Update on Dad and Justin (Sunday Night)

What a day. This day had many ups and downs for me personally. It was very looonnng. God has been showing us the power of His mighty hand throughout the day. The Lord is so good.

I want to add Turkey, Belize, and South Korea to the list of places where people are praying for our family internationally. The list of churches, homeschool groups, families, and individuals praying for Dad, Justin, and our family in the States is growing rapidly. Please keep praying and passing the word… your prayers are working and making a difference!

We are so glad that our friends and family came to support us today. Thank you for demonstrating your love and support to us. We know many of you are planning to come tomorrow to pray for our family as both Dad and Justin face surgery (Justin’s ankle and Dad’s pelvis). Due to the scheduled surgeries, the family wants to ask you to help us maintain an atmosphere of peace and order. We would like to close the upstairs ICU waiting room to family only. For our dear friends who want to come and visit, we would like to ask you to use the downstairs waiting room and chapel. This will allow the family to have a place where they can retreat and organize in order to serve Dad and Justin in the best possible way.

We just finished our visiting time with Dad and Justin. ICU is closed to visitors for the rest of the evening. Justin is doing well and is looking forward to having a good night’s sleep. In his own words, his pain level has dropped from a 8 or 9 to a 4 or 5. He was able to drink water and eat some solid foods today. Justin said he feels like tonight is going to be a good, restful night. Please pray that his hopes become a reality.

Dad is still sedated and on the respirator. They have turned the respirator down so that he is doing more breathing on his own. He has responded to people talking and to touch several times today. If they did not have him sedated he would be awake, but in great pain. Some of the excitement he has experienced today has caused his heart rate to greatly increase. When I saw him, his heart rate was at 127. Please pray that his heart rate will go down overnight.

Justin is scheduled for surgery at 10am for his broken ankle. It should be minor and fairly quick. Dad is scheduled to have reconstructive surgery on his pelvis tomorrow at 10am. The RN said that this type of surgery normally gets pushed an hour or two past the scheduled time due to emergency surgeries the doctors must perform. Dad could be in surgery a while. This is the last VERY critical part to beginning recovery. There are many risks involved in this type of surgery. Please keep him in your prayers.

So, Rachael, Jon and I went to see the SUV (Ford Explorer) at Puckett’s today. It was in pretty bad shape (totaled to say the least). After seeing it, you realize that it was really a miracle that anyone survived.

The vehicle rolled at least twice. Dad was thrown during the first roll.

God certainly spared their lives. The wrecker said he had seen wrecks that had less damange where people didin't come out alive. God spared them for sure!

There is no way you would know this was a SUV! It was hard to recognize at first!

This was Justin's side of the SUV. He was hanging upsidedown in his seat. His seatbelt could have very well saved his life.

Dad's side was completely crushed.

As you can see, God really spared Dad and Justin. The outcome could have been much different. As much as we are facing now, we are grateful that they are still both alive.

Dad is certainly not through this yet. Please keep praying for him to fight and for his body to recover. The surgery is the next critical step at this point. Tomorrow will be a long day. Keep us in your prayers and pass this along to your friends.

Check back for more updates! Thanks again for your love and support. Remember to make today count... tell someone about Jesus' love today.