When the unthinkable happens – when tragedy strikes – it is just the beginning of a long process
The Accident
The horse I was on bolted and took off like a shot. I was terrified. At a full gallop he bucked me off into a steel fence. Laying there looking up at the blue sky, I thought my life was over. The pain engulfing me was overwhelming.
The pain, panic, fear and anguish was beyond anything I could handle. At my breaking point a miracle happened. I was surrounded by the presence of God. The pure and unconditional love I felt took my breath away. His peace washed over me like waves at the ocean. He took away my pain and spoke to me. He let me know that I would be healed. My life was spared; by all accounts this should have been a fatal accident. Little did I know that this was the beginning of a recovery that has taken years and is still ongoing.
Recovery
In the last three years, I spent a month in the ICU and 18 months at Craig Hospital in their traumatic brain injury unit. Twenty three surgeries and procedures were required to put me back together. I wasn’t the man I used to be and my wife and family became my caregivers.
Going through a recovery every day, one has a choice. Focus on one good thing and you keep hope alive. Focus on the pain and unfairness of it all and sink into despair. Every day was conquered by sheer will power and prayer.
Books that were my companions
My left eye was blinded in the accident. Although it was hard to read, books were an escape and my encouragement during this very difficult time. If you know of someone going through a difficult recovery, my hope is that these books might be helpful to them also.
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Dr. Dobson, who founded Focus on the Family and Family Talk, gave me this book the day before my accident. My wife read this book in the ICU when my survival was in question. It helped her put things in perspective when she was questioning God. For me personally, I learned that God always has a plan for our greater good, even though it can be hard for us to understand when in the middle of the storm.
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I wasn’t much of a Bible reader prior to the accident. A friend recommended that I start with the chapter of John. It reads like a love letter and has changed everything.
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The former all-star pitcher chronicles his painful struggle with cancer, his heroic return to baseball, and the eventual loss of his arm to the disease. Dave and his wife Jan have a great ministry and their book kept hope alive!
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I love this book! It is cheerful and has a great message. The advice the author shares is common-sense advice that we all know we should be following, but often we get off-track and too negative. Each chapter is short and to-the-point, with lots of cartoon illustrations.
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One of my favorite books. Some days I just had to keep it light.
When going through trials our own resources and experiences are limited. Books can give us a new perspective on what we are going through. I hope these books encourage you like they did me.
What books, podcast, videos or other resources helped you get through a tough time?
What was the most significant mental shift you had to make to get through your trial?
[…] 5 Books that helped me get through hell […]
One of the most significant “getting me through” moments was not the “season” of difficulty, but the clarity AFTER this season that I went through. I was at a Men’s Weekend Retreat in Fall 2014 and a good friend told me with a look of dread on his face that his wife has breast cancer! I was shocked and saddened. The following Monday I started on my prayer list and when I got to my friend I decided to pray for the whole family. But God game me a “God ping” before I prayed my prayer for them.
When I got to my friends name for prayer, IMMEDIATELY I was reminded of my difficult season (the timeframe covered years). My season of feelings was one of just “hanging on” through our storm and then an image of a mustard seed came into my head. POW!!
It was this combination of the “lost” feelings and image of a mustard seed that resonated with me like nothing else in my life.
So THAT is what it means to “have the faith of a mustard seed” from the Bible? When you feel so lost, out of control, in the dumps that all you think you have left is holding onto is that one mustard seed between your two fingers is EXACTLY how I was dealing with my situation. I never let go of it, but held on for dear life to it, no matter what came at me.
In addition to going through this storm, reading Job I also came away with how he got through his troubling time. But reading the last chapter of Job you see what God was doing. Not only was God testing Job, but God was ALSO testing Job’s friends and how THEY would respond to his calamity. While Job was spiritually high and physically low, his friends were just the opposite, spiritually low and physically high (well off). When Job passed his test, God told Job to pray for his friends because they didn’t respond as Job responded to the situation.
So next time you’re in “trouble,” hold onto that mustard seek because it’s a time of growth and learning so you can share with others.