A Week To Remember, Hopefully Last Installment

Well, I am finally getting back to finishing the saga of our anniversary week. Darrel scolded me for not finishing sooner and leaving everyone a cliff hanger. He only says that because he knows the rest of the story - all of you have no idea what happens next, so it has probably not kept you up the last two nights...

As I said before, we often have our own agenda and things we plan to do and not to do, but God has His plan which is often decidedly different than ours. Monday afternoon Darrel and I upacked our suitcase and waited for the kids to come home with Doug. We were watching Martha Stewart's new show on TLC (sorry, I'm still a big Martha fan - she just does home stuff great!) when the phone rang. It was Doug and suddenly my stomach felt like it wanted to rid itself of all the wonderful stuff we ate the entire weekend. I understood that there had been an accident, and the kids were alright although Doug said he was bleeding a lot. Amazingly he told us right where they were (at the intersection of 71 Hwy and 126 Hwy for those close by) and we literally flew out the door. I've never ridden through town so fast before - we had heard the fire trucks go out and we knew we wanted in front of them, but no such luck and we had to follow them to the highway at which point Darrel passed them and screamed at Dane as we drove by that our kids were out there. I had no idea the truck could go 150 mph and the trip there seemed to take hours although it couldn't have taken much more than a couple of minutes. We landed in the median and took in the most horrific sight I have ever seen. I'll try to keep the keyboard dry as I type. The Explorer looked smashed to me. I couldn't see how my absolutely adored brother-in-law and my precious, precious babies could possibly still be alive. There were people everywhere, it seemed - ambulance personnel, passerbys, angels... One lady, who we found out later is an RN, was holding Doug's head like a vice and I said/screamed probably "Where are my babies?" She pointed with her head toward the side of the road. Darrel and I ran faster than we ever thought we could toward the most beautiful sight I have ever seen - my children standing with their arms held out for us. The ambulance attendant reached them about the same time, and as soon as Darrel knew they were ok, he ran back to be with Doug. The kids and I went to the ambulance where the kids were checked over from head to toe - and I am telling you that Jonah had one tiny piece of glass stuck under his arm that just popped out clean as a whistle and Kelsey had a place on the bottom of her foot where earlier a piece of glass had been removed by one of the men at the scene. They were so brave and so clear thinking and so aware of God's presence and His grace. I have never been prouder of them. Kelsey could remember every detail of the accident, which was such a blessing because Doug couldn't. She told me that there was a blowout - the back passenger tire. That they had rolled over one time - it had in fact been eight times. And that they had landed on their feet, er tires! (They're cute under any circumstance!) She told me that Uncle had cut his ear like Grandma did a year ago - he had in fact cut it off leaving it hanging across his cheek. She said that when the car landed, Uncle asked if everyone was ok - she looked over to answer him and instead saw his ear and said, "Oh dear God, dear Jesus, help Uncle!!" Uncle immediately told them not to look at him anymore, and they obeyed instantly (thank God).

As we have pieced together details of what happened, we see God's hand as He held them and placed His angels and His people where they needed to be. Here's how it went. Doug had passed a truck with two men in it, Rodney Ayers and Jarod Lamb. Doug made eye contact with Jarod, who is a pastor in Sheldon. Jarod asked Rodney if he knew that guy, but Rodney didn't see who it was. Jarod said, "We've got to pray for him right now - something's going on!" They prayed and then watched in horror as Doug and the Explorer danced eight rounds. They were the first ones to stop. They got my kids out and took them over to their truck bed. Rodney pulled the glass out of Kelsey's foot and then they prayed for them - thanking God that they were ok, asking for God's healing in their bodies, and begging that they would not be tormented by remember the images from the wreck. This proved to be the prayer of the year for them. Others stopped as well - a truck driver who grabbed a bottle of peroxide and dumped it over Doug's head, a wonderful lady who watched over my children as Rodney and Jarod helped Doug, the RN who I know now held Doug's ear on and applied pressure to the massive head wound he had on the crown of his head. I'm not sure of every detail because the kids and I were in the ambulance the whole time, but I do know that they had to cut Doug out of the car and ended up flying him to Joplin. Rodney and Jarod stayed the whole time helping and praying and just being there for Darrel and Doug. What agents of God's grace and love they are. We found out later that just 15 or so miles before the accident, Doug looked back and realized that Jonah didn't have his seat belt on (he's famous for taking them off - we have to recheck several times during trips). When I think about what might have happened if he hadn't had his seat belt on...needless to say we don't have to remind either of them now. It was hard to convince them to get into the truck so we could go to the hospital. Jonah was sure he could walk wherever we needed to go or else he could just stay in the ambulance all night. Reluctantly they got in and we made it to Freeman Hospital to be with Uncle.

Doug remained conscious the whole time. Many doctors and nurses came in to see him simply because they had never seen anyone who had these injuries who was so coherent and because they had never seen anyone come out of an accident like that with so few injuries. At the scene of the accident, Doug and Darrel had realized that his collar bone was probably broken as there was a bone sticking up and it hurt very badly. Brandon and Darrel were back with Doug in the emergency room and they laid hands on the collar bone and prayed that God would heal the broken bones. The bone went down and it quit hurting - when they x-rayed him, they could find no broken bones! Now believe what you want, but we know that God touched him and healed that collar bone. Doug had a head wound that went down to the skull - another centimeter and it would have probably killed him. There was not a scratch on the skull, which was another miracle. He had a pretty good patch of road rash on his elbow. They figured out that his arm went out the side window first and when he felt the pain, he jerked it back inside. But by the time his head went out and hit the pavement, eight time, he was feeling no pain and couldn't react. He stayed in ICU for a few days and then was transfered out to the floor. They reattatched his ear, which the doctor said looked like a surgical cut it was so clean, and then on Thursday they did plastic surgery to close the wound on his head. He came home on Friday and was preaching at Revolution 375 Friday night! Doug has realized that God has a calling on his life, and he is wasting no time fulfilling it!

Thursday morning, Doug awoke to find a man in scrubs with his hand on him. He told Doug he was one of the surgeons. Doug said that he must want to look at his head. The man said no that Drs. Silverburg and Meier would take care of that, and that he was just there to let him know that everything would be fine and that they would take good care of him. When Doug asked the nurses about the doctor who came in that morning, they told him there had been no doctors there yet. When Doug described him to the nurses, they said there was no doctor there that looked like that. Again, believe what you want, but I have a feeling the Great Physician made a visit that morning. A short while after that, Doug awoke again to see a man sitting beside him - a real man this time who was the father of a girl Doug works with. He said that he had been up all night praying for Doug and wanted to hear his story. Doug told him everything. The man said that God had showed him in prayer that the enemy had tried to kill Doug because of the tremendous call God had on his life and becuase of the things Doug would do in the future. He then began to pray and prophesy over Doug, speaking about things that are and things that would come. It was incredible.

I know this has been a very long post, but I had to get it all out - I had to tell you what God did for our family in the last eleven days. I want it to increase your faith and to assure you that whatever the enemy means for harm and evil, God means for good. I do not know why God allowed my children to escape injury and even death. I do not know why some do not escape. I only know that I'm so, so thankful and that I hold my children tighter and I love them even deeper. I know that I absolutely adore my brother-in-law more than ever. I know that I am married to the most wonderful and compassionate man in the world. I know that we have such an incredible support system - church, friends, family. I know that this world is full of wonderful people, full of faith, willing to step up to the plate and help in times of need.

I also know that I have some wonderful friends who read this blog faithfully, and I appretiate you standing on the edge with me and sharing my observations...