Speechless

“Becky coming home today from the hospital 6 days after breaking her neck, shoulder, and collarbone. Standing in awe.” Post from our Pastor @jasonbollinger

Becky was basically sitting over the now exposed rear wheel. Not much else to add that isn’t already screaming loud and clear from this picture and my pastor’s post.

 

Here is a picture of Becky and my daughter Brittany before her neck surgery. She has no damage to her spinal cord at all and will have to wear a halo for at least 90 days. To find out more about the accident & her injuries, click here.

Thankful

Ok, so who didn’t see this post coming? LOL

Honestly, it may not come across as you expect, then again it might. Sorry, I’m still on pain medication and probably should not be given an opportunity to speak let alone write. Hush all you haters who know me all to well when I am NOT drugged up. ;-) Anyway, no one is here to regulate me, so here goes.

Today as I reflect not only on Thanksgiving and being “Thankful”, it just seems like such a trivial word or occasion to highlight not just what my family has navigated through this year and especially this week, but everything all of us have journeyed the past days, weeks, months and year. We tend to wrap all our energy into a single day, instance or event. Why is our gratitude limited to a myopic moment, a speck in time and space that is nothing more than a vapor in eternity? I guess why I struggle so much today is that word doesn’t even remotely express, encapsulate or identify what I am experiencing NOW. I have heard and even said words over the past few days that barely scratch the surface. Don’t get me wrong because I don’t want to come across ungrateful or belittle all that has transpired. Most of you know that I am just more passionate about things and it takes a lot for me to truly wrap myself around them.

I believe it is divinely orchestrated for my family to be where we are on this day. It’s only fitting and only the Great Life Author could have penned. So my challenge to me, all of us is this…God’s grace and mercy is NOT limited to a single moment or event, it is sovereign, dynamic and eternal. It is always at work, has never ceased and will never fail. I understand our human nature cannot contain all of God, so we compartmentalized Him in time, but in my opinion it degrade His true nature and will for His children, for us. So today, at least use today to begin our journey of true thanksgiving, instead of just citing rhetoric we only mean for the moment, let us stop, fall to our knees or faces, close our eyes, shut our mouths, open our hearts and minds, and truly reflect on the fullness of who He is in our lives and worship Him with the fullness of our thanksgiving to Him. Not for what He has done, but more eternal for who He is. When we do this daily, then we can truly walk in the fullness of “Thanksgiving”.

It wouldn’t be a true Thanksgiving or “Thankful” post, if I didn’t provide a Miller Family Update:
Chris & I were discharged from the hospital yesterday, 11/23/2011, and we are still working out our recovery. Becky kicked neck and shoulder surgery in the butt, and was moved out of ICU to an intermediate care ward. She even began physical therapy and is already well on her way to full recovery. David had a follow up appointment and is recovering nicely. Brittany got a “Black Weekend” gig and Stephen got a huge bump in hours for this weekend too. All our family, church & work family & friends have stepped up to stand with us in prayer, provide overnight support, food, encouragement and are standing at the ready when we need them. The world has put prayer to the test, God is faithful to reveal His hand, the devil is a liar and defeated, and the Miller is reaping His grace, mercy and favor. I guess only word can sum all this up… “THANKFUL

Grace

As I sit here in my hospital bed performing the recommended breathing treatments to nurse my lungs back to health, I still ask myself “did that really happen?” Did my wife, brother-in-law, youngest son and I actually live through an accident?

Becky & David Warrior Dash 2011 - Cedar Creek

This past Saturday, November 19, 2011, we were returning from Cedar Creek where my wife, Becky Miller, and her brother, David Crumpton, completed their first ever Warrior Dash, a 3+ mile, 12 obstacle run from hell. As I was chauffering the newly crowned “warriors” home, we were hit from behind by an 18 wheel semi. Our compact car was pushed into the car in front of us, bounced and spun into oncoming traffic where we were hit by an SUV before coming to a stop. We were less than a mile from home, adding to the 52% “accidents close to home category”.

The air bags deployed and all four of us had to be cut from the car using the “Jaws of Life”. All of us were taken to the trauma center at University Medical Center Brackenridge Hospital in Austin. Becky was airlifted, and David, Chris and I arrived by ambulance. None of us remember much about the accident because we all blacked out, which is definitely God’s grace in action. God’s grace is the only thing holding us all together. It is His grace that none of us died. It is His grace we sustained treatable injuries. It is His grace that will see us through the coming days, weeks and months.

Here is an update on each of us:

David: Front Passenger seat

  • Injuries: Broken ribs, bumps, bruises & abrasions
  • Treatments: medication, breathing treatments
  • Hospital Status: Released Saturday, 11/19/2011

James: Driver seat

  • Injuries: 5 broken ribs, cracked sternum, partially collapsed lung, knee injury, bumps, bruises & abrasions
  • Treatments: medication, breathing treatments, knee unknown
  • Hospital Status: Regular room, release pending stable oxygen levels

Chris: Back Driver seat

  • Injuries: 6 broken ribs, broken collarbone, broken & displaced pelvis, knee injury, laceration, bumps, bruises & abrasions
  • Treatments: medication, physical therapy, breathing treatments, knee surgery
  • Hospital Status: ICU/IMC/Regular room, release pending physical therapy

Becky: Back Passenger seat

  • Injuries: Broken neck, broken shoulder, broken collarbone, broken ribs, bumps, bruises & abrasions
  • Treatments: Neck, shoulder & collarbone surgery 11/22/2011; Rest is unknown at this moment
  • Hospital Status: ICU

We still have a long road of recovery, individually and as a family. I will post updates here, so they are in a single location. We are so grateful to everyone who made Facebook & Twitter explode with prayer for my family. It was like a shot heard around the world. So many believers from different countries were standing in the gap. Our Lord heard your prayers and spared our lives. Please continue to pray for us.

Clearly a 2008 Dodge Caliber is no match for a 1996 Ford Aeromax semi.