Security Of The One Who Trust In The Lord

Psalm 91

1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say to the LORD, "My refuge and my fortress,
My God, in whom I trust!"
3 For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper
And from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with His pinions,
And under His wings you may seek refuge;
His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.

5 You will not be afraid of the terror by night,
Or of the arrow that flies by day;
6 Of the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon.
7 A thousand may fall at your side
And ten thousand at your right hand,
But it shall not approach you.
8 You will only look on with your eyes
And see the recompense of the wicked.
9 For you have made the LORD, my refuge,
Even the Most High, your dwelling place.
10 No evil will befall you,
Nor will any plague come near your tent.
11 For He will give His angels charge concerning you,
To guard you in all your ways.
12 They will bear you up in their hands,
That you do not strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread upon the lion and cobra,
The young lion and the serpent you will trample down.
14 "Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him;
I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name.
15 "He will call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will rescue him and honor him.
16 "With a long life I will satisfy him
And let him see My salvation.

This chapter took on new meaning for our family last week. Roger was out of town...in the backwoods...Possum Grape, AR. I have no idea where this place is, but God does.

He was on the job site, nearly finished and getting ready to head back home...around or just after noon that day. Keep in mind that Roger doesn't hear real well. There are certain tones that he just can't hear. We now know exactly what one of those tones are...the rattle of the rattlers on a rattle snake. (enough rattle(s) in that sentence?)

He so happened to look around (I believe it was a God guided look) and about 5 feet from where he was standing...he saw this looking at him, ready to strike.



He immediately stood perfectly still, raised his hands over his head (to prevent the snake from striking at them dangling down) and waited. I'm not sure which one of the two went back to the truck to retrieve a shovel and kill this snake...but this is what he looked like when they got finished with it.



I am so thankful for God's hand of protection upon Roger and the other guy that day. It could have been a very bad situation because Roger NEVER heard the rattles. They were so far from the nearest hospital but God knew that too.

This is proof once again that the power of prayer is the most important weapon we have in this world. Never take fore granted the power that you are speaking over your family when you pray God's protection over them. There will be thousands of incidents/accidents that will be avoided and we may never know about them, but God knows and He prevents them from happening.

Thank you, Jesus for protecting Roger and the other worker last week from a very poisonous snake.

Have a wonderfully blessed day!

Praising God~Part II

There were so many things to be thankful for this past weekend and I didn't want one to take away from the other.

Saturday morning when we were on our way to the golf course to get things ready for the kickoff of the 1st Annual Brothers for Hope St. Jude Golf Classic, we saw a friend of ours ahead of us. Roger called him on his cell phone because we thought he was going to the same place we were.

However, he began to tell us about his daughter, McKenzie's ball team that morning. After arriving at the golf course and during the day, we found out more and more details of how God miraculously spared the lives of this entire ball team and their families

This is a 10 and under, competitive, fast pitch girls softball team. They were headed to a tournament about 2 1/2 hours away early Saturday morning. It was or had been raining as they traveled down I-40 (one of the worst stretches of interstate...known for so many deadly wrecks) and as usual...there was construction going on.

The 1st of 3 wrecks had already occurred earlier in the morning and the interstate was backed up. They were routing the traffic off the interstate and onto the old highway to keep traffic moving. However, there wasn't a state trooper or anyone warning motorist of the sudden detour. They only had orange cones set up to redirect traffic off the interstate at the Wheatley exit. A couple of ladies were driving, suddenly realized where they were supposed to go and tried to get off, went under a tractor trailer and the change reaction began. Those two ladies were killed instantly.

The caravan of softball players and their parents were right behind...the now, 2nd wreck had just happened. Traffic starts stopping and an tractor trailer rear ended one of our parents at about 70 miles an hour. Other drivers were able to pull him free of the wreckage before his truck burst into flames. It is not known right now if he lived or not but he was in real bad shape.

The family that he hit wasn't hurt. But, the caravan following that truck were also involved. Another parent saw the traffic stopping and a tractor trailer barrelling down on her, so she took the ditch instead of getting rear ended.

That SUV was carrying another child who's parents were going to be at the golf tournament and weren't with their child. What a sick feeling they had when they received that phone call. She said that she had a sick feeling when she put her daughter in the car with another parent who she trust to take her daughter anywhere. She kept asking herself..."what is wrong with me, why am I feeling this way?" She soon found out what those feelings were all about.

Another car was carrying a family that I grew up with plus the mother-in-law. Their car was destroyed beyond recognition because they got it from the front and the back.

One of my best friend's daughter (who's father was ahead of us that morning) should have been in the caravan but wasn't playing that day because she had a church event that kept her at home. PTL!

