July 1, 2011

How do I even start this post? What can I type to let you understand all the emotions, thoughts and feelings that flowed through me and my family this weekend.

How about we start with what I thought we would be doing this weekend.

Camping, up at Suttle lake for the first time with my little guy, my hubs, our pups and the hub's family (sans my mother-in-law who's in Florida)

I thought we'd be cooking meals over the fire, swimming, fishing, walks, playing in the dirt, going to bed late smelling like campfire and waking up to a tent warming in the sunshine....

oh but what did happen was so, so different.

Tyler, Dani the doodle and his dad left on friday morning with their fingers crossed to go up to find a camping site {yes on 4th of July weekend....I didn't make reservations, oops} Tyler texted me while I was at work that they had found a great site, the last one at Link Creek campground! So we {the girls, Riley, Autzen the puppy and I would meet them there Saturday morning}

I got home from work at six and Tyler was calling me....maybe to ask me to bring something forgotten, or whatever......but in his voice there was something very, very wrong.

He started with "we're fine" but it wasn't that convincing...

He told me they had been in a terrible car accident, someone came into their lane and hit them going about 60 mph, the air bags didn't deploy, the suburban was totaled, they rolled at least twice, he wasn't sure {why not?!} They were taken to the hospital in an ambulance, his dad was getting a CT scan, Tyler's head hurt....He tole me he held on to Dani the entire time they rolled, she was fine, until he got out in a rush to get to his dad, Dani being terrified wiggled out of her collar and ran off, he didn't know where she was....there were people looking for her.....The lady that hit them wasn't looking good, there were more cars involved.....a family with children......

I just stood there shaking.

My husband, who could have died, was miles away from me. All I wanted to do was hug him, to know he's ok....

As the story unfolded, I see the Lord's hand in it more and more. God protected my husband and father-in-law from what could have been and should have been much worse. They were seconds away from being hit head on. Tyler was able to walk out of the car he was in that just rolled twice and hit the ground!! Tyler's dad, though he had a concussion, was doing ok too. Amazing. Simply a miracle. I'm so thankful God wasn't ready to take them home yet.

The family in the other car is fine, just bruised and bumped! Our sweet Dani girl was found just hours after the accident! The Black Butte Community, the police, the forest service and a friend of our friends {the breeders we have Dani and Autzen from} came together to search for our dog. She was found running down highway 20, terrified and wouldn't come to anyone. That is until the traffic was stopped by a tow truck and a motorcyclist was able to convince Dani to come to him. {My dad and FIL have motorcycles...maybe that's familar to Dani?!}

Though the women who hit the suburban and the other family is still in critical condition {please pray for her}, things are a whole lot better than they could have been! Praise God!

At first I wanted to change things...

-They shouldn't have been driving, they found the campsite, so they should've stayed put....

-Why didn't Tyler have Dani's choke collar on?!

-Why wasn't I there? I  should've went with them

and on and on

BUT the Lord was so revealed in this and I love seeing Him work

Obviously if they hadn't been in the accident we wouldn't have such an amazing story to tell. Praise God we can give him all the glory because anything we can see and understand says they really shouldn't be alive. All we can do is credit the Lord and give Him lots of thanks!

If Dani hadn't run away, we wouldn't have been blessed by the willingness of others to help so quickly. We wouldn't have met Terri, her husband and friend who rescued Dani. God's faithfulness to protect wouldn't have been made so clear through our story.

If more of us had been in the car, things could've not turned out so well.

We don't realize the little decisions we make can really impact our lives. We fail to see God's hand in everyday life. Its things like this that just bring me to my knees and remind me how great our God is. Praise God for preserving the life of my loved ones. I'm blessed beyond I can understand to be able to hug my husband. I'm finding I'm not taking our moments each day so lightly...and my biggest prayer is I don't forget this feeling and reminder to be thankful for life. Hallelujah God protected my family and the other's involved.

How great is our God?!

Please pray for the woman who was driving and caused the accident. I'll keep you updated. Praise God for life!

{read the article here}