Sad Story....

On Sunday my mom was telling me about her home teacher who just recently had learned of his brother and sister in law being involved in a plane crash. Last night my mom forwarded me an update and the sister in law's blog. Lately I have been a little more than self involved and wrapped up in my own world...and to say the very least reading that story gave me a whole new perspective on things. I wish it didn't take hearing about these kinds of things to think about all the small, petty things we stress over in life. There are so many things I worry and stress over that don't really matter. Things like this really put life back into perspective...

Last night I sat for a moment and really thought about what it would be like to be her...to wake up & have your life change forever, to have months and months in the hospital, to possibly never be able to use your hands again, the time lost with your kids....all of the things you love...your passions, hobbies, everything is so far out of reach and not even in the realm of possibilities for a long time if ever again...I could go on and on. We really never know what is in store for us, it is so important to live each day to the fullest and make sure that our loved ones know how much we love them. I have posted below the story...and included is her blog. It is definitely worth reading.

E-mail from my mom's home teaching family...
Dear family and friends,Just a quick update on Christian and Stephanie. Bryan and I saw them yesterday in the hospital. I'll admit, it was really bad. They look like swollen mummies. Everything is covered on Stephanie (that we could see) except her toes, lips and eyelids, which are very swollen. They both have feeding tubes. Stephanie will need a tracheotomy soon. The doctors were worried about her pancreas and lungs, but are now saying that they are okay for now; the main concern is the burns. Christian's burns are about 25-30%, Stephanie's are probably 70-80%. All of their burns are now 3rd degree. Stephanie's arms are 4th degree. The burns went all the way through the skin to the fat layer. Her hands were burned to the bone. She may not be able to use them. Stephanie has about a 60-70% survival chance. Christian's is much higher. He may be able to speak in a few weeks, Stephanie not for months. They are in excruciating pain and are heavily sedated, almost in a semi-coma-induced state. Their dressings have to be changed twice a day, and it is a several hours process that is unbelievably painful. Their children are being taken care of by both extended families, and only know that their mom and dad got burned and are "at the doctor's". Their little brother got a burn on his foot from riding the quads, and I think they compare it to that, of course not knowing the real kind of burns they have. It is much better that way. Christian, and especially Stephanie, may not look the same after this. It is amazing to me to see the outpouring of love and concern for them, especially from complete strangers. Stephanie is known all over the world by readers of her extremely popular blog, nieniedialogues.blogspot.com. You may be interested in looking at it to learn a little more about her and her family. There are some great pictures. Her sister is posting updates for Stephanie's readers on her own blog, which is cjanerun.com. That is where I would recommend you go for updates. We were given the great advice to not call these types of difficult things "trials", but instead, "hard blessings". This is extremely hard, but I can already see how many people's lives are being touched by this...a blessing. Please keep praying for them, even over the long term. It is going to be a long, long recovery. Love, Helena