All in all, several vehicles belonging to our ball team were totalled BUT, NOT ONE ADULT OR CHILD WAS INJURED beyond cuts, scrapes, bruises, sore and just being shook up.

Psalm 121:8
the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore. (NIV)

Psalm 91:11
For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; (NIV)

********************************************

Another thing that I am praising God for today is that Brandon was here with us Saturday night, went to church with us on Sunday and we had lunch with my mom yesterday afternoon before I had to take him back to work.

We had a powerful, illustrated sermon yesterday morning and the seed of TRUTH was planted. I have been praying since I knew that he was coming that God would cultivate the soil of his heart so that the seeds would not fall on thorny ground. Only God knows exactly what Brandon is thinking or feeling because he is good at putting up smoke screens or telling you what you want to hear...or he just reminds silent.

I am just so thankful to get to spend some time with him this weekend.

Have a wonderfully blessed day!

~It's Been One Year~God Is So Good!

~GIVEAWAY TODAY TO CELEBRATE GOD'S HAND OF PROTECTION ON BRANDON A YEAR AGO AND THROUGHOUT THE LAST YEAR~MAKE SURE YOU MENTION IN YOUR COMMENT IF YOU WANT YOUR NAME IN THE DRAWING~

3/19/08

Today, 3/14/09

I'm sorry this is so long but this is as condensed as I can get it, tell the story and give God all the glory...it is worth reading. We serve an awesome God!

Wow, it's been a year since I got the most frightening phone call that every mother dreads...it was the call that did not shake the foundation of my faith but kicked it up to another level.

At 10 AM on March 15, 2008, I received a phone call on my cell phone telling me that my son had been involved in a terrible car wreck in Atlanta, Georgia and was in ICU. Debbie, Jason's (passenger) aunt, assured me that Brandon would recover but when the list of injuries began to roll off her tongue...I had to sit down. I was in Little Rock, AR which is about 2 1/2 hours from home and Atlanta, GA was another 7 hours from there. That means, that I was a minimum of 10 hours from being at my son's side. I still had to drive home, make phone calls, pack for at least a week, call my boss, get Tyler situated for a week at home with dad without mom and then drive a long road alone to get to my son...in a tornado wrecked downtown Atlanta to the trauma center where he was.

The following is the post about that fateful day:

Monday, March 17, 2008

Brandon...Update On His Condition
For those of you who know and for those of you who haven't heard yet...our son, Brandon was in a terrible car wreck Friday night...early Saturday morning in Atlanta, GA.

Roger and I had taken Tyler to meet up with the youth at our Fine Arts competition and spent the night before heading back home Saturday morning. We got up Saturday and was just about to leave the hotel coming home when I received a phone call from Georgia...I had assumed it was Brandon since I had left him two messages and sent him a text the night before with no reply. There was a tornado that hit downtown Atlanta on Friday night...I'm sure most of you have seen the coverage on television and he had moved back to Atlanta three weeks ago.

This is what happened: He had just gotten off work and his friend picked him up....it was after midnight when his shift ended. For some reason, Brandon was driving going back to where they were staying after the tornado had hit downtown...where he also works. There was another storm coming through with lots of rain and high winds...as they were driving down the interstate...the high winds hit the car and he hit standing water causing the car to hydroplane and go into multiple spins before slamming into the retaining wall and hitting the other wall on the other side. They say the car looks like a piece of tin that has been crumpled into a ball. His friend, Jason, was conscious and was able to drag him out over the console because the driver's door was jammed. He got him out of the car before the car's engine caught fire. Jason was able to pull Brandon free of the car. I am so thankful that this car was equipped with OnStar. At the very moment that the crash occurred, OnStar immediately notified fire, rescue, police and ambulance to the scene.. I believe the prayers of this mother...pleading the blood of Jesus over him daily were heard. Satan would love nothing more than to end his life but God intervened and spared him.

**(We found out later that there was a defect in the car and the front airbags did not deploy. When a front in crash occurs, there is a bar that is broken causing the airbags to deploy on impact. However, the bumper and the bar was ripped off the car and the airbags failed to deploy...causing all the internal injuries to Brandon.)**

I had a conversation on the drive to Atlanta (7 hours) alone Saturday night...I told him that what he intended to harm my son...God intervened and spared his life. I told Satan he was a LOSER in the name of Jesus...needless to say by this time...I was angry! People would have thought I had lost my mind if it had not been dark. I arrived in Atlanta to a hospital downtown and it took me an hour to find it because of power outages, debris and blocked streets.

