On Tuesday, August 21, 2018 the unimaginable hit.
To avoid retelling the painful narrative that’s now the truth in which we walk, we’ll give a brief summary of the situation. Angie was biking home in the early evening and was struck by a vehicle, sustaining a serious head trauma. Angie was immediately transported to Sparrow Hospital in Lansing and thus began the horrible dream through which we’re wading.
It’s in these moments that words cease to form and emotions overwhelm our whole being. All we can cling to is the truth of who God is. We know He is good. We know He is sovereign. We desperately cry out in pain and longing for our wife, sister, daughter, and friend, yet through our tears, trust that God’s will is being fulfilled.
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
Lamentations 2:22-23
We look to Scripture and see how full it is of God’s people calling out to Him in anguish and suffering; and there’s great comfort in that.
We don’t need to have all the answers.
We don’t need to pretend that it’s easy to trust God.
We don’t need to cover our emotions in self-resilience.
We simply rest in the truth of who God is and trust that in every situation we can bring Him glory.
After 72 hours there haven’t been a ton of changes in Angie’s situation, but we’d like to update you on what has happened and what we can be thankful for and what we still need to pray for.
- Angie sustained a serious head trauma in the accident with multiple skull fractures
- The swelling in the brain has since come down to heightened but manageable levels
- Angie was successfully transferred to and from the MRI which is a huge success and incredibly helpful for the doctors to gauge the scope of the situation
- Continued tests and prompts have revealed that Angie’s brain is harmed, but healthy
- At this time there’s not a need for surgery and she’s out of the immediate critical risk of stroke
- Her heart is strong and veins and arteries are open and flowing
- Family has been around to comfort and provide meals
Thank you all for the continued prayers and offers to serve and love Ryne, Angie, Amanda, and Alex in this incredibly tough time. So many of you have been present and expressed a willingness to step into the providing of material needs – that speaks volumes to everyone!
To respect the continued vulnerability and emotional rawness that everyone is going through, we’ll be using this blog as a central landing point for all updates and prayer-requests. Please pass this around to family and friends that have asked about the situation. One of the best ways we can love Angie, Ryne, Amanda, and the family is to give them the space to process through this unknown and unknowable territory.
This week life hit us all hard, yet we can stand strong knowing God is our God and that is enough.
