a harrowing experience...

I took an unplanned sabbatical from the blogsphere that last week and a half. Life caught me by surprise and I was wisked away into a world of Easter preparations and services. As I was catching my breath this last week, life threw another curve ball to our family.

Heidi and the girls got in a really bad accident. It snowed here last Wed. and the slushy roads caused Heidi to spin out of control into a tree. She hit the tree backwards which saved her life, as well as the girls.

I was getting ready for Tech Team meeting when I recieved the dreadful call from Heidi. She was crying and cutting out because of the bad cell phone reception where the accident took place. I only could make out the terror in Heidi's voice as she cried, the road she was on, and that Kami was bleeding very badly...then the phone cut out. The next four minutes as I rushed to the scene of the accident was filled with more adrenaline than any other four minutes I've ever experienced. I was picturing everything imaginable and preparing myself for the worst.

When I arrived on the scene, all the girls were screaming and crying. Kami was covered in blood and it was still pouring out of her head. Aly was terrorized and was scared of everyone and everything, including me. Taylor was crying and bleeding from her head as well. Heidi was crying and saying over and over..."I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." In the midst of crisis, she thought so well on her feet. I was just trying to get them settled down to find out what the extent of their injuries were. The van was caved in and totalled completely. My heart was pounding as I heard the sirens nearing. Before I knew it, ambulances, firetrucks, police cars and a host of medics and officers and fireman were covering the scene. It was nightmerish.

When I took Kami to the truck to get warm, she was crying uncontrollably. I set her on the seat and with fear in her eyes she said over and over again, "I love God. I love God. I love God." Followed by, "I just don't want to get stitched in my head." She then would say things like, "God loves our family...He loves our family so much." I was astounded to hear what was coming out of her mouth in the midst of crisis. I don't know if I was so conscious of God in that moment, though the ride over to the accident scene was filled with raw, unedited prayer.

We were rushed to the hospital via ambulance. Heidi was put on a stretcher...her neck and shoulder were aching pretty bad and she needed x-rays. Aly was the only one who didn't go the emergency room, she was taken by the Lead Pastor of our church to their house, which was a perfect place for her to rest her frazzled heart.

Kami had to get staples to close her wound and Heidi found out from the x-rays that there were no factures, just stretched ligaments and muscles that would be sore for quite some time. Taylor got cleaned up only to find that there were several small cuts on her head, but nothing that required stitches or staples. Kami was a trooper when it came time for her to get fixed up. She was scared, but really weathered the whole experience with tremendous bravery compared to other hospital experiences from her past. God was all over our family in this experience.

So needless to say, we're still sort of recovering from this jolt in our life-schedule. It's funny how unimportant everything is when the people you love most are hanging in the balance. Things that take so much time and energy just fall to the wayside and it becomes crystal clear that people are the most important possession in life. I hope we don't recover from that lesson. Thanks to everyone who prayed with us through this harrowing experience.

The van is no more. When I went to see it the next day in the junk yard, I cried. I couldn't fathom that my family wasn't hurt more based on the damage to the vehicle...it was crushed. If it had hit anywhere but the back, it more than likely would have been fatal. I'm thanking God for his protection. It makes me wonder how many things he's rescued us from without me knowing it.