Mom's Intuition

Sometimes a mom's intuition is for good things, sometimes a mom gets those "bad" feelings. My children are always making fun of me when I tell them I've got a bad feeling about something. I've had a bad feeling ever since Luke bought a motorcycle. Some dear friends of ours were killed in a horrible motorcycle wreck, and that will forever be associated with motorcycles for me.
Well, on Tuesday, July 7, I had one of those "bad" mom intuitions. My aunt Alice and I had been to Sherman, and on our way back to Gunter, at about 4:00 PM, we passed Luke, on his motorcycle, going into Sherman from Gunter. He had been at our house, and was on his way to Lydia and Ryan's house, then go to his EMT class. As he passed us, he waved at us and I just couldn't shake this feeling that Luke wasn't safe. Then, a little after 5:00 PM, Wilson called me and told me Luke had been in a motorcycle wreck. You know what images immediately went through my head! He said he thought Luke was okay, but had probably broken his collarbone. The ambulance had taken him to Texoma Medical Center. I called Alice and she immediately said "I'll be right there!".
Several things happened at the same time. I got a call from a dear friend of mine whose son is in Luke's EMT class asking if Luke was okay. (How did she know?) A sweet neighbor of ours was going down the road where Luke had his wreck and saw Wilson standing by Luke's wrecked motorcycle and called to see if Luke was all right. (What do they say about a "small world"?) Alice got to our house, and the girls and I piled into her car and took off to Denison. On the road, we called other friends and family members to ask them to pray for Luke.
When we got to the hospital, Luke was getting X-rays. When the results came back, the doctor told us he did have a broken collar bone and strained neck muscles. He also told us that with this type of injury, if Luke had not had on his helmet, he would not have survived. "Would not have survived . . ." Those words kind of tumbled around in my head for quite a while. We later learned Luke landed on his head and shoulder and would have broken his neck were it not for his helmet. He got his sling and his prescription for his pain medication, and we were on our way home to rest on the recliner and in God's waiting room.
Since the accident, we have been able to piece together what happened. Luke was behind a truck on Highway 1417 going to class at Grayson College. The truck stopped suddenly, and Luke began stopping behind him. For some reason, the brakes on the motorcycle locked up, and Luke slid on the highway for 250-300 feet. (The policeman measured the skid marks.) So, he wasn't following too closely. Anyway, the bike was heading for the back of the truck, and Luke steered it toward the grass on the side of the highway. He felt the motorcycle falling on his leg, so he jumped away from it and because of the rate of speed, landed on his head. A man who was following behind him told us he saw Luke flying through the air one way and the motorcycle flying through the air the other way. When Luke landed, he sat up, took off his helmet, and called Wilson. He looked down the road and saw the driver of the truck get out of the truck, look at Luke, then just drive off!! He caused the accident and left the scene. Luke's buddies in his EMT class were driving by on their way to class and stopped and stayed with him until the ambulance came. We joked that they got to practice on Luke that day!
So thankful for God's "hedge of protection"! The whole accident could have been so much worse. When we visited the orthopedist the day after the accident, he told Luke he could not work for three weeks. So now is the time for rest and recuperation and healing. . . The Father is showing all of us some things through this time.

I watched something yesterday I had never witnessed before. I watched a group of firefighters in training. I was especially interested in this training because one of these students is my son. This was the first time most of these young men had put a fire out with a hose. A series of simulations were constructed with fires being kept burning by propane and bales of hay. There was a simulation of a car fire, a house fire where they had to find a victim in a smoke-filled structure and/or a firefighter went down and the others had to get him out, and the "burn box". The "burn box" is actually a metal railroad car in which they go into, all doors are closed, and a wall of fire is started and they have to put it out. The fire was about 400-500 degrees. It was brutal. This was to show them how hot a fire can get in a structure. I know the guys would tell you they now have an idea of how hot any fire can get, but realize they could get hotter. I never really thought about how much a person has to go through in Firefighter/EMT training. I have always respected Firefighters and all they do for us, but I now have an even greater respect for them after watching the training. These guys will be great public servants.

Are you ready for this?!? I would like to introduce you to me and my wonderful family. I am so proud of them and all they have accomplished. I have an awesome husband, Wilson. In December of 2010, we had our 31st wedding anniversary! Our wonderful daughter Lydia graduated from Baylor and University of Houston and is married to Ryan, our super son-in-law, who graduated from Baylor and University of Houston Law School, is an attorney in our town, and they have the cutest babies in the world. Braedyn, born March 27, 2008 is my GRANDson!!! Then Rebaecca came along on January 25, 2011 to be our GRANDdaughter!!! Our awesome son, Luke is a state certified EMT/Firefighter. Our wonderful daughter Lara graduated in 2009 and is currently pursuing a career in photography. Our precious daughter Linzee graduated in 2010 and is a student at TAMU in Commerce and our sweet daughter Libby is a sophomore in high school. We are truly blessed.