Sunday, June 28, 2009

The funny turns life takes

We just got back from church, a church we don't usually attend but the timing worked out better for us to go there. We have some friends who attend this church whom we hadn't seen in a while and thought they'd already moved from the area. But when we got to church, I saw the three younger kids walk in, which made me feel relieved that we hadn't missed seeing our friends again before they move. Then the priest dropped a bomb on us. He offered up the mass for the oldest daughter of this family, saying she'd had an accident and was in critical condition. I took Marie back to the cry room during the mass because she was being pretty loud, not crying just loud, and a relative of this family was in there with the youngest son (he's almost 3). I got the scoop during church (I know, I know, bad Meredith for not paying attention). The oldest daughter, who just finished her freshman year at OSU, was driving with a guy (I'm guessing her boyfriend) to Texarkana to go camping with some friends on Friday night. Right after getting off the phone with her mom and a friend, another car crossed the yellow line and hit them head on. The driver of the other car died on scene and his passenger was airlifted to another hospital. L's passenger had gotten out of the car and was walking around when the police arrived but collapsed later and was airlifted to Dallas with a head injury. He was released the next day. L had to be cut out of her car and was taken to the local hospital and then airlifted to OU Medical Center. At first they thought she didn't have any internal injuries but later found out her spleen was bleeding, which eventually stopped on its own, she had a punctured lung, four cracked ribs, both femurs are broken, her pelvis is broken in seven places, her hip is broken, and she has swelling in her brain. Luckily the brain swelling is already going down, but she has a tube to help relieve the pressure from her brain, a chest tube to relieve that pressure, and she's on a ventilator. According to the boyfriend, she saw the car coming and swerved, which probably saved both of their lives. They think the other driver might have been drunk but won't know until the toxicology results come back from the autopsy. All during the mass I was thinking about my poor friends sitting by their daughter's bedside watching her fight for her life. I had a hard time holding back the tears. I know God has a purpose in all of this, but it's hard to imagine what that might be. But it's not my job to understand. It's my job to have faith and trust that God knows what He's doing and that all this will be to His glory in some way. I pray that my friends will find some comfort as they sit watching their daughter. I pray that L will live and continue on with the very promising future she has. I pray for the other siblings, that they find comfort in these difficult times too. And I thank God for my healthy, whole family.

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