He looked pretty bad when I finally made it to the ICU unit. He are the update, official list of his injuries:
(1) Two punctured lungs with chest tubes now in place - hope to removed in 2-3 days
(2) Broken ribs - nothing to be done except wait for it to heal itself
(3) Broken pelvis - nothing to be done except wait for it to heal itself
(3) Broken ankle in 3 places...now with pins and a metal plate in it
(4) Internal injury to his bladder rather than the puncture they had originally thought. - catheter x 3 weeks, rescan and it not healed then catheter x 2 more weeks
(5) Perforated small intestines...found when they did surgery thinking it was a bladder problem - surgically fixed on Saturday night
(6) 3 small lacerations to his liver...other cause of abdominal bloating and drop in blood count. - nothing to be done except wait for it to heal itself
(7) Incision now from surgery that starts at breast bone and extends to groin - very painful without all the other injuries! They left his stomach open and it is just bandaged to help prevent infection or if they had to go back into surgery...pray for immediate healing
(8) NG tube...up nose that goes down to his stomach to help prevent vomiting and aspiration if he did vomit. -hope to be removed in 1-2 days
(9) Nothing to eat or drink...not even water...want intestines to have time to mend before making them work again. - hope he can when NG tube is removed.

Needless to say...he is in a huge amount of pain. They did figure that his nausea was not caused by the Morphine but by the internal bleeding and not allergic to the pain medicine. PTL! This ICU here allows family to stay with their loved one 24 hours a day except for 6:30 AM - 8:30 AM and the same time at night as well. That I am thankful for. It has been a long two days but it will be even a longer road to recovery.

Please pray that he will get moved to the step down unit, get his NG tube removed so he is able to have at least water, chest tubes removed in the next day or 2 and pain management. He is extremely frustrated and agitated right now. It hurts terribly to cough, hiccups or even talk much and now he is itching all over...asked doctor for Benedryl at 6:15 AM this morning.

I am at the hotel to get some sleep while his friend comes to stay with him. The friend who was in the car with him went to surgery yesterday looking for internal injuries but they did not find any. He is having severe back pain and will be kept for another day or two.

I am so thankful that he was not knocked unconscious too or they would have both burned to death. God is ALWAYS in control regardless of how it looks, how it feels or what anyone ever tell you. He promises to NEVER leave you nor forsake you.

Please pray that God will minister to Brandon, his friends and the staff in a very powerful way and they all will see the love of Christ in a very tired mom...who loves her son so very, very much. I would change places with him in a minute if I could take his pain away. Please also pray for a speedy recovery...faster than anyone expects...he is already surpassing where the doctors predicted he would be at this point.

Please, please pray against ANY infection, pneumonia or blood clots...dangers he is facing right now. Please keep us all in your prayers and I will update when I can...don't have access to internet except at the hotel for right now.

Love you guys!

These are the links to the additional post made during this time in our lives:
Update from Tuesday Night
Please Pray - Wednesday
Update on Brandon - Thursday
Friday's Update on Brandon
Update on Resurrection Sunday!
We Serve An Awesome God!
Brandon Is In The ER Today
Update on Brandon Condition

It was a very rough week with numerous obstacles to overcome from ICU, difficult nurses on the floor, additional injuries discovered, frustration, depression and lack of food or sleep (I was currently on the Daniel Fast at church during this time and remained faithful to it).

God was so good, faithful, merciful and mighty during this entire situation.

I pleaded with Brandon during his hospital stay to realize that God was trying to tell him something, heed the warning, acknowledge that God prevented his death for a reason, God had answered my prayers as I had been praying for him and pleading the Blood of Jesus over him that night plus my plea... "please, Brandon...don't let your pain be in vain, learn from this and use this experience to your advantage".

One afternoon in the hotel, I wasn't able to rest which was desperately needed, so I got my Bible out and read Psalm 91 and this is what it spoke to me. After reading this and praying...sleep came.

Psalm 91
1You who sit down in the High God's presence, spend the night in Shaddai's shadow,
2Say this: "GOD, you're my refuge.I trust in you and I'm safe!" - read as "God, you're Brandon's refuge. In You will he trust and was kept SAFE!"
3That's right--he rescues you from hidden traps, shields you from deadly hazards. - car wrecks
4His huge outstretched arms protect you--under them you're perfectly safe; his arms fend off all harm. - death as result of car wreck...Satan's attempt to steal my son's life but God intervened and spared his life.
5Fear nothing--not wild wolves in the night, not flying arrows in the day, - high winds and standing water in the dark of night immediately following the tornado that just hit Atlanta
6Not disease that prowls through the darkness, not disaster that erupts at high noon.
7Even though others succumb all around, drop like flies right and left, no harm will even graze you.
8You'll stand untouched, watch it all from a distance, watch the wicked turn into corpses.
9Yes, because GOD's your refuge, the High God your very own home,
10Evil can't get close to you, harm can't get through the door. - death or infections
11He ordered his angels to guard you wherever you go. - in the car, in the hospital, in surgery
12If you stumble, they'll catch you; their job is to keep you from falling.
13You'll walk unharmed among lions and snakes,and kick young lions and serpents from the path.
14"If you'll hold on to me for dear life," says GOD, "I'll get you out of any trouble. I'll give you the best of care if you'll only get to know and trust me.
15Call me and I'll answer, be at your side in bad times; I'll rescue you, then throw you a party.
16I'll give you a long life, give you a long drink of salvation!"

