Remembering one more time...and rejoicing!

     
     One more time to remember and rejoice in our great and good God for all He has done this past year.
     This will probably be one of the last times I'll write extensively about Janie's accident, for as Paul says, "But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." (Phil.3:13-14)
     But I never want to forget.  Never.  For in remembering, in recalling "Hitherto hath the Lord helped us" (I Sam 7), we are filled with inexpressible gratitude at the undeserved goodness and grace of God.  So thank You, Lord, for how far You have brought us in one year.  "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God." (Isa.61:10)
     I thought I would do this primarily through pictures.  Here's where we were on this day, one year ago:

      Unconscious.  Unresponsive.  Unable to do one thing for herself.  Much like all of us apart from the grace of God in sending us the Lord Jesus to redeem and save us from our sins.  O thank You, Lord Jesus, "For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly...but God shows His love for us in that while we still sinners, Christ died for us." (Rom.5:6,8)
      We remember those stones from Cane River that my dear brother, Britt, brought us that first long weekend of the accident.  And so we prayed and prayed that, as Jesus did with Lazarus in rolling away the stone from his tomb and raising Lazarus from the dead, God would roll away the stone and awaken Janie and bring her back to us.  These stones sat on a little ledge in her room in ICU--

  And over those often hard, dark days and weeks, God sent dear friends to love us, help us, pray for us, care for us.  O what a gift the Body of Christ is!!!  Thank You, Lord!  Friends and family like Russ and Creecy.  Here's one of my favorite pictures. Janie's fever had spiked to nearly 104, and Creecy and Russ began praying and fanning--and, as always lifted our spirits.

          And my wonderful brother and sister-in-law, Rich and Marilyn.  This was right before Janie was about to be transferred from the excellent hospital in Greenville (Thank You, Lord, for her incredible care there!  And thank You for all the amazing nurses and doctors!) to Chapel Hill.  Here they were preparing to move her while she was still unconscious, had a high fever, and was on a ventilator, etc. A tall and delicate order.  But they did an outstanding job. Whew--

    And that Carolina Air Care was a beautiful sight--headed home to Chapel Hill!  Praise God!  We now love the ECU Pirates...but we will be Tar Heels till the day we die!  This transport was amazing--it is essentially a fully loaded traveling ICU.  Remarkable.
     Another picture I loved--Mary Norris and Matt with me in the hospital when Janie was struggling with a high fever and some kind of infection that required us all to essentially wear haze-mat suits when we were in the ICU.  Miraculous the way God could give us joy and laughter even in such a hard and frightening time. Another gift--thank You, Father--You are our joy and peace even in the darkness--

     After waiting and praying and hoping, God in His mercy and sovereign power began to awaken our girl after two long weeks.  I'll never forget seeing that first thumbs up when the nurses asked her if she could give a thumbs up in response to questions asked of her.  It's become my all-time favorite symbol.  Thumbs up towards heaven--to our Maker and Redeemer and Restorer and Reviver!  And thumbs up to the treasure of friendship and family--the Body of Christ!--

          Sweet friends greeting us shortly after we arrived in Chapel Hill!

     Mary Norris, Matt and Peter after Janie woke up, and the doctors' were able to remove her breathing tube and take her off the ventilator!  Praise God who give us lungs to breathe!  Have you thanked Him for being able to take that breath...and the next one...and the next?

     Sweet Tessa and Janie right after Janie had returned to us!  That was one sweet reunion.  Thumbs up, of course, to the Lord!  Yes, God can do the impossible--might we never forget it.
     And then Stephen Mares--our incredible principal at Broughton High School came by for a visit with Janie--wearing his purple Broughton tie, of course!  Thank You, Lord, for the gift of excellent schools and teachers!

     And my brothers, Britt and Rich, my sister-in-law, Alice, and their son, Will.  Thank You Lord for the gift of family!

     My sisters Jane and Mary Norris were there constantly too, but I don't seem to have any pictures of them--rats!  But praise God for them!!  By the way, there's nothing like sisters!  Another gift--thank You, Father!  And then there were more friends--

     One of my favorite pictures and memories.  Many of Janie's dearest friends from Broughton!  And Courtney, their amazing Young Life leader.  And all the girls from the wreck--Madeleine, Grace, Tessa and Janie.  O Father, thank You for saving each of them and for the gift of their friendship.  "Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to His power at work within us." (Eph.3:20)  And more friends--

     Lunches with dear friends!!  Lord, thank You for the gift of friendship (am I a broken record) and for the gift of FOOD!  A few weeks earlier, all food tasted a bit like sawdust...now it tasted like JOY!  Almost everything seemed as divine and delicious as chocolate...and that's really saying something.

      Janie with her brother, Richard!  Thumbs up to our good God!

     And with all her brothers--a happy visit!  And then we went outside to the Starbucks in the hospital and sipped our drinks on a sun-drenched September day--so so glorious!  O might none of us ever take such seemingly small moments for granted.  The gift of tea and milkshakes, warm sun, laughter, and siblings.
   

      On her last day, they replaced Janie's cast with a Carolina blue one, of course.

    And then it was finally time to go home.  We took a picture of Janie holding her Cane River rocks that had been with us from the very beginning.  May we never forget: God still rolls away stones.  He can in your life, too.  He has the power to do the impossible--

     When we arrived home, there were signs everywhere, put up by wonderful friends who had prayed and helped and done everything else under the sun.  Have I said, thank You Lord for friends and family?!

     The visits from friends continued unabated throughout Janie and Tessa's recovery.  Okay, okay you already know the drill--praise God from Whom all blessings flow (like friends and family!)--

     If by some miracle you are still reading this, I better stop since this has gone on and on... Sorry.  But suffice it to say, what a journey.  What an opportunity to discover that God will never ever leave us nor forsake us, no matter how deep the pit or how dark the road.  He is with us, always, even when we can't see Him or feel Him.  He is there.  And He can do the impossible.
    And so, thank You, Father, for Your goodness and grace. Thank You for saving these girls.  Thank You for the gift of children and family and friends.  Thank You for doctors and nurses and amazing medical care.  Thank You for all the ways You provide for us every single day--with air and food and sun and rain and hope and joy and peace.  Thank You for all the daily, common treasures of everyday life that we so often take for granted.  You are relentlessly good.
    And thank You for allowing these girls to graduate from Broughton.  Thank You for so many wonderful young folks graduating--2013, what a class! Just a few pictures from one happy graduation--

     Father, thank You for allowing even the hardest things in our lives...for the way You use them for our greater good and Your greater glory. When we cannot see or understand what Your hand is doing, help us to trust in Your heart.  In Your love.  In Your grace.  In Your power. In Your plan.  And in Your Son, our Savior.
      And so we praise the Lord for August 24th and all He has done through these four girls.  Might they be a testimony to God's greatness and glory...and might we all!  For we each of us have a story--our own unique story--that our Heavenly Father is writing. A story of redemption.  A story of grace.  A story of rolling away stones in the hardest, darkest of places.  Thank You Lord that You are still rolling away all kinds of stones in all kinds of lives...for You are always at work...even in the dark.  And You are still writing...

     To God, and God alone, be all the glory.