Devotions
from The Woods @Wanamaker
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If you have walked with God for any length of time, you probably have stories of how God is working in your lives. The following is one such story told by Heath and Katie Franke. It will be broken down into four parts so make sure you follow their story the rest of the week.
"Miracles. God is moving. God is NOT Dead. God is very much alive and working. Let me share with you how I know all of this to be true. Have you ever had a time in your life when all you want to do and all you need to do is cry out to God? I think at some point in our lives we all go through times of despair and cry out to God. Last May I stood in the parking lot of Stormont Vail Emergency and did just this. This is our story… May 27th is a day in which our family will never forget. A day in which we saw the beginning of miracle after miracle after miracle occur. It was the 2nd to last day of school. Noah called around 3. I assumed it was to tell me about his finals and how they had gone that day. I knew he had left school already. Life360 had already told me that. I answered and Noah told me, “Mom, we’ve been in an accident. Someone hit us. Oh, AMR is here, gotta go.” My mind immediately went in a million directions. AMR already on scene? Probably more than a fender bender. Were they hurt? Noah didn’t answer when I called him back, so I called Caleb. I asked if he was okay. He said yes. I said, what kind of accident? He replied, “here I’ll let you talk to the guy outside the car.” AMR came on the phone and asked that I come to the scene. My heart sank a little. One of those calls you never want to receive as a parent. I called Heath and Jonathan to have them meet me there. It was your typical accident scene. The other driver was fine and walking around. Noah and Caleb were in the ambulance. Caleb was shaken but okay. Noah was crying hysterically and rocking back and forth. “Is Caleb okay? Is the other person, okay? Is everyone okay?” I rubbed Noah’s shin and said, “just breathe buddy. Everyone is okay. I need you to calm down and breathe. Everyone is fine.” Noah had an obvious concussion and laceration to the back of his head. There was a lot of blood on him and the seat of the ambulance. We realized that Noah was on about a 60 second repeat. Just as he would calm down, he would remember the accident and get upset all over again. AMR advised to take him to a minor care facility to get checked and we did. They could not give us the help we needed, advising he needed a scan to make sure everything was okay. It was at this time Jonathan decided to go to work. He wasn’t going to be able to go into the ER anyway and after they checked Noah out we would go home. The concussion was obvious, so we had an idea of what was going to happen. When we arrived at the hospital, only 1 person was allowed in. So, I stayed in the parking lot with Caleb and Heath went in with Noah. The 60 second repeat was still happening, so they didn’t have to wait for a room. Between that and the blood they got in right away. As he was being taken care of, I was able to be with Caleb outside. He was shaking and upset. It was at this point I noticed he was going to have a pretty good goose egg and a black eye. I held him and we just talked, prayed and talked some more. We were getting updates from Heath which was helping Caleb calm down knowing Noah was okay. My parents came up to sit with us. After a while, Caleb was doing better, and it was decided they would take him for a quick bite to eat and then back to our house until we got there. This is where time seems to get jumbled in my memory. We had been waiting for the results of the scan they did and then the plan was to go home. It was then that Heath called me. The results were back and Noah had some bleeding on his brain. They said we could follow the ambulance to Kansas City. They needed to do the surgery there. I said okay and started to think about how we were going to juggle things at home and be with Noah, would Children’s Mercy even let both of us in? Should I call the Ronald McDonald house for one of us to stay? As I was going through all of this in my mind, Heath called and said they are going to fly him there instead. My stomach dropped. I knew this meant he was not in good condition. What seemed like seconds but I’m sure it was a little longer, it was decided the surgery would happen here in Topeka. He wouldn’t make it to Kansas City. I remember crying out to God. He wouldn’t make it. How do you wrap your head around those words? Lord, I don’t know what you are doing in this situation, but I give it all to you. And I just stood there looking to Heaven and crying. Calling out to God to be here. Crying out for Him to be with Noah. Our son was inside, and the doctors were talking about him needing surgery. Should they transfer him to Children’s Mercy? Should they life flight him? Such scary words for anyone to hear. All I knew to do was cry out to God. But not in anger and not with pleading. I cried out saying God you have a plan in all of this. You have a plan for Noah whether it be to take him now or have a miracle happen. Whatever your purpose for all of this, help me and my boys be ready for it. Help us to glorify you in all of it. Help us to see your purpose and not our own desire. This isn’t easy. Releasing control of your life to God is hard. Releasing your family to God is hard. However, I encourage you to do this, this week. Whatever is going on right now, I promise God has a purpose. We may not always understand the purpose at the time, but His way is always better than our own. Try it today and tomorrow and every day. Cry out to God to lead your life and fulfill His purpose through you. More of our story tomorrow. Stay tuned!" Katie Franke
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AuthorNotes from the Staff @The Woods Archives
March 2023
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