The Lord your God is with you,
He is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
He will quiet you with his love,
He will rejoice over you with singing.
Zephaniah 3:17

One year ago today our lives changed forever.  As many of you know, today marks the one anniversary that Karl was on his way to pick up our Autumn for church.

The Mercy Flight had just arrived as we arrived at the hospital.  In the moments that followed, as my hands trembled, I typed a broken, misspelled and disjointed blog post asking you all to pray.  And many, many, many of you around the world began to feverishly intercede for Karl’s life.  The trauma doctor gave Karl no hope.

I keep starting to cry while typing and thinking of the Facebook photos and comments that began to arrive from so many of you, including Karl’s name written on your fingers or hand.   Hundreds of you began to sign up on the round-the-clock prayer sheet that Karl’s life would not only be spared, but to wake up out of the coma and to be healed completely.   The days and nights were covered and most places had many, many people signed at each position.  You, my precious bloggy friends, are amazing.  We couldn’t have done it without you – thank you again a thousand times over – we love you each so very much!

Yesterday as we were leaving Amarillo, we found the other side of the highway closed….our side was almost at a standstill for miles and miles.  After a long while of inching along we found that the other side had been closed for probably the most horrific accident scene we have {personally} ever seen.  Too disturbing to even type about.  We began to cry.  Though there were dozens of workers tending to the situation, there was not a sound coming from any of it.  Death was everywhere.

It was all very real as we knew that the very next day would be the anniversary of our Holy Ground days.

If you are a doubter whether miracles exist today or you have a desire to share the miracles that God still does with your kids, please read the story of Karl – where all honor and glory goes to Christ and Him alone.

I have linked the story here:

Our Holy Ground Part 1

Our Holy Ground Part 2

Our Holy Ground Part 3

And to think, that one month from tomorrow Autumn and Karl will be married – we stand in awe of the miracles of Almighty God.

As this anniversary day approached, Vicki texted and asked if she could also write an update.  Below is her thoughts as we humbly and gratefully celebrate all that God has done since July 17, 2011.

We will praise you, mighty God, for all you have done.  You are, indeed, mighty to save…and we gratefully bless you Lord for saving Karl that day.  You alone are worthy of praise!

Vicki’s thoughts one year later:

MIRACLES AND MILESTONES

One year ago, on July 17th, 2011, the call came in. Karl was in a serious motorcycle accident. He had struck a car that turned unexpectedly in front of him. He was on a highway going 55 to 60 miles per hour. The skid mark showed that he tried to avoid the collision, but everything must have happened too fast. Eye witnesses tell that he hit the car, went over the hood, hit the ground and went 55 more feet across the highway. Somewhere in all that ,he lost his helmet, boots and socks. How could he ever survive?

Only by the grace of God.

Traffic stopped and 5 people responded to God’s prompting. Liz, ER nurse and close friend.  Denise, former EMT. Mike, an anesthesiologist, and his wife Sarah, {who encouraged Mike to help}. Monty, a prayer warrior. Why were these people brought together at this moment ?…..To help save Karl’s life. How?

Only by the grace of God.

Through 3 1/2 weeks in ICU and 9 weeks of Rehab we saw our son go from extremely critical…minute by minute….to a walking, talking miracle on his way home. Granted there have been many hard times through this last year but every miracle we saw led to a milestone in his recovery. Karl is working at his previous job, living in his own place and planning his upcoming wedding to Autumn.   How could a guy who was not expected to survive, let alone recover from such a trauma be living the life that he is?

Only by the grace of God.

Once again, we thank all of you who have prayed…some unceasingly…for Karl and our family. Thank you for your love, support and help through ALL of this. Family and friends have been incredible. Having Linny’s blog to pass all this info around has been amazing.

But mostly, thanks and praise to our gracious God for giving us our Karl back. We have been so blessed. We celebrate this day of Karl’s “rebirth” and look forward to all the miracles and milestones that God has yet to grace us with.

Love and Blessings,
Bob, Vicki, Karl, Autumn, Ryan and Derek