Life's Tragic Events

I can't even begin to write this post. I've started and stopped 30 times now. I'm not sure how to put into words the emotions you feel when you find out your little brother and his BRAND new wife got it a terrible car accident.

You see, my family has always flown pretty far under the radar. Neither my brother or I ever experienced severe illness or broken bones, my parents are still married after almost 30 years, growing up was relatively normal, and now into my adult life, nothing major has happened.

Until October when, as most of you know, my dad was brutally attacked in which the case that has yet to be resolved. It was an incident that rocked our whole family. And when I say rocked, I mean rocked. 

It was one of those things that you hear about happening to other families and you think, "Why them? Why did God choose them to go through that rift?" Every since my dad's accident I am continually reminded of how strong he was during that incident. How blessed we are that he is still alive. And how God chose him to be the victim so that he could live on and continue to make a difference in the world.

Even though my dad's case hasn't been resolved (don't even get me started on the Memphis PD), we've been living a pretty uneventful life. Other than G getting RSV, and one of us being sick every week since Christmas, life has been fairly uneventful.

Until this weekend.

Saturday afternoon my brother and his new wife were in a terrible car accident. My brother hydroplaned as he was accelerating from a yield and his truck spun around into oncoming traffic. They were hit head on and my sister in law took the brunt of the blow when their truck flipped over. My brother was able to walk away, but my sister in law had to be cut out of the car with the jaws of life. You can imagine the pain my brother was suffering watching his new wife (love of his life since 8th grade) trapped in their truck. She was transported to the hospital and once there, my brother started vomiting and had pain in his ribs, hand, and foot, so he was admitted as well. As the evening progressed, my brother was scanned and cleared of any broken bones. He was released Saturday evening and my sister in law was released early Sunday morning. She will have to meet with an orthopedic surgeon about her shoulder, and her ankle is badly sprained, but after seeing their truck, we can't help but know that God was watching over them.

All of this to say: I've always thought, "Wow, why did God choose that family/person to _______?" Whether it be cancer, lose a loved one, not be able to have kids, be unemployed, homeless, etc. it is SO easy to ask God, "WHY ME? WHY US?" I was asking him that after my dad's accident. And now, four months later, I'm asking him, "Why them? Two young, near perfect individuals. Why?" And all I keep hearing back is, "Just have faith and trust me."

It is so, so hard sometimes to think that you are being punished or ganged up on by God, but that's not the case. My sweet friend Amie and I were texting briefly and she reminded me that God only puts his strongest soldiers through the toughest battles. Sometimes I think I'm not strong enough.

As I'm sobbing on the phone with my mom as she is tell me about my little brother apologizing to his wife for getting in a wreck, all the while his wife is incoherent, I can't help but think that I'm not strong enough. Then my mom reminds me that we are strong. We are strong and it will all be okay. And, crying is okay.

So, no matter what you're going through, YOU are strong and YOU will get through it and it WILL be okay. It may not be okay on our time, but keeping the faith is the only way to persevere.

Lastly, if you would, please pray for my brother and his wife. Also, my dad (ironically) is having surgery Thursday and if you'd pray for him, too, that'd be great. Oh, and pray for my mom as she is staying strong for everyone. She is a rockstar.

Hope your Monday is awesome and bright!