Thanking God

It's day 8. We made it through the first week after the tragic accident on our way home from Winterfest. All day yesterday I watched the clock. "What were we doing at this time last week?" The conversations ran along that vein all day. My husband and I were sponsors on the trip. He was driving one of the vehicles. I was a rider. One thing I'll always remember from that trip was how distinct our vehicles were from all the others. Multitudes of suburbans, vans, church vans, etc. in the parking lot of the Arlington Convention Center, but Highland's vans were special. Sara had written our names on the back windows with a glass marker. We always knew our group.

For the first part of the day the memories that came were all grand.

7:30 am: We watched sleepy kids straggle into the lobby of the hotel making their way to the muffins and cereal.
7:45 am: loading up cars that were literally rocking and making our way over to the last session of Winterfest.
8:00 am: An amazing time of worship and praise, taking communion in that holy place, the question posed - "Who is your Master and Commander?", the invitation to choose, so many kids making a stand (literally), hugging and loving our kids who made their choice that day.
10:30 am: Coralling kids into the restrooms and out to the parking lot.
11:05 am: The adults circling up for prayer while vehicles all around us rocked back and forth. So much joy in so many shining faces.
12:15 pm: Lunch in Weatherford. That Taco Bueno will never be the same. Luckily some wanted to eat at other fast food stops nearby. Watching the kids patiently wait for their food (really, I mean it!), and just be kids. It's true, a few chips were flying and some french fries from the McDonalds contingency, but overall they were amazing. We all gathered back together at Taco Bueno.
1:15 pm: We headed out to meet back home - Highland Church.

The drive for us with our 4 precious girls was so much fun as we listed to the CD's we'd purchased of Bean and Bailey and they ended up watching and napping to Shrek. All was well. Everyone else stopped at a convenience store after this and we drove on past them, in our own coccoon. Then the whole world changed.

2:57 pm: As we were arriving at Highland Geof got the call from Larry Folwell that there had been an accident and Julie had rolled her car. The shining faces darkened. A shadow came over us all. Geof had to tell Wes Bennett that Jon Westin was in that car. I had to tell Sara as she drove up that everything was not fine. Elizabeth was at my side and I was holding her. Tina Johnston. Linda Childers. Jennifer. And Mike and Diane. It's all a racing whirlwind of darkness. But the prayers had already begun to go up by this time. I know now even complete strangers on the highway were in prayer. I was removed from the fray when Mike called me upstairs to take Diane's place with our 6th grade girls who were planning a dinner for their parents. For the next 30 minutes I prayed with them, consoled them, talked to them and led them downstairs to call their parents to come pick them up. Waiting for their arrival. The drive to the hospital. The waiting room. The amazing number of people who came. The need to stay and know. The drive home. The hours of waiting to hear more. The church becoming the Body of Christ.

And in all this time flashes of Light. Young girls quietly singing songs of praise in the waiting room as they clung to each other. Offers of consolation and compassion and mercy. Grace in abundance. The heaviness became somewhat lighter. The darkness held shafts of light.

And now 8 days later - there is much to be thankful for. Nearly everyone is home except for Chris Cope and Amara Childers and Julie Folwell. They are all improving and hopefully will be back with us very soon. There is so much love. So much closeness. So much connection. Brody's funeral was a holy time, one our church will be sustained by for many years to come. The outpouring of love from his family and over his family was staggering and full of Light. Only God could do this. And He did. And I for one am Thanking Him.