"Thank you, Jesus!"
By Peg Keeley

It was a typical Monday morning; a day with an unusually heavy schedule. The daily calendar was cluttered with appointments, kids' basketball practice, and work deadlines. That evening, twenty to thirty college students would cap off the day at our home by celebrating my daughter's 19th birthday.

None of it happened.

My husband got the word first around 9:00 AM. Our twenty-year-old son had been in a car accident. One of the most dreaded nightmares of parenthood was playing out in our lives.

We learned that Sean had lost control of the car, slid off the road and struck a power pole with enough force to sheer off the pole and literally push the driver's side of the car into the passenger's side. An officer described it as a non-survivable accident.

Yet, Sean had survived. He was still alert shouting "Thank you, Jesus!" when co-workers traveling the same rural road found him a short time later.

Initially, Sean appeared to have suffered a fractured pelvis, but as time passed in the emergency room, it became evident that something else was wrong. A sonogram revealed he was bleeding internally and as he lay there growing weaker and weaker I could not help but ponder "Lord, did you save him from the wreck for us to lose him now?" The large door to surgery swung shut and I saw my last glimpse of him, no longer my energetic, fun-loving son, but my child fighting for his life. I was numb beyond feeling anything except that our Lord who loved Sean even more than I would be there with him -- and us.

Word had spread quickly through our small community, the college, the seminary, and our church. The students who had planned to party were gathered with our adopted daughter in prayer vigil while Siobhan spent her birthday night with us, our other two daughters, our pastor, and church members outside of surgery waiting and praying. Shortly before 9:00PM, the doctor reported that they had been successful. Sean's spleen had been removed, the bleeding was stopped and he was being transferred to Intensive Care.

Through the days that followed, we saw God move through Sean's accident. We met hospital staff, patients and their families and co-workers of Sean's that all marveled at God's provision. Prayers were going out for us from all around the country and the world. What an awesome experience. There were some touchy, frightening moments, some very long nights, some very tired days, but through it all our whole family felt an overwhelming sense of God's mantel of protection.

Sean's healing will take time, but will be complete. When I saw photos of the damaged car for the first time I was, again, impressed with the miraculous provision of God. Dr. Dunnam, President of Asbury Theological Seminary, regularly admonishes the seminary family with: "God is good…all the time. All the time…God is good." All the time includes when young man makes a mistake on a slippery road. It includes the tough days and sleepless nights of a family in emotional trauma. And it includes whatever situation, great or small, you will face today.