Little Miracle Man - Bad to the Bone

Several hours later they rolled Elisha back up to his room in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.  He looked so precious.  His eyes were a little swollen, half of his hair was shaved which made him look like he had a mullet/mohawk, he had staples holding together where they had done the incision that started at one ear and went up over his head to his other ear.  The bandage on his head  began at his forehead and went up to the staples.  I looked at the bandage and saw the word “bone”.  I thought the doctors had written “bad to the bone” on his bandage.  Don’t ask me why… It might have just been me trying to find something funny during  such a serious situation.  Our praying nurse was in the room with us started to laugh and decided to write “bad-to-the-bone” on Elisha’s bandage.  I remember thinking to myself, “This little guy is so tough!  He is such a rockstar!”  Yet, as a mommy I hated not being able to ease his pain with a song or a hug.  Why did he get hit by a car?  It made no sense to me.  I know God and I know He wouldn’t throw any child in front of a car.  It’s not His nature… but why did this happen God?  The questions started to bombard my mind.  The doubt and fear wanted to swallow me whole.  I stopped.  I stopped my mind and I looked at Nate and told him I was going to take a walk.  I walked into a different family lounge that was empty.  I put my headphones in and began praising God for His goodness, for His faithfulness!  I praised God for His love and power!  I walked around the family lounge with my hands raised, headphones in, and on the verge of shouting out loud!  I wasn’t going to let my mind go to places that would cause me to doubt the power and promises of my Heavenly Father!  No WAY!  I was doing battle with my own mind in that moment.  I began speaking God’s Word.  I opened my Bible and looked for more scriptures on the Greatness of God.  

The Lord took me to the Psalms.

Psalm 108:1-6

O God, my heart is fixed (steadfast, in the confidence of faith); I will sing, yes, I will sing praises, even with my glory all the faculties and powers of one created in Your image!

Awake, harp and lyre; I myself will wake very early—I will waken the dawn! 

I will praise and give thanks to You, O Lord, among the peoples; and I will sing praises unto You among the nations.

For Your mercy and loving-kindness are great and high as the heavens!  Your truth and faithfulness reach to the skies!

Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, and let Your glory be over all the earth.

That Your beloved may be delivered, save with Your right hand and answer us!          

I stayed in the lounge praying, praising and speaking out the Word until I was back into the peace of God.  I didn't care about the people walking past the lounge who could see me.  All I cared about was covering my emotions and my mind with the promises of God.  I stayed there until I had transformed my thinking into believing.  Do I believe God’s Word? YES!  Do I believe God’s promises?  YES!  Do I have to understand the why? NO!  I just need to trust in the One who is all powerful.  The One who wasn’t surprised the accident happened.  The One who died for me and my little boy.  The One who is alive and more real than anything on this earth!  Yes!!!  I transformed my mind and ran to the arms of the safest Being possible… The Lord’s arms!  

Those first few days seemed to fly by even though there were some moments that dragged.  I can’t even remember when one day started and another day ended.  Our oldest son Josh had been staying with our friends and family.  My heart broke for what he had been through.  I can’t imagine what it feels like to be riding bikes with your brother one minute and then turning around and seeing him lying in the road in his own blood the next minute.  I felt an urgency for him just as much as I did for Elisha.  I wasn't sure how I was going to balance being away from Josh and staying at Elisha’s side.  

God already had a plan in place…  Several months prior to the accident my sister and brother-in-law were planning on moving back to the east coast.  They had been living in Redding CA for the last several years and had felt the Lord telling them to move back to VA.   We had already told them they could live with us until they found a new place to live and got settled.  They had packed everything the week before Elisha’s accident and had told me they would be driving back to VA from CA at the beginning of the week.  My sister, Becky, had already quit her job so they were ready to hit the road and head east.  Elisha’s accident happened on Sunday and my sister and brother-in-law were in Lynchburg VA by the following Monday, living in our home.  Coincidental?  I don’t believe so.  God was not surprised the accident happened and had already planned to take care of Josh months in advance.  Their motive to move back to VA wasn’t to stay with Josh but God in all of His goodness knew we were facing the greatest battle we have ever faced as a family and we needed their support.   Josh was able to live in his own home, with his own dogs, in his own neighborhood and I would feel comfortable knowing he was safe living with my family.  In retrospect, God blew my mind with His faithfulness!  He already knew everything I would be concerned about.  Of course I knew we had so many people willing to help to take care of Joshua but not having to worry about whose house he would stay at or who would be willing to take care of him for several days while we were at the side of Elisha was a load the Lord completely took care of well in advance.  God is just too good!