Extraordinary Mercies

In recent days our family has been the recipient of extraordinary mercies. As many of you know, we came very close to losing four of our six daughters and our grand-daughter in a horrific motor vehicle accident. Poor visibility from sleet and snow caused my daughter, Trista, to misjudge the distance and speed of an oncoming B train (18 wheeled transport truck with a trailer) and she pulled out in front of him on the highway. The truck hit them a total of three times, crushing the back end of the vehicle the first time, spinning them around where he hit the passenger side dead on, and then spinning them to strike the back side which launched them in the air to a flip to land 300 feet out in a field at the side of the road. They missed hitting a telephone pole by inches in the process.

When things like this happen, the typical reaction is to ask "why?" The universal opinion of those who viewed the wreck is that no one could have survived. I thought that myself when I saw the vehicle on my way into the hospital. Many people have lost members of their family in similar or lesser accidents. But we lost not a one. The extent of their injuries is minor: Keiannah, our two year old granddaughter, has a broken tibia and fibula on her right leg that is now adorned with a "pretty" purple cast. Hannah got a bump over one eye and a sore neck, Bethany has a sore neck, Trista got a minor concussion, and Tamara was knocked out and aspirated blood, but is now home and recuperating. We have much to be thankful for.

I cannot resist asking the question "why?" myself. Why were we the recipients of so much mercy when others aren't? Why is God so good to me and mine? I am at a lost to explain this.

Things that I am thankful for:

1. The entire accident was witnessed by an ambulance team who were returning to base. They were right there right away as soon as the car landed. Am I to believe that this wasn't by Divine appointment? I was able to overhear the conversation between one of the members of the Advanced Life Support (ALS) team, unaware by him as to who I was, with the pediatrician who was caring for Tamara. He came in to ask for feedback as to how it could have been handled better. I was impressed by the fact that he would take the time to do this to improve his skills for the future. I was also thankful to be able to shake his hand and thank him for his work.

2. The competence and compassion of the entire hospital staff who treated us with extreme kindness and consideration.

3. The outpouring of love and practical aid demonstrated to us by the Body of Christ, neighbors, friends, and acquaintances. My children informed me that the phone rang off the hook at home with people wanting to know how the girls were and if there was anything they could do to help. Special thanks go to those ladies who provided meals for my family at this time while I was in the hospital staying with Tamara.

4. Say what you like about socialized medicine and free market economies. If this accident had happened in the US, it would have wiped us out financially. Instead, it cost us relatively little.

5. That I don't have to pass the spot of the accident and think that "This is where my children died." Instead, I get to see the spot where the Lord's mercy was greatly extended to them. I think I shall build a monument like the children of Israel did at the side of the Jordan as a reminder of God's goodness. Through out the whole time, the Lord enabled me to keep my composure and allowed me to be a help to the children, rather than be one who needed help.

When times are easy and things are going well, it is easy to remember that "all things work together for good, for those who are the called. (Romans 8:28). It can be harder to say it when things go wrong or look dark. Yet it is in the darkness that we really are brought to ask ourselves if this is really true. Do we really believe that even this circumstance is for our good? By God's great grace and mercy, I can say "yes". His mercies are new every morning, the lines have fallen to us in pleasant places, and in this He works for our good and His greater glory. All praise and thanks belong to Him!

I would ask continued prayer for our family at this time, as the Lord brings us to your mind. Please pray for Tamara as she continues to recover. She had a serious concussion and though she is now at home, she still has the remainder of the crud in her lungs, from aspirating blood, to get cleared up. She still has headaches and fatigues very easily. It is somewhat disconcerting to see her so quiet when she is usually such a twitchy, active little thing.

Please remember Trista as well. She was the driver of the car and the thought that she was responsible for almost killing her daughter, her sisters, and herself has been weighing heavily upon her. May this be one of the means of grace that the Lord uses to draw her even closer to Himself. I have been encouraged to see how this has been working grace in her and pray that this work may continue.

Lastly, I would ask that this incident would be profitably used to remind us all of the brevity of life and the necessity of serving the Lord as we are enabled. Life is as the flower of the grass which springs up one day and is withered the next. None of us knows how long a time we have here upon earth. May the Lord enable us to stand firm and faithfully for the things that are of eternal significance while there is yet time.