I know my son heard me but he wasn't listening. He knew and agreed that God saved his life, he asked others to continue to pray for him, he was thankful for the many prayers that God answered and spoke more about God than he had in several years. However, when he got out of the hospital and began to recover...he didn't make the "about face" that I was praying for.

Brandon was discharged from the hospital 9 days after his near fatal car wreck!!! That alone, is worth giving God all my praise!

Mandi, the girl, that moved to Atlanta with Brandon and Jason three weeks prior to his accident, continued to prove what I had already felt...that she was trouble. Since she had been traveling with Jason, Brandon and a couple of more "friends" in gypsy style for 2 years prior to him moving back to Arkansas and before moving to Atlanta...she knew the strained relationship that Brandon and Jason had with their parents. She played on that. She made several comments to Debbie and Jason's mom that we (his mom and me) had "disowned" their sons and she was the only one who "really" loved these guys, she was the only one who deserved to be there taking care of they boys and she would fight to stay there and us (moms) away. The remarks continued to increase and when they finally got back to me. Well, I was at the hotel trying to get some rest when Debbie called and in the course of our conversation, she told me what all Mandi was saying and "trying" to do where Brandon and Jason was involved.

Needless to say, I hadn't had much rest in the past 36 hours, my son was critically injured, had a long road of recovery and now this. Oh, no!!! It wasn't going to happen on my watch and he was MY SON...Brandon was not her boyfriend, son, brother...nothing. I called the hospital to check on Brandon and she was so nicey-nicey but I was very "cool". She asked me what was wrong and I told her that I would tell her all about it when I got back to the hospital in a few hours. I let her sit and wonder.

When I got back, I called her out in the hall to keep from upsetting Brandon and told her nicely, firmly and matter of factly...what for! I let her know that I knew what she had been saying about us (parents), and how she was trying to turn Brandon against me and it WASN'T happening. Satan himself wasn't going to destroy what we had been trying to rebuild over the past few years and Mandi certainly wasn't. Never forget...BLOOD IS THICKER THAN WATER!

Brandon wasn't very happy with all that was going on plus all the pain that he was in...upset him. When I finally told him what was going on, what Mandi was saying and how she was trying to drive a bigger wedge between me and him...he began to see the light.

I just started praying that God would remove her and the influence she had on him from his life. I prayed that God would destroy any and all relationships that were unhealthy, ungodly and would continue to lead Brandon down the wrong road.

God hears our prayers, knows our heart, longs for families to be united and for restoration to occur.

The next day, Brandon had confronted Mandi, told her what he thought of her and her actions. He let her know that she would NEVER come between me and him. He loved me and wanted a relationship with me. He let her know how happy that he was that I was there with him and he wanted me there by his side...not her. By the next morning, Wednesday, she had decided to move to Delaware where another "friend" that had moved around gypsy style with them. PTL! By, Thursday morning, she was on a bus headed to Delaware and hasn't returned to Brandon's life.

Jason wasn't a good influence on Brandon either and no, Brandon is far from an angel but I know that if I can get him away from the ones the he ran all over the country with, doing things that would send them to jail, none of them had any work ethics, didn't care, satisfied to just "get by" and no desire to better themselves...Brandon stood a chance of making something out of his life, if her could just surround himself with better "friends".

After Brandon was discharged from the hospital, it wasn't long and things started to put a huge strain on their friendship. Within 2 months of the wreck, Brandon was back in Arkansas alone!!! He still doesn't have much contact with Jason anymore either.

He has a good friend, Heather, who is older, established with a home, job and going to nursing school full time...who took him in. He has been living with Heather ever since he moved back to Arkansas, got a full-time job, paying his bills, paying off debt that he has accumulated and has already had one promotion.

He told me today that he was getting another promotion to manager of Outback in the next few week.

Is he where he needs to be in his spiritual life? No, way! Has he made a vast improvement and started heading in the right direction? Absolutely! Is he there yet? Absolutely not!

I believe it is just a matter of time before he submits his life back to Jesus Christ and starts living for him again. I will continue to pray for him daily.

