This isn't my usual blog but I felt I needed to write something. 
Six weeks ago I was finishing up my morning devotion and writing in my gratitude journal how grateful i was for my four amazing children when my phone rang. The call was not about real estate as I had expected. It was a call that has changed my life forever and made me realize how fragile our lives are.
My beautiful daughter Ashlee hit black ice driving to work and her car was thrown into a tree. She was life flighted to the trauma center at Vanderbilt with extensive injuries. In the blink of an eye everything I had thought was important for the day, week and even months ahead changed. The drive to the hospital was the longest drive of my life. I had no idea if I would arrive to be told my daughter was dead or alive but I knew it was going to be serious no matter what. When I finally arrived at the hospital we received frightening and very sad news. My precious daughter was unconscious with life threatening injuries. She has a broken neck, back, pelvis, shoulder, collar bones, ribs, wrist and arms, two collapsed lungs, shattered kidney, lacerated liver, and brain bruising. But she was alive!
The condition on the car makes it impossible to believe anyone survived that crash. In addition to being crushed, it was soaked in gasoline but did not catch fire. It is remarkable that her body absorbed such trauma and was in a car with glass and metal flying everywhere but received NOT one cut to her beautiful face. Angels surely were around her during the horrible crash. Ashlee is our miracle.
After being unresponsive for days that stretched into weeks, she is now awake! We have rejoiced over her blinking her eyes and following intermittent commands. We were beyond excited when she puckered her lips for a kiss one day when I told her how much I loved her. We have had heart wrenching days of wondering when and if she would regain consciousness and many sleepless nights being kept awake by the sound of the ventilator.
But Ashlee is a true miracle and a testament to the power of prayer. Ashlee is fully awake and communicates with us extremely well. She still has a trachetomy tube and a neck collar but her recovery is remarkable. She has several weeks to go before her broken bones are healed enough for her to begin rehab to walk again. But she WILL walk! God surely has a plan for her to have spared her from such a tramatic wreck and also speed her recovery like he has. As horrible as this has been I still believe God is good and has a great plan for Ashlee. Whenever God brings us to something he will always help us through it.
My real estate career has been temporarily on hold as I have shifted into being a full time mom once again! We are looking at many months ahead for recovery so i will be working to reach a happy medium of still selling real estate but also caring for my daughter. I just know that great things are in store for Ashlee and myself! Please pray for Ashlee's full recovery and strength during what will be a long painful road to get there.
And be grateful for every minute that you have with your loved ones. Each day is a gift that most of us take for granted.
Comments(17)