Just after moving into our little rent house and getting most of our things positioned to be able to function, I received a phone call from my brother that rocked our world. My nephew was being prepped to be life flighted to a trauma center in San Antonio.
When I asked what was wrong, my brother, Jimmy told me that the doctors could not say at this point, but it was serious.
My mind began to spin. I cannot even fathom how my brother felt. My nephew was hanging on to life by the grace of God.
Moving to Lubbock, I now live near my mother. I called and I asked her to come to my house as I wanted to tell her the news about Jonathan in person. Being late in the afternoon, we planned to drive to San Antonio the next morning.
We arrived in San Antonio the next day just as Jonathan was taken into surgery. He sustained head injuries and broken spine from a motorcycle accident.
We sat in the waiting room for about five hours through this surgery. Thank God for His faithful servants as ministers of the Lord came to pray with us and bring us food. God began to fill us with hope.
The surgery had significant risks. We waited. We prayed. And most of all, we agreed to not speak negative about anything or anyone. We needed to be filled with hope, closing the door on all fear, anxiety, worry, and doubt.
“I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13 NLT).
God who is our source of hope began to fill us with peace as we trusted him. Every hour during surgery the phone rang and the surgical nurse on the other end of line gave an update. Each update was filled with hope. Jonathan was steady.
After the grueling five hours, the neurosurgeon came out to give his report. Jonathan did well in surgery. His spine was fused in three places and the spinal cord was not severed. Again we were filled with hope.
Moment by moment, day by day, God, our source of hope, kept filling us full of hope as people all around the world prayed for Jonathan and sent encouraging words.
God filled us with hope with each medical report that came forth. With every update, healing progress was reported.
Our God is a God of hope.
Now seven weeks since the accident, Jonathan has been in a rehab facility for about a month. He has feeling and muscle response in his legs. After the accident the doctors were uncertain about his ability to ever walk again, but now Jonathan has already taken his first assisted steps. Praise the Lord!
Our God is a God of hope.
My friends, if you’re in what looks like an impossible situation, I encourage you to turn to the one true God, who is our source of hope.
Shonda, thank you for sharing this amazing praise report on Jonathan. You have always been a huge blessing to me. Aside from the fact that I’ve yet met you face to face. God willing one day I’ll have the pleasure of meeting you. I am so blessed to call you my friend. Aside from the fact you also have “boat load” of things going on in your life you’ve always made time to answer my texts with an encouraging message. You are truly a blessing to me and to this ministry.