I pray this prayer over him daily...Lord, you know where he is and what he is doing. You know what it will take for him to turn his life around and come back to you. You know how far to push him and what will be too far. You know his every thought, his ungodly friends and their influences in his life. I ask you now to destroy every ungodly relationship that he has with friends...not just break the ties but destroy them, never to be repaired. You know that he was raised in a godly home and to love you with all his heart. Your Word says to "Train up a child in the way that he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it". So, Lord, I ask you to right now...invade his every thought, his sleep, his dreams and let there be not one ounce of peace in his life until he returns to you. Bring back to his memory the scriptures that he has memorized, the sermons he has heard and all the church camp experiences that he has been a part of. Shine your love deep into his heart and remove the blinders from his eyes. Show yourself to him in a very real way today. Protect him physically from sickness, disease and death but beyond that...break him, Lord. Lord, you know that I would lay down my life today, if I knew that it would cause Brandon to turn from his wicked ways, but only you know what it will take. Lord, I am willing to do that if it means spending eternity with my son in heaven one day. I trust you to do whatever it takes to bring him back to you.

Thank you, Jesus, for saving Brandon's life last year and giving him back to me. I thank you for the work that you have done in his life over the past year and I will continue to thank you in advance of the marvelous work that you are going to do in him in the days ahead. The prodical son's homecoming is just around the corner and the rejoicing that will take place on that day, Father. I come boldly before your throne today, Father, not just for ,but for my many bloggy sisters who have lost loved ones and are believing the same thing. We believe by faith that this will be done. Your Word says that where two or three agree on earth concerning anything (our lost loved ones are a big anythings) that we ask, it will be done by God, the Father in Heaven. Lord, we are believing in the evidence that we can't see yet and that the enemy doesn't want us to ever see but by faith, we trust you. Your Word also says that we can put all our confidence in you that the good work that you have started you will see it through to completion. You never leave anything unfinished and our lost loved ones are not finished yet. We thank you and we praise you!

Hebrews 11:1

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Philippians 1:6
Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

Matthew 18:19
"Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.

Hebrews 4:16

Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Some pictures of the car, before and after pictures of Brandon plus, pictures we took today...one year later.

I am giving away a great prayer book to celebrate God sparing Brandon's life a year ago and sustaining his life this year. Why should we wait for them to be teenagers to pray these prayers over our children? We shouldn't.

Anyone who leaves me a comment today AND also mentions wanting to have their name in the drawing for this book...will be included.

The book is "Everyday I Pray For My Teenager" by Eastman Curtis. The book for praying for you teenager...is not just for teenagers but can be used for children of all ages and adult children as well. This is an awesome scripture filled, very powerful prayers on every single subject or situation that involves our teenagers and what they are facing in our world today. It has 5 sections: Spiritual Life, Bondage-Breaking Prayers, Relationships, School Needs and Life Skills. Example topics: Spiritual...The Call of God, Confidence, Grace and Favor, Renewing of the Mind and Resisting Temptation (29 in this section). Bondage-Breaking...Abortion (had or contemplating), Addictions, Anxiety, Cult Influence, Gangs, Hate, Promiscuity and so many more (42 in this section alone). Relationships...Acceptance, Controlling Sexual Desires, Dating Standards, Disloyalty From Friends, Future Spouse and Peer Pressure (34 in this section). School Needs...Academic Achievements, Cheating, Choosing a College/Major, Favor Among Peers, Favor in Sports and Teacher Relationships (15 in this section) and Life Skills...Budgeting Finances, Career Choices, Employer/Employee Relationships and Preparing for the Future (12 in this section).

NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF PRAYER OR THE PROTECTION THAT HE PROVIDES WHEN WE PRAY!

Have a wonderfully blessed day!

Thankful Thursday!

I am so thankful today that I serve a God who sees the big picture...you know, over the hills and around the curves. Why? Because I can only see the here and now...what is right in front of me, what is pressing down on me or the circumstances in my life.

This week has been one of those weeks where I had the rug pulled out from under me. We had set the wheels in motions several months ago for something that would greatly bless our family. It still wasn't the exact chain of events that I had been praying for last year but nevertheless, the end result would be the same. As the weeks and months have rolled by...it looked like everything was going to go off without a hitch.

Yeah, right!

Last Friday, I got one phone call that made the rug begin to slip under our feet and then on Monday night...it was yanked completely out from under us.

Being perfectly honest...I was very disappointed, angry, in a terrible mood and even, slightly depressed. In the midst of my terrible mood, I continued to pray that God would control the situation and He knew our heart's desire.

I know what God's Word says in...

Jeremiah 32:27 says..."Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for me?" (NAS)

Jeremiah 33:3 says... "Call to me and I will answer you. I'll tell you marvelous and wondrous things that you could never figure out on your own.' (Message)

You know it, believe it and feel it but it is sometimes hard to walk like it. Sometimes we walk in it saying that we know that God is in control but why do we do it with our heads hung down, feeling sorry for ourselves and wondering if anyone will care.

