johnson got a call on his cell. He answered and then jumped up out of the hole and walked away a few steps. He listened for a while and then sighed and closed the phone. “I’ve got to take care of something at the bank. Can you boys finish this up?” Justin said, “Sure, we’ll have it done in a half hour.” Marcus wasn’t so sure, he was starting get a little dizzy and he had a headache, but he didn’t want Justin to know that, so he reassured Mr. Johnson they could take care of it.

Marcus and Justin kept digging. After a while they found the leak and laid the new section of pipe. Marcus needed to walk over to the cabin to turn on the faucet but he barely made it. He was so hot. He turned on the faucet and everything was good. He stuck his head under the water for a while and that helped a little, but then he went back out to help Justin replace the dirt. Marcus was shaking and unsteady by the time they got done. When they got back into Marcus’s pickup, Justin offered him a Pepsi and he guzzled it down. Marcus dropped Justin off at the office then headed back to his ranch house. His calf muscles were all cramped up and it seemed like his heart was racing. He parked the truck and kicked his boots off on the garage floor and kind of stumbled inside the kitchen. Lauren was getting dinner together and Micah was in his little swing. When she saw him she said, “Your face is red as a beet! Are you okay?” Marcus whispered, “Ah juff nee a coo vergotz” and with that he lost his balance and almost fell. Lauren caught him and got him to sit down. His skin was hot and dry and his eyes weren’t really focusing.

Lauren grabbed Micah’s thermometer and put it into Marcus’s ear…104.6! “Marcus, you’ve got heat stroke.” She flew into emergency mode. She took off his shirt and ran to turn down the air conditioning to 60. She tried to get him to drink a glass of cool water but he spit it up after a few gulps. “I’m taking you to the hospital.” In seconds she grabbed her cell phone, grabbed two ice packs out of the freezer, and got Micah into his car seat in the car. She half dragged Marcus to the car and put the ice packs under his armpits. She started the car and sped down the driveway, kicking up a rooster tail of gravel. In her hurry she didn’t remember the pot of water boiling on the stove.

But what hospital? They were closer to Athens than Tyler. But where was the hospital in Athens? She’d never been there before. But she knew exactly how to get to the hospitals in Tyler. She turned and headed west. Micah was crying, her cell phone was ringing, and Marcus was muttering something that didn’t make sense. She was trying not to panic. As she flew down the highway at 85 miles per hour she kept repeating Psalm 86:7 “In the day of my trouble I call upon you, for you answer me.”

More about Marcus Redding’s journey of faith next week.