"Lord Willing" summer and Saturday's events
As our family has been making summer plans, I found myself often saying, “We are going to see our cousins, Lord willing,” or “We will get to see our friend Chance in Alabama, Lord willing.” Or “We’ll get to see Grandma Elley in Baltimore and then go to New York, Lord willing.” Finally, Caleb just looked at me in exasperation and sighed, “It’s just going to be a Lord Willing Summer!”
It is definitely such as summer as we make our own plans while at the same time recognizing that God is in control, and being ready to submit to his higher purposes. Well, yesterday God changed what we thought the summer was going to look like through an accident that Wade had. (If you can’t stand suspense, he’s okay now.)
Saturday, Wade went rock climbing here in the Springs with some of the college students. At the end of their time, Wade was making the last climb to “clean up,” taking down the protection they had used for the previous climbs. