Praising the Lord . . . One Miracle at a Time!

Our Almighty God has done it again . . . preserved the life and well-being of one of our children, for His good purposes and His glory and so that we can continue to have the joy of this radiant gift He has given us.  The Son definitely continues to shine brightly in and through our sunshine girl!  Thank you so much, Lord!!!

(Oh, BTW, if you're a grandparent reading this . . . you probably don't need to read any further.  I think you've read all you need to know! ;-)

So, it was about 7pm last night, and many of us were sitting in our living room catching up with each other about the day's events.  Victoria was out riding her newest horse, Sky, that she has been training to re-sell.  (Oh, and take to the beach to ride with some friends this Saturday.)

All at once, Timmy, just happened to notice from where he was sitting, and through a small clearing in the trees, that he thought he saw Victoria fall (or flip ;-) off her horse!  When we all looked up at the field above our house, we saw Sky standing there but no sign of Victoria.  We ran out, calling Victoria's name.  No answer!  Daddy ran up to where Sky was, but couldn't see Victoria readily. 

Once he found her, he began yelling down to us "Get the car!!!"  Oh, be still my mother's heart!  I began praying out loud, while Valerie ran and got her car up there.   Daddy continued yelling down to me, "I think she is going to be okay, but we need to have her checked out. She says that she felt paralyzed initially . . .she couldn't lift her head or body to get up."  We then decided to call 911.  I ran back to the house to call and the operator asked me, "Did she loose consciousness?  Is she bleeding?  Is she breathing okay?"  I didn't know the answer to any of those questions, so she had me go find out, and call her back.  I scooped up Brielle and ran up to Victoria.  It was hard to see her lying there on her stomach, and hear her say she was feeling dizzy.  But thankfully, she said she didn't think she had lost consciousness, we didn't see any blood, and she seemed to be breathing okay.  So back down to call 911 again, and then our wonderful fire chief/neighbor and his son, Jeff, showed up and began taking her vital signs.  All looked good for the moment.

The ambulance then showed up, and we watched as they secured a collar around her neck and carefully rolled her all together onto the back board and strapped her down.  Victoria was so strong through it all, and kept smiling.  :-)

Once loaded into the ambulance, they tried to start an IV, and failed twice!  : -(  Upon arrival in the ER, and after signing lots of paperwork, unfortunately a routine pregnancy test was ordered before the CAT scan could be done. I guess our small town isn't quite small enough to know that she and her Daddy could have just told them this was NOT necessary, but apparently, it is just standard procedure. (And I look at it as a positive thing, that at least they are looking at a potential early pregnancy as truly a life to be protected!! So good for them, in that way!)  But, getting the necessary results was not easy.  Victoria would say that it was the WORST part of the entire event.  They suggested either a blood (she had already been poked twice to no avail) or urine test (she couldn't get up off the table) . . .  Victoria was pleading for a third option  . . . "is there a breath test available?"  :-)  Needless to say, our sweet Victoria that has always been the one to crack jokes and keep us all laughing . . .did just that with everyone in the ER.  I'm sure she made their day! : -) 

After about an hour and half wait on the blood pregnancy test, they were able to give the go ahead for the CAT scan . . .to find that there was NOTHING wrong!!!  Praise the Lord!!!!!

Meanwhile, our pastor had called in the midst of our wait back home, to talk with Daddy, and I ended up telling him what happened.  He said he would drive out to the ER to be with them.  I suggested he wait, that she was stable and we would keep him updated.  I thought I had him convinced.  But when Daddy called here to tell us that she was cleared and would be discharged soon, he asked us to head on out to the hospital to pick them up.  So, I asked Caroline to call Pastor Dean with the update, and turns out, he was already almost to the hospital, and wanted to be able to continue on and be the one to bring them home.   What a wonderful  pastor we have!!!  He is soooooo very special!!! 

So, around 10:30pm, she arrived back home surrounded by the love of her family and chocolate chip mint brownies.  Doesn't get any better than that.

Victoria really is a well-trained horse owner and rider, and has ridden for around six years with no serious injuries.  But accidents still can happen, and we are just soooooo thankful that our loving God protected her and was with her all along the way . . especially in those first few scary moments when she was all alone and felt she couldn't move.  God made a way for Timmy to spot her as she was falling, and for help to arrive quickly. And then, He kept her from having any serious injuries. 

Please praise the Lord with us for His mercies that are new every day!