Embracing God’s New Story

One second or one minute! Timing was everything! One second drastically changed my earthly human existence. One minute saved my immortal soul forever. Twenty-seven plus years later as I look back to April 29, 1998, it was difficult to mentally process the hours prior to a life altering second and minute. Beginning as an ordinary day, I could never have imagined that it would end with augmented tragedy. The choice to pay a water bill led to the horrifying second that continues to control an earthly existence I never would have prepared for myself. The choice of a paramedic with a mustache to give me one more minute saved me for a greater heavenly purpose. Caught off guard weeks later as I awake in the same skin but with an unrecognizable internal anatomy. A physiological structure that would sabotage every dream and a hopeful longing for a rewarding future. The result of one traumatizing second paralyzes not only my body but my lifestyle into an inertia of dormancy and passivity. An immobilizing shock became a new normal. The constant shock forced an unbelievable fruitlessness. Twenty-five plus years of daily confrontation with injuries that impulsively desire to cripple my existence was a battle of immeasurable difficulty. Memories of life prior to the accident were fading little by little each day. Life was a journey to be experienced not a destination to be reached. Sounds like a cliché but letting go of the ‘constant planning’ personality that I proudly possessed prior to the accident was a prerequisite to being thankful for an ending of a prior life and being thankful for the beginning of a new one. My beautiful daughter, Melinda, writes as a note of encouragement: “You have been the boss of this journey for twenty-five years! You are not going to give up now! I know you are tired and weary of the fight, but I also know you, Mom! You do not give up.” People might say that mine was a life of great loss. The path had been cruel. In the world’s eyes a life of brokenness and sorrow was a life lost. A desire to be God’s child superseded lost dreams and plans. God was the author and finisher of my life, and I was safe within His ultimate and perfect plan. Opening my heart to a life of bravely facing the brokenness was humbling. God allowed a traumatic event in the middle of life that detached me from self to create a love relationship with the true God of the universe. Deuteronomy 32:4 teaches that God is perfect and 1 John 3:3 teaches that God is pure. I choose to believe and rest in the promise of His perfectness and His Holy purity. In this I know that nothing occurs outside of His watchful eye. Living without the touch of God’s love would always include chaos and preclude peace and joy. A desire to breathe it and bask in the warmth of its presence illuminates life with comfort. Allowing its healing touch to immerse into my soul was a powerful producer of reenforcing stamina. The beneficial strength received was supernaturally indescribable. It was true that the freedom and fulfillment of a complete recovery was not a possibility, and the dream of a mountaintop experience was no longer an expectation of my life’s journey. Although, the typical mainstream of humanity was not my life’s path, I continued to pursue and anticipate avenues of normal life. It opened a mental memory filled with yesterday’s engaging involvement in life and provided a stability and assurance that God continued to work in every aspect of day-to-day living. Occasionally, the world around me was quiet, and a lull existed. With no distractions to interfere, the consuming manifestation of God’s presence filled me with His comfort and love. In these moments, aloneness and fear did not exist. These times with God strengthened and encouraged me. By faith, I would continue following him on the path He had set before me toward my destiny. The goal of the path was to enjoy the moments provided by Him to make the journey a living legacy of growth and self-discovery. The spotlight of God’s encompassing protection throughout the journey was a loving memory that would provide an indelible permanency on my earthly life. Submitting to the sovereignty of His love was surrendering to a will with a redeeming purpose. By faith, I could believe and with expectancy I could rely on the promises and hope of His future blessings. Accepting the ultimacy of His promises was accepting the Will of God. The intertwining restoration of faith and hope worked together to inspire me to continue a confident journey. Faith was God’s design to bring me to the destination of His hope. Hebrews 11:1 teaches that faith was being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”