Choosing Thankfulness Over Hopelessness, part 1

One of the privileges I have of being in ministry with my husband is that I get to know some amazing people. Today will be part one of a two-part blog. I have asked Sarah Vickers to be my guest blogger as we celebrate Thanksgiving. Sarah understands thankfulness in a way that we can all learn from her. I will let her tell her story…I have known the Lord since I was a child, but because of the events of June 11 2006, I learned to trust God as my healer. I was 30 years old, and my family and I were enjoying a weekend at Pickwick Lake. As our weekend ended, my husband and I packed our car and loaded up our two daughters, age 4 months and 2 years old, in our SUV. As we were driving, the car lost control and began to fishtail. We flipped and rolled the length of a football field.My injuries were many. I had broken bones and a serious head injury. Amazingly, my two-year-old daughter had no injuries. My husband had superficial wounds. My four-month-old baby had been facing the back of the car, which was loaded down with suitcases, tools, golf clubs and a baby bassinet. She had a suspicious bruise on her forehead. She and I were airlifted to Memphis. She was checked and released. I was taken to The Regional Medical Center.I have a praying mother who activated the prayer chains at her church. The doctors didn’t expect me to survive the first night. I was diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury and later suffered a stroke. As I was so badly injured, my family prayed and asked The Lord, would it be better if I had died?  If I lived, would I have any quality of life?  My trauma doctors said that if I survived, I might live the rest of my life in a nursing home.I had twelve surgeries at The Med in 5 weeks. I was then sent to The Shepherd Center in Atlanta to begin brain injury rehab. I was bedridden. I could barely talk, or even swallow. The staff who evaluated me told my family that I might walk again, but if I did, it would be with a cane or a walker. After a 6-week stay at the Shepherd Center, my family was told that I was not improving enough to stay, and I needed to go home, and take time to heal. After two and a half months of continuous hospital stay, my insurance benefits had expired for the year, except for 20 home visits for therapy. My family was devastated, but made plans to care for me at home.My mother started a blog, asking specific prayer for my numerous medical issues. God answered many of these prayer requests soon after my mom released them. As she was praying for the time lost with my children, God gave her a word for me; "I will restore the years that the locusts have eaten" (Joel 2:25).During my recovery, I learned to praise God just because He is good. My mother asked me, "What can you thank God for?"  I remember lying in my hospital bed at home and thanking God that I was alive, that my children were safe and that my husband could take care of our family. From those simple declarations of gratitude, God began to pour blessings into my life.