'I'm On God's Time Now!'

‘Twas the night after Christmas…when the unthinkable happened. Matt and Kristen Hensley had just gone to bed on December 26, 2024, when Matt suddenly began seizing. The subsequent 911 call was only the beginning of the couple seeing God at work in the situation, as paramedics were immediately available just down the road when they called for help. Matt was rushed to Shands Hospital where they discovered he was experiencing a massive brain aneurysm.

Fortunately, or more precisely by God’s providence, Shands Hospital is part of the University of Florida health consortium and is nationally ranked for neurology and neurosurgery. The doctors first thought it was possibly meningitis, but the Lord placed a doctor in the room that wanted to confirm that diagnosis with a CT scan before moving forward.

“Following the scan, the doctors saw that Matt had an SAH (Subarachnoid hemorrhage),” Kristen explains. This is a condition where bleeding occurs in the space between the brain and the thin tissues covering the brain. The SAH was caused by a ruptured aneurysm, which was a weak spot in a blood vessel in the brain that ballooned and burst. Kristen remembers their ER room then turning into something out of a movie, the pace of the medical team intensifying to near frenzy once they realized the severity of the situation.

From the start, Matt’s prognosis was grim. The doctors advised Kristen to prepare for at least 21 days in the Neuro ICU, and the family again saw God at work when she was told that Matt’s room was set up for her to stay with him for the duration of his treatment. Meanwhile, their Salvation Army family went into prayer mode, starting with their divisional leaders, Lt. Colonels Kent and Melody Davis, who at the time were staying at Camp Keystone where Matt and Kristen live and work. The colonels instantly sent word to the entire Florida Division, and Kristen notified the staff at Camp Keystone. Soon the news spread throughout the Southern Territory, and people began to pray.

Toward the end of the first ten days, Matt’s condition began to “bottom out.” Two surgeries for the placement of stints buoyed the family’s hope, but doctors were hesitant to make any statement regarding Matt’s recovery.

“More than likely, this condition proves fatal,” Kristen sighs. “They told me that fifty percent of individuals that suffer from SAH, like he had, do not even make it to the hospital; and those that do make it to the hospital usually experience permanent neurological or cognitive disabilities, typically spending the rest of their lives in a nursing home. “Added to that, our youngest daughter’s wedding was planned for that March, and Matt was so looking forward to walking her down the aisle.”

Matt and Kristen are both strong in their faith. Matt was raised in the Baptist church, while Kristen was brought up in the Assemblies of God. Their friendship and eventual love began when their desks were positioned side-by-side as juniors in high school. Matt went on to attend Evangel University, a Christian college in Springfield, Missouri. Eventually finding their way to The Salvation Army’s Florida Division, Matthew has been camp manager and Kristen has overseen guest services at Camp Keystone since 2023.

From about the twelfth day in the Neuro ICU, they began to see answered prayers. Matt woke up, but it was too soon to know if permanent damage lingered. One wonderful sign came when he was able to speak the name of Jesus faintly but repeatedly.

The next few days revealed a progression in improvement. By day 19, he was finally moved out of the ICU. Upon release from the hospital, Matt was allowed to work part-time within two weeks, and full-time within two months!

“Thanks to the Lord and His healing power, I am completely healed one hundred percent,” Matt declares today.

In fact, to see him and listen to him speak, one cannot tell that the near tragedy ever occurred. Within weeks, he and Kristen were able to return to Camp Keystone in time to prepare for the 2025 summer camping season.

And, yes, he was even able to walk his daughter down the aisle at her wedding.

“I won’t take a day for granted,” Matt proclaims. “I tell people to live every day like it is your last as you don’t know when the Lord will call you home. There is a pastor friend of mine that had an eight-year-old boy in his church congregation that suffered the same SAH as I did. He went to sleep one night and never woke up. I have often asked the Lord why He healed me from this and not that little boy. Who am I?”

Matt takes solace knowing that God is fully in control and that the little boy is now safe in the Lord’s arms. “And I know that if I have breath, I will serve the Lord! As Paul said in Philippians 1:21-22, ‘For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better. But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ.’”

Looking back on the week before that fateful Christmas, Matt recalls that on Christmas Eve (two days before his seizure) he had experienced a sudden, severe headache that lasted for only about a minute.

“I thought the headache was strange as it felt like a fire spiderweb across the left side of my face, but other than thinking it was odd, nothing [else] felt wrong. I mentioned it in passing to Kristen, and we continued with our Christmas preparations without further thought.”

By all accounts, Matt should have been Promoted to Glory, either before he reached the hospital or soon after. The odds were against him surviving, much less seeing a full recovery with no deficits.

“I look at the time I now have for the rest of my life as being on God’s time, not my own.”

Kristen and their daughters faithfully played worship music for him throughout his time in the hospital, and among the first songs Matt recalls hearing in the fog of his slow recovery proclaims God’s unending goodness: All my life You have been faithful; all my life You have been so, so good! With every breath that I am able, oh, I’m gonna sing of the goodness of God!

“I am striving every day to look at every opportunity to advance the gospel of Jesus,” Matt insists. “This world is getting darker, but the light of Jesus shines brighter!”