"By the grace of God"

Can I just thank God right now that
1. I'm alive!
2. I'm not paralyzed.
3. I'm not in a coma.
4. I'm at home.

This past week one of my many sisters and I were texting. We were talking about our relationships with God and or my lack of one mainly. So we're talking, and She's asking some questions and I'm being my normal obnoxious self and telling her why I don't have a great relationship and don't care to. I think I even threw in a few "because I just don't care".

That night after I got off work a few hours early, I drove up and met Noah close to the Oklahoma border and we spent the night with some friends. Early the next morning we all drove to Red River and were riding some 4-wheelers around. Maybe 3 or 4 hours into our day of riding I am still not sure what happened, but I wrecked the 4 wheeler I was on. I'm not sure what happened 'cause I don't remember any of it! The last thing I can remember is pulling over and letting one of the guys pass me and then getting back on a trail and following them.

Noah said that he was #2 in line, and the first guy almost wrecked and was flagging him down when Noah almost wrecked. Noah turned to #3 in line (the guy who I let pass me) and #3 was holding his wrist from were he had almost wrecked and gotten banged up. Noah said he looked past #3 and saw my 4-wheeler in the air. He said I was just laying there, face down, not moving and just took off sprinting to get to me.

I was going over some little rolling hills and just tootling right along, following the guys while they were all jumped dunes. The trail changed, (FYI sand does that you know) and I hit this huge dune that came out of nowhere! I panicked, let off the gas and hit the brakes, which makes the nose go straight down. And I did a front flip on a 450 Grizzly. It hit on the handlebars, slammed me face down into the ground, and rolled over me landing like it was going back the opposite direction.

They said I was out cold for a couple of minutes before coming back around, spitting sand out of my mouth and asking what had happened. They said I immediately asked if any one got pictures and was pretty upset no one had. I got up and was moving around, I started asking the same questions over and over again, I couldn't remember where we were, what day it was, what had happened (they said I repeated that one a lot). I didn't remember Thanksgiving at my sisters, shooting my turkey, I started crying when Noah said I got one. I felt so confused! Noah was flipping out! He said he honestly thought I was dead. He drove me back to the truck and got me some water and made the decision to go to the ER. Even now I can only vaguely remember being in the truck and Noah telling me to stay awake, and tasting sand in my mouth.

Most of the first day and a half at the hospital is fuzzy. I know they tried like four times to draw my blood and couldn't. My veins kept blowing or something, They ended up drawing from my femoral artery, which hurt SO BAD! After they got the IV in, and a DR checked me out. They gave me morphine and I was in between hurting like hell, and telling Noah to write down a shopping list. "Milk, bread, cereal, and don't forget the listerine" (Give me a break! I got knocked out and had sand in my mouth) Noah said that as I was being wheeled out the door going to go have a CT scan done that I kept reminding him to make sure and get listerine. I was going from table to table for my CT and accidentally flashed the male tech and I think I said "Whoopsie!!" I was really embarrassed! They moved me from then on. All the nurses that were taking vitals and blood were so sweet! I can remember that I kept telling Noah that they were cute and nice and we should try to set up our friend Travis with one of them. I think I was saying it in this horribly loud stage whisper while they were right there.

After a bunch of x-rays and CT scans, the official word was that I had a concussion, some amnesia and my brain was bleeding, giving me the worst headache I've ever experienced! I hit my elbow on something and hyper extended it, tearing the tendon some and giving it a huge massive bruise. I also knocked a few ribs out and bruised my sternum and when the 4 wheeler rolled over me, it rolled both my ankles and made them swell and bruise and hurt to walk on. Luckily, I work for a Chiropractor and he can fix or adjust everything but the bleeding part. All things considered, I got off really lucky! It hadn't really hit me how much so until my family doctor and my boss both were going on and on about how they couldn't believe I didn't have my neck broken or anything else for that matter, and that I was fully functional. I had problems for about a week with bad headaches, but both doctors assured me that this was pretty standard with having a concussion. I got a nose bleed while I was in the hospital and have one still, it hasn't stopped yet. This apparently is caused by swelling and pressure in your skull. All in all, I'm fine!

So a few of the things I've learned; Wear a helmet! It might look retarded on, cost $50, and give you "hat hair", but it might save you a lot of pain or even your life. Don't ever take anything for granted, I can't handle morphine very well! Most importantly, Don't mock god! He doesn't like it and he will smack you down. Or in my case, smack some sense into me. I think I have taken for granted a lot of what I have and not been thankful at all. More expectant, and demanding. Basically acting like a spoiled child. I hate when people act like that and here I am, doing that which I despise. I was telling my Aunt that I got really lucky and her reply was that it wasn't luck at all! It was the grace of God. It made me think about how right she was and really has made me take a deep long look at myself and my actions. Turns out, I'm not a nice person sometimes, I'm not humble and I don't deserve any of what God has allowed me to have in my life. He is a gracious and loving God who forgives us of our sins and for that, I am most thankful.