30 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 10

Day 10: I am thankful for the abilities I still have and what I can still do despite the abilities I do not have. I remember waking up in ICU after my crash. I could only move and feel my neck and head, see, hear, and think. With my vision, I saw my body laying in a hospital bed, I saw countless tubes, and I saw the pain but also hope in my parents' eyes. With my hearing, I heard talk about my care from here on out and ultimately the devastating words that I was in a car accident and am now paralyzed. The harsh truth became more real as all my (then) present and future hopes and desires seemed to at once slip from my grasp. All I could do was cry but the more I did, the harder it was for me to breathe.
 
I know what it's like to lose everything, even more than the little I've shared, but it is in that loss that I learned how incredibly blessed I still am and how obliviously blessed we as a people are. What a blessing to be able to walk, move, feel, see, hear, speak, and think. What a blessing to be able to hop out of bed in the morning, take a shower, and work. Or to be able to go to the bathroom on your own. We are so blessed yet don't realize it. We complain and aren't satisfied with what we have while there are millions of people thirsting for our blessings.
 
I am so thankful for the abilities I have and praise God for them. He amazes me all day long for even allowing me to have what I have. Even though I can no longer use my fingers, there is still so much I can do. Even though I cannot move my legs, I still have a voice, my mind, and my faith and I will never give up. #ToGodBeTheGlory

30 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 2

Day 2: I am thankful for life and every single new breath I'm given. I was found 8 years ago laying on the pavement of Hwy 5 not breathing. I had died. Who called 911 & what pushed the paramedics, who tried multiple times to revive me, to try that last time? Who protected the helicopter care-flighting us? Who guided the hands of the doctors & nurses through every surgery & scare? Who am I to have been saved and given a second chance? Who am I Lord? You could have said, "No" and let me go, abandoning me as I had You but You said, "YES! I will save her & she will come back to me & I will use her for My glory. I will show her how much she is worth." 

I spent my adolescence longing and searching for acceptance, belonging, and for my peers to tell me I have value; that I am of worth. I spent all this time desperately searching for these needs in people and in the world, never truly finding them. All I found was false acceptance, false belonging, and conditional love from peers. When my wreck happened, I lost nearly everything and hit absolute rock bottom. I could hardly move or feel, became dependent on others, and was just in a tough place emotionally, socially, and physically. I literally had no where to look but up. Once I did though, once I finally did, once I finally released all my burdens and grips that I had held onto so tightly for so many years, God showed me that He was all I need and that He is all I've ever needed. He revealed to me the Truth, my value, my importance in this world, and who He created me to be. All that time I had been trying to fill my God-shaped hole with things that would never fit because it was Him all along and only Him that I needed. Not allowing Him in created my void. I just am so thankful for God and for life. He loved me so much that He breathed life back into me. Me! Oh my God, thank you for life!

Urgent Prayer Request

Two nights ago, a good friend of Billy's (my boyfriend) was in a bad car crash and is now paralyzed with a complete C6-7 spinal cord injury (exactly what I have). He is currently at Parkland Hospital in the ICU.

Father, we lift up Toby to you and praise You God for his life. We pray God that You will guide the hands and tests of the doctors and bless Toby with a miraculous recovery in the name of Jesus. God, reveal Yourself to him and his family in a fresh new way. May they learn of Your grace, love, and goodness and may they learn who their God is through this tragic situation. Speak to them God and protect his children as they search for answers. God, we know You have a special plan for Toby and I pray that Your will be done in his life. Father, prepare and strengthen Toby and his family for the road ahead. Give them endurance and help them to persevere. We refuse the report of the world and release the report of the Lord. Cover him and his room with Your healing and guiding spirit. Father, we pray for strength, sensations, movements, and all abilities to return in the name of Jesus. Holy Spirit, awaken his body. Awaken his spinal cord we pray in the name of Jesus. I pray that his girlfriend be encouraged and feel Your spirit. Help her through this as well. Thank you God again, for saving Toby. May he grab hold of this second chance and arise as the man You created him to be. I pray these things in Jesus' name, Amen.

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