Today marks eight years (I can hardly believe it) since our sweet Jonathon collapsed from a ruptured brain aneurysm and stroke while chaperoning a youth group retreat, and we were given little hope for his survival or recovery. After being airlifted to Grady where he had emergency surgery to clip the aneurysm and then spent four weeks in ICU, we began a journey that none of us could have ever imagined. (The original site created for updates is : www.prayersforjon.com). Through the love, support, and unceasing prayer of our friends, family, and countless strangers, he not only survived, but has made a recovery that is nothing short of a miracle! We are so truly blessed by him and by the lessons we've all learned on this journey; we thank God for His mercy and grace in allowing him to remain here with us.
In reflecting on this day, I am reminded of how very far he's come and how very blessed we have all been by this experience, although I will readily admit that it's not an experience I would have ever asked for. As I've often said, "It's not the road we would have chosen, but it's the one we're on." Learning to trust that God is who He says He is and that He can do what He says He can do has been one of the greatest challenges and yet greatest rewards we could have ever imagined.
As I go through some of the photos we took during those days, I also remember asking God to never let me forget what it felt like to rely solely on Him--to be completely powerless, to totally surrender. Of course, as the days turned into weeks and the weeks into months and ultimately years, we have forgotten. We've allowed ourselves to get caught up in the day-to-day chaos that seems to define our lives and regrettably, we've forgotten. We've accepted this new "normal" as if things had always been this way. In looking through these photos, it doesn't take long to remember, though, that things have definitely not always been this way.
Christmas 2004 - Who knew what was in store
in just a few short months?
March 23, 2005 - 11 days after his initial surgery
We took this because we knew he would want to
know about those early days.
May 2005 - Therapy at the Shepherd Center. He would spend a total of nine weeks as an inpatient and over a year in outpatient therapies. He took his first tentative steps in March of 2006 after almost a year in a wheelchair.
June 18, 2005 - His and Jeff's 21st birthday
8 days after coming home
I could post many, many more pictures, but the point is that when I take the time...when I MAKE the time...to pause and reflect on the blessings we've received since those frightening days in 2005, I am taken back to that time and am prompted once again to thank God for His amazing mercy in allowing us to keep our son here on earth with us and to ask Him once again to let me never forget! I believe with all my heart that the Lord has a very special purpose for Jonathon, and as I often tell him, "God's just not finished with you yet!" We will mark this date for the rest of our lives and will continue to pray that we NEVER EVER forget the blessings.
February 2013
To God indeed be the glory! ♥
