Life-Changing Moments

**Please Note: Some of the pictures at the end of the post are a little icky!**

Two years ago today at 7:20am, Jeremy was on the freeway driving to work and a boulder crashed through his windshield into his face. He did not lose consciousness, thankfully, so he was able to drive another 50-60ft and safely pull off the highway. It was a long day, waiting in emergency for the plastic surgeon to come and stitch him up. It was an emotional time, realizing how fragile life is. This accident came at the end of 14 months of trials (our Christmas van accident, our discovery of Daniel's epilepsy, Becca's ITP problem and finishing up 5 yrs with our foster son, Richard). During those 14 months, it seemed that every time we tried to get spiritually back on track something else would happen. On New Year's Day 2006, Jeremy and I made New Year's resolutions that we would be committed to deepening our relationship with Christ. On one hand, because of all the trials we had just been through we felt closer to God than ever, yet on the other hand we were hesitant to deepen our relationship with Him. Then Jeremy's accident happened!

When my sister heard about Jeremy's accident, she asked God if there was a verse she could share with us. This is the verse He gave, "Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens. Our God is a God who saves; from the Sovereign LORD comes escape from death" Psalm 68:19,20. It was exactly how we felt - praise for God's protection.

It was 9 months before I was ready to take that hesitant step of faith. Recently I read a verse that encouraged me and has given me peace about seeking a closer relationship with Christ. "Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!" Isaiah 30:18.

For Jeremy, it was about a year before he was able to fully trust God again. We were in cell group one night and he shared about his desire to be close to God again but that he feared something bad would happen again. As a cell we then prayed and asked God to show each of us where He was during Jeremy's accident. Everyone had the same kind of picture. Jesus was sitting in the passenger seat/on the front hood and reached out to catch/deflect the boulder before it hit Jeremy. It was amazing! For the first time since the accident, Jeremy felt that God was really with him during that crisis! When the rock hit Jeremy's work car, it hit the metal frame at the top of the windshield. The impact from the rock was massive. When the car was getting fixed the mechanic said that if the rock had hit an inch lower it would have come straight through the windshield and hit Jeremy with the full impact, and if the rock had been an inch higher it would have fallen through the sunroof and fallen on his head. Either way, the outcome would have been much different.

Now it's 2 years later. Jeremy still has pains in his head every day. Some aren't as bad but others are bothersome and some are quite painful. Rubbing the pain seems to help it go away. The severed nerves are trying to reconnect which is what causes the pain. Because his nerves were severed, a patch of his head is numb (Jeremy likes to joke that he is a certified numbskull!); it could take years for the nerves to reconnect or they may never. Only time will tell. At the time of the accident we were praising and thanking God for protecting Jeremy. Even though we were scared to fully trust Him again we still chose to thank him.

We are thankful for the lessons we learned through this crisis.

"O LORD, be gracious to us; we long for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress" Is. 33:2.

"Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the LORD, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation" Is. 25:9.