FAITH ...Cont'd.

Although I could go into a great amount of detail, it would not even pertain to the purpose of my story. SO this might be short and sweet, but that doesn’t diminish or lessen the impact it has made it my life.

Blake and I left the restaurant. It was so strange because I heard ambulances as we were leaving. (We were in Snellville, mind you –about 10 minutes from Grayson). Whether it was from the same accident or not, it dramatized it and added a fear before I even knew anything…

--We were on our way to only look for my brother- he had gone walking- only to pull up to a scene of police, ambulances… my heart sank. I just knew. “Cody had been hit” & the words just came out of my mouth. Blake’s face was unexplainable… he was looking at me with such worry, but something kicked in because he was so level headed at the same time. He was being strong for me and pulled off the road into a parking lot and prayed. I was even praying that it not be him. I didn’t want to believe what my mind was telling me. My body was so numb, it’s a feeling I cannot even explain.

My aunt called me, Dad called me and they had confirmed the ugly truth. Although so very shaken, we immediately prayed. Prayed for him to be alive. On our way to the hospital we were still praying. As scared as I was, I never actually believed he could be gone. Although I don’t think anyone really does at first. There is a stage of denial… but this was still something different. There was a peace underneath all my emotions and fear. (Or above it all). I still had that ‘ick’ feeling in the pit of my stomach, but it was trumped by HIS love + truth = peace.

We only knew that he had been hit… come to find out by a box truck, driving in a 45 mph speed limit zone. I had that Faith that he would be okay, even though there was that other BIG chance that he would not be.

We got to the hospital, I can’t even tell you how that night went exactly… but it was a long course of waiting. First we were set in this room…while Cody was in the ER- we were given no news for awhile.. So during this period your mind can do a lot of racing. Thankfully, we had a lot of loved ones come by to occupy our anxiousness. I don’t even remember all the people. I do remember the police and their questions… I just wanted to know he WAS okay. Time passed and then Dr. Avery came in. He was in fact alive. That’s all the news I remember. HES ALIVE, HES ALIVE!! He was being set up in ICU. We waited again for hours before we could see him. Pastor Steve prayed before we were able to go in. God’s peace was still with me, but reality was starting to sink in. Seeing him hooked up on all kinds of machines with tubes and wires every which way… But he was still so handsome. So peaceful looking. Still my brother. It is such a miracle and I’m so very thankful and blessed to have him.

-The week in ICU was hard. Cody was in an induced coma for about 6 days. During those days, there were minor set backs, but I still believed he would have a full recovery. There were surgeries post ICU, and he was moved to another floor for about a week, then to Children Healthcare of ATL for awhile… There were hard times following, it was a process, but he is here with me Today, and I am so blessed, and I still sometimes need that lil’ reminder to not take things, such as our family for granted.

I’ve definitely learned a great amount from this experience. Cody’s story may be different from mine, but regardless, it had definitely changed and shaped me as well.