December 3rd - A Story of Hope

He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day,
nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.

Psalm 91:4-6

I had a post all written out yesterday, scheduled and everything...then God told me to change it. Change everything...don't you just love that ;) hehe I do. I love that I was listening close enough to hear him. Reading back on my old post I see why He changed it though. It was all about the fear I felt on December 3rd...when this is really a story of hope, not fear.

December 3rd 2010 is when everything changed for my family. My husband and I went to our separate jobs and it was a normal day until I got a call from the Military Police on the base my husband works on (he's not military he renovates houses on fort) They told me he had fallen off a 2 story house I think some 30 feet? I can't remember the exact number but that they were taking him in an ambulance to the hospital and I was supposed to meet them there.

After a very panicked phone call to my sweet sister Lisa and a very slow (it seemed like hours when it was only 5 minutes) car ride to the hospital I saw them wheel him into the ER. His clothes were cut in half, he had a heart monitor, blood pressure monitor and this huge orange brick thing on his head to keep his neck stable.

But friends, he was awake!! He was stable. I remember from the sheer shock of it almost collapsing on the floor though because my husband was being wheeled in like that. I was afraid, very very afraid of what came next.

I felt I had to be strong though because he was so scared too, he was crying when I saw him, so I never once cried in front of him. As they were getting vitals and talking to him the nurse said I had a visitor and I couldn't even think of who had come to see me but then I walked into the waiting area and saw Lisa and Jenifer and I cried and cried from the sheer love I had for my two best friends. God had brought them into my life and they had come at my greatest time of need. I think at that moment that was the turning point in our friendship and I will never ever forget it.

After they prayed with us the nurses took my husband in for xrays and found he had broken his vertebrae in 3 places and would not be able to move until he was in a back brace.

**When my husband fell, he landed on his feet then fell forward creating stress fractures, squished stuff in between the vertebrae, maybe that's discs? I'm not sure but it was pretty bad, he also sprained his foot so bad they thought he had broken his ankle/heel - turns out this was NOT the case though.**

My children went to stay with Jenifer and for the next 2 days it was a nerve wracking experience. When your body experiences that kind of trauma it shuts down and when they started giving my husband clear liquids nothing stayed down, if  you've ever tried getting sick without moving it is almost impossible.

Through everything though God was right there in the room with us. I could feel His Spirit all around us. Even the nurses asked us "are you Christians?" When I said yes they always said "I could tell there was something different about you". On the second day I finally felt comfortable enough to leave my husband alone long enough to shower and I used the nurses shower. I could not figure out how to use it so I started crying and praying. Through all the stress and the fear I needed a hot shower but mostly I needed God. I needed Him to make this whole thing go away so I started praying and crying and all of a sudden His Spirit was with me and He made my water warm and gave me peace. That night my husband and I found peace and we felt protected. I could sense God's angels at every corner of that small hospital room and I could feel God holding both of us. You can read what I wrote about that night here.

The next morning was more of the same struggle with my husbands body trying to wake up and fighting everything he was trying to put down it including pain medication then that afternoon the back-brace finally arrived and then the bone doctor shortly after. When they finally put the brace on my husband it was nothing short of amazing. He was able to sit up, the pain dwindled down to minimum and for the most part the sickness went away.

The Doctor explained his injuries to us but the day before we saw the Doctor I had went to my Church and had received a Word from God saying not to worry, everything would be taken care of. "Don't worry about your kids, don't worry about your home, don't worry about your husband, don't worry about your job. It will all be taken care of. Man looks at the outside but I look at the Spiritual issues and all will be taken care of" We respected this doctor and we knew he knew what he was talking about but we also knew deep down inside that this was not what the outcome would be.

All of the ER doctors said my husband was very "lucky" to not be paralyzed, let alone alive. They said he should never walk again considering the height he fell from and the way he landed. We told them we weren't lucky, we were blessed. What the ER doctors had said ran through my head the first time I saw my husband take a step after his accident. It was on day 3 of his hospital stay and he walked up and down the hallway with a nurse getting used to his brace. I cried because he was walking, I cried because he was able to hold me and I cried because God is so so faithful and we were protected. I think we were in the hospital for almost 5 days total.

My husband never lost his smile, once my husband came home from the hospital and we figured out a routine my husband was his normal cheerful self. He smiled, he laughed he joked his attitude was amazing. After he settled down at home I had some alone time with him to tell him just Who had saved his life and why God had saved him. He agreed and even admitted that as he was laying in the grass he just prayed until his co-workers got to him. I still don't know what he prayed but just that he prayed is awesome.

My husband was in the brace for almost 4 months. We went to the doctor every month with more of the same report - 3 fractures, back pain for the rest of his life and unable to continue working the way he did before the accident. I can also tell you that every moment of every day someone was praying for my husband. Every time I went to a Wednesday night service at Church I had my Church family pray for him - one night before his last doctor's appointment I was feeling run down. Tired, upset I was tired of that brace, I was tired of my husband not being able to pick my children up 1 and 2 at the time and I was tired of hearing the same report over and over, so we prayed. I stood on the promise that God would heal him and all of a sudden Jesus stood looking in my eyes and said "Stop crying, it has been done as you have asked." The next day we went to the doctor and the brace came off. There is no Chronic back pain. My husband still works for the same company.

Granted if the kids get too rough and start jumping up and down on his back that's a little irritating sometimes or when he does too much in one day he is a little sore but it's not PAIN. He's healed, and can I tell you that he's Spiritually healed too. He started diligently seeking God after his accident. He prays every morning, reads his Bible in the mornings and on his lunch breaks. He's involved in our Church now and he's opening up more and more.

Through this whole ordeal I learned lesson after lesson too. Relying on God is the most important thing and to have patience. I was so impatient. I was so afraid and I was so angry. I wanted revenge on his work place. We even went to see a lawyer because of all the safety violations but God said no, It is not for us to take revenge it is His and ONLY His job. So we canceled the Lawyer and I didn't call OSHA even though I was soooo tempted hundreds of times but it is not my job to judge or to seek revenge.

I learned through this to trust too. Not to let fear have the first or final say, God says what goes, this is His creation and He makes the rules, we should respect doctors of course because their wisdom is a gift but God always has the final say.

I also learned that God loves us more than we could ever imagine. I have no doubt Satan tried to kill my husband, he tried to bring our family down, but God has turned this around. God had control all along and He is turning our story into something amazing. We are a family through all of our struggles that wants to follow Him, we strive to do better, to hold on tight to His hand and walk through this life as God's children. There is nothing that can stop the Love of God for His children and His protection is real and it is fierce. Hold fast to that love, that provision and that protection because in this world you will have trials, but take heart children, God has overcome this world.

I know this post was really long and I'm sorry I just really wanted to share with you God's story in my husbands life, thank you for reading :)