Thursday, May 27, 2010

A Bright Light

Okay, I know you were probably thinking I wasn't ever coming back. Well, I have been kind of busy, but I know that is no excuse. All of these wonderful ladies out there in blog land handle so much in their lives. It's just so inspiring to follow their blogs & see how much they accomplish with work, home, children, & hobbies & interests.

I wanted to tell you a little more about my life. I would like to start out by telling you how blessed I am! I have the most wonderful & awesome family that anyone could ever have. I know that I was born into this family for a reason. One of those reasons is the fact that my family is the most loving, caring, dedicated & strongest family I know. God knew I would need them one day. I hope someday I can do for them all they have done for me. Of course, I hope under better circumstances. I am so thankful for each & everyone of them!

I am not completely clear about exactly what happened after the accident occured until the ambulance arrived. I have been told many stories from individuals involved, however I do not believe that I have been told the entire truth. As far as I know after about 5 hours, I was found inside the car which was left in the middle of the road. The area was very rural and there were not many houses around. I was conscious & unconscious the whole time. I guess you could say I was "in & out." I remember several times opening my eyes to a very bright light. It looked like bright, bright sunbeams that kept going and going. I am not exactly sure what this means, but I am sure it means something. I did not see anyone or hear anyone, I just saw the light. This is one of the reasons I believe I was never alone that night. God was right there with me and has not left my side since!

After arriving at the local hospital, I was sent by ambulance to another hospital in Jackson, MS (approximately 2 hours away)that was more advanced in treatment of spinal cord injuries (SCI). I am not sure the doctors knew exactly what to do at first. The doctors told my family their main concern was keeping me alive. (If they only knew they couldn't make this decision! Only God could & still can!) Three or four days passed by and I was doing well considering everything that happened. The doctors were performing lots of MRI's & CAT scans, but were not doing much for my broken neck. I was diagnosed with Cervical Scoliosis around the age of 12 and this made it difficult for the doctors to decide exactly where my neck was fractured. The Scoliosis is in my neck in the same area of the SCI. So, I laid in the bed for two weeks with a broken neck waiting for the doctors to "fix" it (yes, I'm a true Southerner). If I had only known that I had 5 more weeks to lay there and wait, I may have thought about giving up at that point. When you go through something like this, you have no idea what to do or what to expect. It just seemed so foreign to us. We trusted the doctors and expected them to know what to do in this situation. I guess we were wrong in that since. We should have put more faith & trust in God and looked to him for the answers, not the human doctors. I do think there are some great & awesome doctors out there. I just need to remember they are only human like me and the ultimate physician and one in charge of everything is the one & only, God himself. Even though my situation turned out the way it did, I truly believe everything went according to God's plan.

Well, I have to take a break now. Going back through all of these memories makes me see just how blessed I am & I hope you can see it too. And this is just the beginning of my story! Thanks for reading. I'll be back soon to tell you more and share some projects with you!

PS. I love comments!


Love, April

Sunday, May 16, 2010

The Night my Life Changed

Today, I thought I would start out by telling you about a night that completely changed my life and every one's life I knew at that time. I was a young, 16 year old teenage girl that was living life to the fullest. I was a junior in high school and all I was interested in was having fun. Well, unfortunately, I was having too much fun. I have to say I got caught up in all the "fun." At this point, I have to thank God for his Grace and Mercy, because I was going to need it.
On October 20, 1990, it was my school's homecoming and I had plans with some friends to go to the football game and then the dance. As the day time progressed into night time, our plans began to change. I believe this decision is the beginning of my life making a huge turn in the wrong direction. Throughout the night, I made a lot of bad choices & decisions. I have not, do not, and will not ever blame anyone for how tragically this night ended. What could go wrong? I was having so much fun.
I was in a car accident that night and fractured my neck, also known as a spinal cord injury. I am now considered to be a quadriplegic, meaning paralyzed from the neck down. The doctors gave my family & I these big long words. They also gave me a very poor prognosis regarding my paralysis. As the doctor talked with my parents about my condition, I believe his exact words were "It will take a miracle for her to move anything below her shoulders and she will never walk again." Fortunately, only God knows how things will turn out. Thankfully, my situation turned out differently from what the doctor's said. I was not driving the car when the accident happened, I was simply the passenger. I choose not to talk about this night very often, because it seems so sad to me. In every way possible, I have put it behind me and continue to move forward. Earlier I mentioned that I was thankful for God's Grace and Mercy, most importantly I am thankful for His unconditional love.
I received Jesus Christ as my Lord & Saviour when I was 13 years old, so I know that all of this happened for some reason. God took care of me that night and is still taking care of me everyday. I could have easily died as I laid there in the car for approximately 5 hours after the accident until help came. I know I was not alone, God was there with me the whole time, just as He is with me today.
I have many things that I want to share, but I think this is enough for now. It did take awhile for my life to start turning back in a good direction. A lot of things have helped get my life to where I am now. Yes, I sometimes wonder how things would have turned out if I made different choices on that particular night. With the life I have, I can not begin to imagine that it could have been anything near as great as it is now. It is all because of God's Grace, Mercy, and Unconditional Love.

I have so much more to share. I will post again soon & pick up where I stopped, so please come back.

Love, April

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Starting Somewhere

I am thinking of the phrase "We all have to start somewhere." Well, that is where I am right now. This is my first blog & my first post. So, please everyone be patient with me. I am just starting out and it will probably take me awhile to catch on to the blog etiquette in the blog world. I will go ahead and apologize for anything I do that offends or bothers anyone. I know I will probably do this once or twice during my learning experience. Maybe that experience will not be very long. I welcome any and all suggestions, comments, and opinions that would be helpful.

I want to tell you about my life, my family, my interests and share my experiences and my Lord & Savior, Jesus Christ. I am really looking forward to my next post so I can begin my story. Also, I am already working on some thrift store "re-dos" (as I call them) that I plan to post soon. Now, I am going to play in blogland for awhile.


Love, April

Followers