The Season of Miracles

Our family had a Christmas season full of miracles! It all started on Friday, December 12th. Scott and I attended a work Christmas party at our College President's home in Melbourne. Scott's niece, Sara, came over to babysit Lance while we went to the party. We got home around 10:00 p.m. Sara and Lance had a great time together. They had colored all sorts of Christmas pictures. Sara drew the Grinch and some Christmas trees. Lance drew Christmas trees, presents, and several other pictures. They were all taped on the wall above his desk. Lance loves art and so does Sara. I even bought Sara some Crayola Twisters, because she loved Lance's so much! After hugs and goodbyes, Scott took my car to take Sara to a friend's house for the night.

Less than 5 minutes after they left, I received a frantic call from Scott. All he said was . . . "Amy, we hit a deer. It is bad. . . " Then the phone went dead. I knew they had to be on our road, the same road where Lance and I had hit a deer in 2005. I called 911 and quickly put Lance in the car as we headed down our road. I will NEVER forget the images, smells, sounds, and horror of that night. I will spare you all of the details because they are still haunting me today. (I am still having trouble sleeping. I have had two full night's rest since December 12th.)

I will give you the basic details . . .
(FYI-some of you may not want to look closely at the picture of my SUV-it is a tough site to see)

An on-coming car hit a deer, which sent it flying into my car. When I say "into", I literally mean "inside of the car". The deer came in through the middle of the windshield, hit the back glass inside the SUV, and landed in the back. Thankfully, the 18 year old girl who was driving the other car was not hurt nor was her vehicle. My car was split into right up the front. Scott was very shaken up and ended up having some soreness. He also hurt his neck, but like a typical man he still has not gone to the doctor. Unfortunately, Sara (our 15 year old niece) received the worst of it all that night. She has a broken jaw, nose, and broken bone under her right eye. She also hurt her left hand. At the time we did not know the extent of her injuries. She was rushed to White River Medical Center. She had a concussion along with all of her other injuries. She remained in the ER until about 3 a.m. Then they sent her to ICU on Saturday morning. Late Saturday afternoon, she was flown by helicopter to Arkansas Children's Hospital. The doctors were very concerned about her head injuries. We were told that she would have to undergo surgery to fix her broken jaw. She was going to remain in AR Children's Hospital for 7 to 10 days until her facial swelling went down. The doctors would then either wire her jaw shut for 4-6 weeks or perform a new surgery where they would insert a plate in her jaw. We were all so worried. The doctors later decided that Sara would probably rest and heal better at home until she could have surgery. The following Wednesday Sara returned to Children's. The doctor told her that he didn't feel that she needed surgery after all. He said that she needed to follow a soft diet for 4-6 weeks. Praise the Lord! We were so very thankful . . . especially Sara.


We all asked for prayers from our families and friends. Sara was on so many prayer lists in so many states that I couldn't even begin to list them all. I will say that . . . God is good and prayer is the most powerful medicine of them all!!!

Throughout this ordeal, our family has continued to receive miracles. First, we were so blessed that both Scott and Sara lived through the accident. Secondly, we were so thankful that Sara had only received breaks, bruises, and cuts (nothing life threatening). Thirdly, we were so grateful that Sara's concussion was not as severe as we were first told and she was allowed to come home from Arkansas Children's Hospital. Lastly, we were thankful that Sara did NOT need to have surgery.

We all know how fortunate we were that night that things were not any worse than they were. I know that God had Scott and Sara in the palm of His Hand. It has taken time and will take more, but Sara's injuries have begun to heal. Scott is doing better as well. I pray that he will find peace in his heart. He still feels very responsible and is having trouble getting those "flashes" out of his mind. He continues to second guess if he could have done something differently to avoid the accident. I know how lucky we are that He has watched over us all throughout the last few weeks. It has been a very tough time for our family, but we all believe that everything happens for a reason. We know that we have all grown closer as a family through this horrific event.

A special thank you to Lynne Rhodes for allowing God to place you on our road that night. You were an angel. Thank you for watching Lance and keeping him preoccupied while we dealt with everything at the scene. I will never be able to repay you . . . you were truly heaven sent! For those of you who prayed for us and are continuing to pray for us, we truly appreciate you. All of your thoughts, prayers, phone calls, emails, text messages, cards, etc. have been so kind. We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family. We will never be able to express to you how truly grateful we are for everything!

I want to wish each of you a happy, healthy, and safe 2009! May you receive as many blessings in this coming year as you have given to us!

By the way . . . Sara and Lance's pictures are STILL hanging on the wall above his desk. I don't think we are going to take them down. We love you Sara!!!!!