Ragamuffin Ramblings

On January 6, 2012, exactly five months ago, my life changed forever. During my morning commute to Danville High School, where I teach math, my car was struck head on by an SUV. The damage to my car was so severe that rescue crews had cut through the vehicle to extricate me. I was immediately airlifted to the University of Kentucky Medical Center where I underwent surgery to repair my multiple injuries, which included a broken femur bone (broken in two places), a broken kneecap, several broken bones in my foot, and cracks in my pelvis. I also sustained significant nerve damage that severely inhibited my walking ability. In order to walk normally, I now must wear an AFO (Ankle-Foot Orthotic) brace for the rest of my life.

I share this with you today to encourage you. Where is the encouragement, you might ask? I’ve asked myself that same question during these five months of recovery and rehabilitation. In fact, I’m still struggling to find answers in wake of this traumatic event. Why did this have to happen? Why do I have to wear a leg brace for the rest of my life? Why me? But there is one thing I cling to—one thing I know: that my God is faithful on the rainy days and the sunny days, and he will never leave my side.

Don’t believe me? Then let me tell you of his faithfulness. To begin with, God has shown his faithfulness in sparing my life on that fateful day in January. After witnessing my injuries firsthand at the University of Kentucky Medical Center, several of my doctors commented that I was lucky to still be alive after such a horrific accident. What they attribute to luck, I attribute to God’s all-sufficient protection. It’s also important to add that car accidents like mine tend to result in head and spine injuries. Thankfully, and because of God’s faithfulness, I did not sustain any such injuries.

Still don’t believe in God’s faithfulness in the midst of great trial? Then let me tell you how God used people in my life to demonstrate his faithfulness. I’ll begin with a man whose name I don’t even know. Immediately following my accident, I went into a state of shock and subsequently don’t remember very much. However, from what I’ve been told, an emergency room doctor was taking the same route to work that morning and witnessed my accident. He quickly got out of his car and rushed to my aid, staying with me until the rescue crews arrived. Another example of God’s faithfulness was shown through my principal at Danville High School and the superintendent of Danville Independent Schools. Upon hearing about my accident, they rushed to the hospital and provided companionship and encouragement to my older brother as I was in surgery. In addition, the two of them picked my parents up from the airport and stayed at the hospital until late that night.

Since that day in January, I’ve received an abundance of encouragement, well-wishes, and prayers from relatives, friends, co-workers, and students. Not a day goes by that I don’t receive a card in the mail, an email, or a message on Facebook that is intended to lift me up. I am loved and supported by the community around me, and that alone has meant the world to me. While I continue on my road to recovery, I know that I am being endlessly cheered on by a great cloud of witnesses, and I am thankful.

So whether your next trial is years down the road or you’re facing it right now, know that God’s faithfulness is from generation to generation. He is on your side; he will never leave you or forsake you. Through great turmoil and tears, I have learned this, and I wanted to share it with you today.

"Somewhere in that pad of stuffing is a toy who taught me that life's only worth living if you're being loved by a kid." - Buzz Lightyear, Toy Story 2

To quote Dan Rydell from Sports Night, "I've got the intellectual property cops crawling up my butt."