Pity party!!!

There was something that I thought about doing earlier in the day on Tuesday, but kept getting busy and didn't get around to it until about 4 PM. I stopped what I was doing, sent one email out to the person who has been helping us with the situation and then went to a website that I have used in the past and posted something there.

Within 5 minutes, I received an email from a lady completely across the United States and she was inquiring about what I had posted.

Can you say...God's timing!

Plus, they will be in town this coming Tuesday. If all of this had transpired in another week...this opportunity would have been missed...again...God's ALWAYS ON TIME!!!

Through numerous emails and several phone calls between us...I believe that God has opened a new door...one that is better than the one we were hoping to walk through just days before, one the holds so much promise and I believe that God's hand is in this.

In the course of our emails...I have an automatic signature that looks like this:

Have a blessed day!
Jennifer

http://www.ordinarychristianwomansheart.blogspot.com/

Jeremiah 32:27
"Behold, I am the Lord...Is anything too difficult for me?"

Not knowing who I was communicating with...I removed this automatic signature and just signed my emails.

However, as time went on and I began to feel more comfortable about the opportunity that was fast approaching...I left the automatic signature on my email but removed by blog address. Then finally, used it with my blog address on it as well.

The very next email that came to me from this lady said this: We are Christians as well and working with fellow Christians gives my partner (who happens to be my mother -in-law) and I, a since of peace, we were led here for a reason. In God's Love, V.

I replied back with telling her how good God is and how things had come to the point that I posted on the website what I did and the steps that followed.

Her reply was: Yes God is Good!!! We have had his hand leading us since the day we started and I believe he lead us to you and Roger, I feel so blessed. Joyfully receiving HIS blessings, V.

Well, by this time...I was having a "glory spell", "Jericho march", "praise fest" and I was busting at the seams to share what God was doing.

And last night...she mentioned that she loved my website...Through The Storms! Praise God! If she reads my blog from beginning to end...she will know me before she ever mets me. All because I returned to using my automatic signature on my emails. God hands is steadly working here.

I know that God is leading and guiding both parties in this matter, God's hand is in this, and God is in control. We are still not sure what the final outcome will be but we are trusting God and we want only what is God's Will in our lives and in this situation.

I am so thankful today not only because God is working this out for our good and for His glory...but because my God sees the big picture...he sees over the hills and around the curves. He knows what is best for every one of us. We think that we know best, but really...we don't have a clue compared to God's greatness.

A friend told me yesterday when I shared what God was doing...she said "When God does it, He does it right!"...thanks...T...you are so right.

I replied to T with "and BIG...nothing too difficult for my God and He likes to show off...you know...kinda...in your face Satan...look what I can do and will do for my children"!!!

I am so thankful that I am a child of the King, I am royalty and my "Daddy" loves me, watches over me and provides what His children need...In His Time!!!

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the purposes which I am planning for you, says Jehovah; purposes of peace, and not for evil; to give you posterity and a hope. (NIV)

Isaiah 46:10 declaring the end from the beginning, and from the past those things which were not done, saying, My counsel shall rise; and, I will do all My desire; (NIV)

Isaiah 58:11 The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. (NIV)

Isaiah 55:8-12 (8) "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. (9) "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (10) As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, (11) so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. (12) You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. (NIV)

Micah 4:12 But they do not know the thoughts of the LORD; they do not understand his plan, he who gathers them like sheaves to the threshing floor. (NIV)

Update on Brandon's Condition...Tuesday Night

Good Evening Everyone!!!

God is good all the time! I want to start by saying thank you for your prayers as we have felt each and everyone of them. God is faithful to the cries of his children! I am so thankful that I am a child of God's and I have so many prayer warriors praying along with me.

I spent the last several nights with Brandon in the ICU...all night long. We have had several rough nights where he did not rest well at all and was getting extremely frustrated, agitated and impatient with everyone. I called on several people to add this situation to their prayers, as well as, what to do about coming home at the end of this week. As you most know, I have a 13 year old and a husband at home also. I felt pulled between the two and wanting desparately to do the right thing for both of my children.

When I got back to the hospital yesterday after getting a much needed 4 hours of sleep and a shower...the nurse said he was being moved to a regular floor. However, we had not had any good reports on the regular floor staff at the particular hospital. I was very anxious about him going to the floor as he could not do one thing for himself...not even scratch his own nose. It was all night on Sunday...Mom, scratch my nose, my face, my head, my arms...the Morphine was making him itch terribly and we were waiting on the Benedryl for relief. He was extremely out of it yesterday on pain medicines and that was also a concern of mine going to the floor. This particular floor still has semi-private rooms and family is not allowed to stay overnight with their loved one. So, needless to say, I was extremely stressed, anxious and tired...not a good combination for this mother. I prayed and asked others to pray also.

