Faith is a good thing when you're in athletics. And most often, it's what saves you

Horses munched sand dune grasses.

Rays of sunshine pierced through gaps in the thin clouds. Swells twinkled in the whitecaps.

Flocks of birds sang their choruses - none any more entertaining than the other.

A lady sat on her deck and took it all in.

She sipped a hot cup of coffee.

Admiring God’s wonders, she was at peace with Mother Nature. She  embraced her lifelong kinship with Faith.

A typical start to a Cindy Midkiff day.

But there was something peculiar about this morning two months ago. Waves were about waist high.

Clean-faced.

Building prior to the near-shore passing of Hurricane Erin.

Despite the odd feeling, the 64-year-old who had surfed nearly all of her life felt the sea calling.

So the petite Menchville High School graduate and retired athletic trainer grabbed her board and headed out for a few rides before going to meet a group of friends.

For some reason, the waves at “Little’s Point” - a break around Corova Beach named for friends that lived in front of it - kept drawing Midkiff closer to her Maker.

She ignored the feeling in her gut.

“I have always felt closest to God when I’m in the water,” said Midkiff, who played various sports in high school, and also ran cross country and played field hockey for Radford University. “I caught a few fun waves and they’ve always put this ‘perma-grin’ on my face.”

There was time for one more wave before taking off to be with friends.

But unbeknownst to her, one of The Lord’s greatest tests of faith was flooding the space around that final wave.

Water along the sandbar was getting more shallow.

Lowering tide was the likely culprit.

The nose of her board stuck below the water.

Midkiff was sailed over the end.

The plank snapped back - hitting her head in what she calls “a one in a million freak accident.”

After medical care and additional tests, she later would find out that the impact caused what’s known as an axial load to the top of her head and the C-spine disks.

Midkiff described a: “fire-like sensation that ran from the base of her skull to her feet.”

Because of her medical training, she knew the situation: “wasn’t good.”

“I think I may have lost brief consciousness as the wave passed.”

Midkiff floated, remarkably face up, parallel to the beach, some 30 to 40 feet from the sand.

There was no function or feeling below the neck.

“Trying to express what it feels like to be on that very thin line between life and death isn’t easy,” she said. “It didn’t look good for me.

“But I know that God is supernatural and above all.”

Midkiff knew she was in shock with only one way out: “I started praying for His help. I knew I had more to give if He would let me.

“I also knew that with the seriousness of my injuries that God was my only hope.”

Midkiff said she took breaths when she could and that, slowly, feelings and functions started to return.

She was able to hold her board and supported her neck: “the best that I could.”

She knew her injuries were serious, but a pending death was no longer in her thoughts.

“I was able to flag down someone driving past me,” she said.

Those that know her are well aware that in typical Midkiff fashion, she directed the efforts to organize those helping because of her degrees and physical knowledge.

Friends, family and best friend Mym Fowler all helped keep everything else in order - something they continue to do to this day.

“I wasn’t scared anymore,” Midkiff confided. “God was moving people into place.”

She was taken to a local medical facility by ambulance and after tests told that Sentara Norfolk would be the best location for the serious procedures she would need.

Nightingale supplied the transportation north.

During the helicopter ride, Midkiff said she prayed for a “Cowboy” to come to her rescue.

While God took care of the Faith side of things, Dr. Byron Mills - a neurosurgeon at the hospital - filled the rest of her needs.

Mills and his staff went to work the next day.

Extra testing.

New films.

Several more scans.

And “remarkable care,” Midkiff said.

In the meantime, texts, emails and social media all were filling up with: “thousands or people, churches, friends and family - all praying for me.”

Closer to surgery, Dr. Hills entered Midkiff’s room: “with a smile. He couldn’t explain the last few films.

“He said they showed that a C-spine vertebrae had four fractures but had become more manageable,” she said, her eyes tearing. “He said he could anchor C-1 and maintain most of my neck motion.”

That Sunday morning, two months ago, nearly five hours passed in the operating room.

Midkiff said that her “Cowboy” told her everything went well.

She still has about four months left in her neck brace. And while she goes to rehabilitation on the Outer Banks, she has decided to use her medical training and intense Faith to do most of the work herself.

Now there are bike rides on the beach.

Betty and Maverick - a pair of dachshunds - go for daily walks.

Hours are spent with other aspects of rehab.

It’s noon before she can do anything else.

But the horses still munch.

The birds sing.

And Midkiff absorbs it all like a sponge.

While she has been told there is no future in surfing, Midkiff’s Faith makes her feel positive she can at least paddle out and spend time with inquisitive dolphins.

Observing all of God’s beauty will continue, and she’ll tell anyone that will listen that a personal relationship with Jesus is the most important thing in a person’s life.

Her admiration of His marvels is stronger than ever.

Maybe because, despite her humility, her Faith lets her know that she is one of those marvels.