The Day My World Stood Still.....part 2

.... As I walked in the room, I was overcome with fear at what I might would see.  I approached the bed & saw his face.  His poor body was filthy as though he had just been in the accident.

There was lots of blood.... he couldn't open his eyes because they were so swollen & bruised.  His face was covered in scrapes, bruises, & blood & his head was in a neck brace.

He mumbled things in English & then in Spanish.  I asked if he knew who I was & he whispered, "Yes".  I asked if he knew my name & he said, "No".  It is a strange feeling to see your husband like this.  A strong, determined, intelligent man... & yet there he laid... helpless, confused, & in lots of pain.

Lots of time passed with us waiting & wondering.  Then I was told that without about $3000, they would not treat my husband.  Venezuela is one of those countries that you must pay first & receive help second.  I quickly called another missionary & through a series of phone calls a local lawyer (also a close friend of one of our missionaries that had come by to check on us) agreed to pay the money. Within 30 seconds from the time the money was verified, the doctors entered & began to treat Chris.
 
Over the next few hours I followed Chris around helping him as I was the only voice that calmed him.  We went to x-rays & head scans.  Late into the night he went into the operating room to clean his badly infected & damaged arm & hands.  All of his wounds were stabilized in a cast.

He was then place in the ICU for a day and a half.   I could only see him for 10 minutes every 24 hours.  Absolute agony are the only words I have to describe the situation.

Eventually he was placed in a room.  There we spent the next 2 weeks... Chris, Miryect, Henry, & myself.  I will never be able to tell you how blessed we were to have the help of such faithful friends.  They did anything & everything we needed & without complaint.  They are our family... we are blessed.

While in the hospital we experienced many cultural differences, lots of sleepless nights, & 3 major surgeries to repair Chris's badly damaged arm, elbow, & hands.  We also had to deal with the legal part of the wreck, & insurance issues.  Oh & the fact that my children were 6 hours away with another missionary family.

Our kids were fried!  We were blessed yet again to have a Godly family loving on them & praying them through such a difficult time.  We began the legal process of getting all of the paperwork together so the kids could leave the country with our friend Lisa since we didn't know when we would be leaving. She would be able to take the boys, fly them home, & get them to our family.  After much craziness, God worked out this detail as well.

Just over 2 weeks after this terrible accident, we left the hospital.  We flew out of Venezuela the next day.  It was quite a strange feeling to leave so quickly.

To leave everything you own... your clothes.... your stuff.

Our house is not packed....  Our last minute "to do" list did not get accomplished.  Our goodbyes to many wonderful people did not happen.

..... and yet we left.  Just like that!  But God knew this would happen.  He knew it would happen just like it did.  He knew we would need a team of strong individuals to continue while we were not there.  He knew they would have to help take care of it all.  And, He provided that team as only He could have done.

We were visited by many wonderful people.  Two people even flew in from NC just to check on us.  Our District Missions Director (and friend) Chad Harvey along with our future missionary associate, Scott Smith (also our friend).  Scott was so kind that he returned about 2 days after he had arrived home just to help me get Chris home.

On March 25, 2011 we left the country that God called us to.  We left in a way that we would never had chosen... but we had a peace that only God can give.

Our journey was complicated but God took care of every detail.  American Airlines could not have treated us any better.  They were amazing!  We could see that God had placed each person in our path to take care of us.  What a blessing it is to walk in God's perfect peace.

We arrived in Raleigh on March 26.  We were greeted by wonderful friends & family (and of course... Starbucks coffee!)

What a relief to be back in the states.  I can not explain how different it feels.  We were escorted home by my brother & sister in law... and, for the first time in over 2 weeks.... We saw our boys!

March 27, we celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary.  Never would I have thought that 12 years after that wonderful day we would have been in the place that we found ourselves.....

..... but then again, isn't that how life works?  We are blessed.  We take nothing for granted.  Satan would have had Chris die that day.... BUT GOD!  God intervened... He was not finished.  I do not know where we will be in 12 more years... but I know that we will be able to look back & without question see the hand of God.

For our 12th anniversary his only request was to have a real shower & eat Mexican food.  After all we had been through... that was an easy one!  After all, I would go to the ends of the earth for this dear man... Praise God that I still had him around... the least I could do was get him take out from a Mexican restaurant!