I am a little late posting the Five Minute Fridays writing … just as I was late writing the SOAP for the bible verse in the Good Morning Girls group yesterday. My parents were involved in a car accident where a tractor trailer hit them as they were at a complete stop waiting at a red light. The driver of the tractor trailer said he came over the hill and just could not stop in time. There was a car in the other lane, so it was either hit my parents or hit the car in the other lane. The impact of the tractor trailer pushed my parents a good distance ahead. Upon impact, my dad grabbed the back of his head and told my mom that it hurt really bad. He was not able to move that good at that point, so my mother got out of the vehicle to go back to the driver of the tractor trailer to tell him to call the police and an ambulance. My mother then got back inside the truck with my dad and began to cry. My dad reached over and asked for her hand. They held hands in that truck and waited together for the ambulance to arrive. My dad, in severe pain, comforted my mother in her time of need. He held her hand, providing reassurance and calming words to her, despite his own pain.

The ambulance arrived and took them both in an ambulance together side by side to the emergency room. I could not get there fast enough!

When I received the call about the accident, I immediately sent my friend a message asking her to pray. She called and went into action telling me not to worry about my youngest daughter or getting her from school. Her family would see to it that she was picked up and taken to their house where she would remain and would be loved and cared for until we could get back from the hospital. She went a step further and asked me to come by her house so she could be with me as we drove an hour to the hospital where my parents were taken. My oldest daughter had to go to work, and although she longed to be with us, I knew it would be better for her to occupy her mind at work instead. She was extremely upset and worried, but she needed to continue on her schedule since all that could really be done at that point was to pray … and my parents were being covered in prayer!

I reached my friend’s house, and she immediately embraced me, all the while reassuring me that my parents were going to be okay. She was praying, I was praying, and a whole host of people in our community were now praying.

I slid over as she got behind the wheel of my vehicle. She drove us to the hospital, all the while allowing me to reflect on different things and just talk through all of the feelings that were invading my thoughts. My family is my life! They are my entire world! I am sure my friend could tell that I sat there almost in a shocked state by all of this, and my sister’s passing a few years earlier weighed heavily on my mind.

My husband stayed back to handle things with the highway patrol and my parent’s truck with the help of two friends.

We arrived at the hospital and were immediately taken back to a room where my parents were once again side by side. There are no words to express how it felt to see my parents both laying on stretchers in that hospital emergency room as I made my way to stand between them to be by their sides.

Yesterday morning I began my day by writing a message on Facebook that said:

I have the best family and friends in the entire universe! Seriously! I am so blessed and soooo incredibly grateful to God above!

A short while later, I was begging for prayers for my parents.

I did not know what was in store that day, but God did. He could already see what was going to happen. He kept us all grounded and wrapped securely in His love.

Meanwhile back at the hospital, the staff took my parents for x-rays and scans. We waited as patiently as we could for them to administer pain medicine. It is the most helpless feeling in the entire world to see someone that you love in severe pain and not a single thing in the world that you can do to relieve their pain. The nurse finally came and administered pain medicine in a pill form to both of my parents. The pill did not touch my dad’s pain at first as he held his head and neck in an effort to get the pain to stop. Finally I asked if there was any thing else the staff could do to relieve his pain. Then they administered a shot for the pain. In no time at all, my dad’s pain started to subside. Thank you, God!

The doctor came in to talk with us and reported that all tests were negative! He advised that they would be incredibly sore, and the pain would be worse in the following days. He prescribed pain medicine and muscle relaxers, and much to our surprise, they were releasing them both! Praises … Praises … Praises!!!

My next update on Facebook, after messages poured in from friends letting me know they were praying hard, was as follows:

This morning life was wonderful. I was singing praises to God for my family and friends. Little did I know that a few short hours later I would be rushing to the emergency room to stand between two stretchers with my parents on them. I am overcome with emotion seeing the love you all have shown and tears are steadily streaming down my face as I am praising God even more now because the cat scan and x rays on both of my parents are good! They have both received some very good pain meds both pill form and shot. They are being released. How great is our God!! Not too many walk away from something like this. My God shielded and protected them and I am forever and eternally grateful. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your love for my family!

When we were finally able to leave the hospital, we took the prescriptions to get filled and made sure to let my girls both have the opportunity to see with their own two eyes that my parents were going to be okay. My girls were both worried, upset, and of course emotional. They hugged their grandparents tightly as they cried … sweet, grateful tears of love and thankfulness.

It was late when we arrived at my parent’s house. We got them settled in, gave them both pain medicine as the last dose from the hospital was beginning to wear off. Then we sat together and just soaked in being in each other’s company … being together as a family … all while thanking God for His Ultimate Hand of Protection!

Today I did participate in the Good Morning Girls group … and here is my SOAP for today:

S- Psalm 63:3-5 3Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. 4Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name. 5My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips:

O – Our God is the Great and Mighty God that is worthy of ALL of our praises! We should praise Him in ALL things … by lifting up our hands in praise, by singing His praises, by speaking words of praise to our Heavenly Father

A – I missed writing early on Friday as I normally do because my parents were hit by a tractor trailer as they sat at a red light. They were rushed to the emergency room, and when I arrived, they were side by side on stretchers. I literally stood between them … what a horrible, horrible experience. BUT EVEN STILL I praise God because He protected them. I started out yesterday morning with a Facebook status talking about how I have the best family and friends and how I was truly blessed in this life and oh so grateful. Little did I know that a few short hours later, this would happen to my parents. I praised God EVEN STILL because He protected them and shielded them. It is not often that you hear of people walking away from an accident involving a tractor trailer, but they were able to do just that! The CAT scan and x-rays on both of my parents were good, PRAISE THE LORD!

P – Oh Precious Heavenly Father, I thank you … oh how I thank you from the very bottom of my heart and with all that I am … thank you for protecting and shielding my parents! They are my life and I love them with everything in me. Thank you, oh God, for sparing their lives, for your hand of protection over them, for allowing us to be witnesses of Your Great and Awesome Power! YOU are my hero, oh God! Thank you Father. I praise and glorify Your Holy Name! Amen

And the above is also my Five Minute Friday based on one word – Hero. There are several heroes in my above story (certainly not all of this was written in five minutes as you can tell by the length, but it all needed to be said). My first hero is God for His protection over my parents. My other heroes are my mom and dad … my precious friend, Tammy H., and her whole family … my girls and husband for their support … and all of the prayer warriors and loving friends that were concerned and expressed their love.

Thank you, dear readers, for continuing on if you made it this far in my ever so lengthy post. I thank you.

Hold your family close to your heart. Treasure and cherish every single moment with them.