We were moved to the floor at 9 PM last night and he was in so much pain. Again, we prayed and prayed. He would get the hiccups and it would cause his so much pain with the chest tubes still in place. Once, he had hiccups and was winching in pain...I began to pray over him right there for God to stop the hiccups, remove the pain and give him rest. The hiccups stopped IMMEDIATELY!!!! He rested better last night than he has the entire time we have been here. God hears our prayers!!!!

We did have terrible nursing staff last night...so bad...that I had fully planned to come to the hotel this morning and start searching for another hospital and doctor who would accept him immediately. It was horrible!!! No bedside manner, hateful, rude and just down right mean! Brandon was in no mood for this type of treatment with all the pain he was suffering and being at their mercy and neither was I! Brandon and one of the male nurses had words...heated words and I was playing referee...told them both...that is enough! When the surgeon stopped by at 3 AM to check his abdomen over...we ratted this two nurses out! They probably heard us because we were directly across from the nurses station. This had been an ongoing thing from the minute we got to the floor. I understand the need to do your job and follow the orders set by the doctors...but the right hand did not know what the left hand was doing at all. Each floor had different policies and rules. He was allowed ice chips and his oxygen was removed all day in ICU but when we got to the floor...they would not give him one drop of water, piece of ice or anything. He had not had one thing since Friday night...except a little ice. Very frustrating and add their lack of bedside manner, no sleep and lots of pain....boiling point! I prayed again and told God...these people are not going to see the love of Jesus if He do not intervene but they would see the devil himself! Thank goodness they went off duty at 7 AM. By the end of their shift...one was being very nice and helpful. PTL!

We had the greatest nursing staff today that we have had since we got there. Our nurse, Islom, was awesome....she pampered, spoiled, doated on Brandon all day long. We were able to wash his hair, bath him (sponge), change sheets on the bed and he felt like a new person. He had a very restful the night before and had a great day today. He sat up and talked to us for about 3 hours staight with very little pain medicine, slept a couple of hours and then talked another 2 hours. He and I had some great one-on-one time this afternoon to talk about all that God had done for him during this trying time. He was very receptive and was very encouraged by all the prayers that were going up all across the country for him...thanks to my family, church family and my new blogging family. I can never say thank you enough. Please keep it up...we are out of the woods just yet.

We got 1 chest tube removed today and everything looks very, very good. If all goes well...hopefully, the NG tube will be removed tomorrow or Thursday...he has to wait 1 day and then he can have small sips of liquid to drink. Then if all goes well, he can introduce jello and other soft foods and broths. He was able to sit nearly straight up in his bed....bed elevated for long periods of time with minimal pain. His voice was strong and his fighting spirit is also. He is determined to cut the recovery time way down from what the doctors say. He is very brave and tough...he has only uttered a couple sounds from of being in severe pain...most of the time he remains silent when they are doing things to him. The chest tube removal...he said was more painful than having it put in and we still have one more to go.

The surgeons have said that with the pelvic fracture and broken ankle that his recovery time will be 3-4 months. It will be impossible for him to work and earn a living because he is on his feet all day. This is causing him a lot of concern...but I told him that God is a big God and he can do the impossible...if he just let him.

I spoke with Mandy...his friend who is staying with him tonight so I can get some sleep....been up 33 hours with no sleep and just finished my only meal and drink in over 24 hours. His staff tonight is awesome and they are very pleased....now this mother can rest in peace without worry that my son is being mistreated in the hospital that is supposed to be caring for him.

Thank you all again for your love, prayers and phone calls.

Goodnight all! Love you guys!

Update on Monday Night

Just wanted to thank each and everyone of you who are praying our family and especially Brandon right now. He is suffering in a great deal of pain and has a very long road ahead of him. However, we serve an awesome and very big God! He has a plan for Brandon's life and this will all work together for good.

Today, a guy from Georgia Medicaid came by to see him but he was asleep and I talked to him. He was there to get information to help assist Brandon with his medical bills since he does not have any insurance. Praise the Lord!!!!! I have been stressing a little over it but continued to pray that God has unlimited resources and he was in control. This was an answer to prayer and a great peace of mind for me. Pray now that he will be approved and assistance will come soon.

Thank you again for all your prayers....I know I have felt them. He has been officially discharged from ICU to the step down unit but there are no bed available. I was told that when they move down that I couldn't stay with him at night...please pray that if this is true that he will rest comfortably and will have kind and caring nurses. We have encountered some today that have not been very nice and that makes it hard on him and this mother (to let the love of Jesus shine...cause I wanted to let them see the devil...but I didn't). I will update you as often as I have computer access on his progress.

