His heart for us is good…He weeps with us.

Jesus has been prompting me to write again, but this time just from my heart…where I am at.  

So I’ll dive in…

The past four years have held some significant grief and trauma for me. Because of some hard things we have walked through as a family, there are times that my heart feels very disappointed, frustrated, even angry and the tears flow. But one thing that I am learning in the midst of it all, is that even when I don’t understand, I can trust Jesus’ heart. It sounds like a “Christianese” thing to say, but it’s where I am at. I know my Father and believe I will see so much good come from the difficult. His heart for us is good…He weeps with us. I can’t imagine doing life without Him! I will share some of our journey here with you...

It started in July 2020…our oldest son, Zach, had just gotten married the month prior and it was such a happy time! But one day at work, I got a phone call from our daughter-in-law, Krystal, saying that her father had a heart attack and was being rushed to the hospital. This dear Martin family had already said goodbye to 3 of their 10 children/siblings one night in 2011 when those children had a terrible car accident. My heart broke for her as she soon told us that he had passed away. Mark, her father, was our friend too…a true hero of the faith and a world changer for sure! This was all so much on their young marriage. My momma’s heart broke for them.

In September 2021…our second son, Andre, got married and again, it was such a special time! But little did we know that just six short months later, on March 31, 2022, Andre would have a work accident resulting in paralysis from the waist down. Another call at work which took me very off guard…my friend, Cheryl, saying that Andre fell off of a ladder at work. Cheryl is Andre’s mother-in-law and one of my dear friends. She asked if I could meet Kaila(our daughter-in-law) and take her to the hospital. Thankfully, before her and I left for the hospital, Andre was able to talk to her on the phone from the ambulance so we knew his brain was fine! Then the difficult journey began…like a nightmare that you think you will wake up from.  

We arrived at the ER in Reading and as they wheeled him back the hallway for testing, they allowed Kaila and I to see him. On the way to the hospital, we had received word that he could not feel his legs. The test results showed significant injury to T8 and T9 of the spine. The doctors made the decision to wait for surgery until the following day after some of the swelling had gone down. Rods were placed in Andre’s back and we prayed and waited. Those days were so hard…Andre had so much pain and the unknown about whether the feeling would return to his lower body was so difficult. 

After some weeks in the Reading Hospital, he transferred to an excellent rehab hospital in Philadelphia called Magee. This was home to him for about 5 weeks until he was released to do outpatient therapy at the Magee Outpatient facility in Philly and later at Hershey.