I want to tell you a story. There are more details that I am not going into but this is the gist of it. For all of you who have prayed for my family, thank you so much. From the bottom of my heart, thank you! I know that your prayer helped save my step-dad.
On Thursday, November 29, God drastically changes my family and the way we view life. He put his plan into motion to show us just how powerful He is. To show us all involved that nothing is out of his reach and that He is in control of all things. That He is our Provider, our Healer, our Shepard, our Prince of Peace.
My step dad was in a very horrible 4-wheeler accident. He and my mother were out looking for my moms dog and he got on the 4-wheeler to ride their road (a dead end, county road). He was going too fast and hit something and it flipped. Needless to say, he protected the 4-wheeler and took the brunt of the wreck.
As we all sat in the ICU waiting room, we compare thoughts, talk and we are in awe of how God has put His perfect plan in to place for us all to see.
Listen to just how this took place: The wreck happened. With in than 2 minutes someone drove down the road, saw him and called 911. The ambulance was there within 5 minutes, in Diana!!!! That town is 20 minutes from Longview!! A neighbor flew into moms drive way and told mom, who was searching for the dog at home that he had been in or at the accident. By the time she got down the road, he was on the stretcher, being treated and was being put in the ambulance. The paramedics and neighbors wouldn't let mom go near Papa because of how serious the head trauma was. All mom could see was blood.
Mom called me and told me what had happened said that Papa was going to be life-flighted to Good Shepard Medical Center. (I immediately sent my prayer warriors into action. It is so crucial to have some people that you can count on who can pray for you in a time of need.) I drove like crazy to my mom. Praying the whole way there. Jesus save my dad. Have mercy on us! Begging him.
When I arrived, it was like a movie scene. I had to park far away due because all the neighbors and their friends where out and parked along side the road! I parked and jumped out the car and sprinted to my mom. All I could really see were the ambulance lights and the helicopter lights and feel the cold air on my face and tears down my cheeks. When I found my mom, I also saw Papa being taken out of the ambulance, making his way to the helicopter. I stopped and found time to pray for him.
We met the helicopter and my sister at the hospital. We were greeted with kind and calm voices, I can remember it being a relief to hear there calmness. Finally after waiting and shaking to the core someone told us that he was stable!
He had head trauma but it wasn't as bad as they initially thought. He did however split his head from his eye, straight back over his head, to the back of his neck and then to his ear, wide open. But his skull wasn't cracked or fractured. You could see his skull, perfectly intact. He went into surgery that night to get stitches in his face and staples in his head to fix that problem! The doctors called it a degloving. The worst they have ever seen without any brain injury.
It was very serious and the whole time Papa was worried about his ankle hurting him. I'm sure he was in shock and couldn't feel his head. And, yes, he was talking! My mom got to see him. Tiffany and I were next in line but it was time for surgery. Now looking back, maybe it was best I didn't see him that way. Surgery took precedent. All we could do is pray. God is our hope.
He has no brain hemorrhaging. No internal bleeding. One broken right rib. A broken left collar bone. a broken jaw. A few broken bones around his right eye. He broke his back at T5 (between shoulder blades) but didn't shatter the bone. It was a clean break. The spinal cord is perfect and the disc isn't harmed. His neck is fractured but not broken. He had road rash all over him and bruises.
That is a miraculous gift from non other than our Great I Am. He has serious injuries, but the lesser of them. Everything is laid out perfectly to protect him for a full recovery.
Someone has a lesson to learn. God is teaching us all a lesson.
My step dad's accident has touched so many lives. Many many people have seen what God has done. My mom made the statement "It is like a family reunion up in this waiting room the past few days." The amount of people praying for him, for us, is remarkable. When God's sheep come together and help each other, we can move mountains.
We don't know who this lesson was for. Maybe it was for Jason, maybe it was for all of us. God is using Jason for a greater purpose. Papa is being used for His glory! I am astounded by that! It is so close and personal, and I love that I am being a part of Gods work. I am looking for my lesson it this all.
We are all being used for His glory. Sometimes it takes an accident to realize it or to make others focus on that but it is true. We are here for HIS GLORY! (That is my revelation just now as I reread this. - yup, I'm diggin' that!)
Papa was in the ICU up until just about 1 hour ago. I left the hospital when he got settled into his new room. Finally he is on ortho/neuro floor. Where he will get much better care and physical therapy. This road ahead is long and bumpy, for us all.
My anxiety and stress levels are really really high. A peak! I am torn between being at home with my family or being at the hospital with my family. I do what I can for my mom during the days when Landen is at school. And I try to get a baby sitter for him the other days. I am wore out. My mind cant focus on the things that need to get done. Leaving the hospital today in just enough time to get Landen, I was almost home! So since I was late, I told his teacher why I was loosing my mind. My mind doesn't get much rest lately and it has taken its toll. I have the worst fever blister I have ever had (or had in many many years). Stress induced, no doubt about it. It hurts so so bad.
My sister works for hospice. She is wonderful at the hospital. She takes great care of Papa. She knows what to do, when to do it and what to ask and all the ins and outs. Me, not so much. But what I do know is how to clean and take care of stuff! So that is what I do. I bring them food (meals-on-wheels), I clean my moms house. I do stuff for her.
I wish I could do stuff for Papa, but I am there. In a different way. We are a family and we each pull our own strings to make the puppet work. (Another great ah-ha moment!)
But we are taking this one day at a time. We are a family pulling together to get it done! My step dad, Landen's Papa is alive!! He is alive. That alone is a blessing. God protected him and spared his life.
We are fighting for him and he is fighting for us!
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. - Jeremiah 29:11
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