Love all of you!

Brandon...Update On His Condition

For those of you who know and for those of you who haven't heard yet...our son, Brandon was in a terrible car wreck Friday night...early Saturday morning in Atlanta, GA.

Roger and I had taken Tyler to meet up with the youth at our Fine Arts competition and spent the night before heading back home Saturday morning. We got up Saturday and was just about to leave the hotel coming home when I received a phone call from Georgia...I had assumed it was Brandon since I had left him two messages and sent him a text the night before with no reply. There was a tornado that hit downtown Atlanta on Friday night...I'm sure most of you have seen the coverage on television and he had moved back to Atlanta three weeks ago.

This is what happened: He had just gotten off work and his friend picked him up....it was after midnight when his shift ended. For some reason, Brandon was driving going back to where they were staying after the tornado had hit downtown...where he also works. There was another storm coming through with lots of rain and high winds...as they were driving down the interstate...the high winds hit the car and he hit standing water causing the car to hydroplane and go into multiple spins before slamming into the retaining wall and hitting the other wall on the other side. They say the car looks like a piece of tin that has been crumpled into a ball. His friend was conscious and able to get out of the car when the car caught fire...he was able to pull Brandon free of the car before it burned. I believe the prayers of this mother...pleading the blood of Jesus over him daily were heard. Satan would love nothing more than to end his life but God intervened and spared him.

I had a conversation on the drive to Atlanta (7 hours) alone Saturday night...I told him that what he intended to harm my son...God intervened and spared his life. I told Satan he was a LOSER in the name of Jesus...needless to say by this time...I was angry! People would have thought I had lost my mind if it had not been dark. I arrived in Atlanta to a hospital downtown and it took me an hour to find it because of power outages, debris and blocked streets.

He looked pretty bad when I finally made it to the ICU unit. He are the update, official list of his injuries:
(1) Two punctured lungs with chest tubes now in place - hope to removed in 2-3 days
(2) Broken ribs - nothing to be done except wait for it to heal itself
(3) Broken pelvis - nothing to be done except wait for it to heal itself
(3) Broken ankle in 3 places...now with pins and a metal plate in it
(4) Internal injury to his bladder rather than the puncture they had originally thought. - catheter x 3 weeks, rescan and it not healed then catheter x 2 more weeks
(5) Perforated small intestines...found when they did surgery thinking it was a bladder problem - surgically fixed on Saturday night
(6) 3 small lacerations to his liver...other cause of abdominal bloating and drop in blood count. - nothing to be done except wait for it to heal itself
(7) Incision now from surgery that starts at breast bone and extends to groin - very painful without all the other injuries! They left his stomach open and it is just bandaged to help prevent infection or if they had to go back into surgery...pray for immediate healing
(8) NG tube...up nose that goes down to his stomach to help prevent vomiting and aspiration if he did vomit. -hope to be removed in 1-2 days
(9) Nothing to eat or drink...not even water...want intestines to have time to mend before making them work again. - hope he can when NG tube is removed.

Needless to say...he is in a huge amount of pain. They did figure that his nausea was not caused by the Morphine but by the internal bleeding and not allergic to the pain medicine. PTL! This ICU here allows family to stay with their loved one 24 hours a day except for 6:30 AM - 8:30 AM and the same time at night as well. That I am thankful for. It has been a long two days but it will be even a longer road to recovery.

Please pray that he will get moved to the step down unit, get his NG tube removed so he is able to have at least water, chest tubes removed in the next day or 2 and pain management. He is extremely frustrated and agitated right now. It hurts terribly to cough, hiccups or even talk much and now he is itching all over...asked doctor for Benedryl at 6:15 AM this morning.

I am at the hotel to get some sleep while his friend comes to stay with him. The friend who was in the car with him went to surgery yesterday looking for internal injuries but they did not find any. He is having severe back pain and will be kept for another day or two.

I am so thankful that he was not knocked unconscious too or they would have both burned to death. God is ALWAYS in control regardless of how it looks, how it feels or what anyone ever tell you. He promises to NEVER leave you nor forsake you.

Please pray that God will minister to Brandon, his friends and the staff in a very powerful way and they all will see the love of Christ in a very tired mom...who loves her son so very, very much. I would change places with him in a minute if I could take his pain away. Please also pray for a speedy recovery...faster than anyone expects...he is already surpassing where the doctors predicted he would be at this point.

Please, please pray against ANY infection, pneumonia or blood clots...dangers he is facing right now. Please keep us all in your prayers and I will update when I can...don't have access to internet except at the hotel for right now.

Love you guys!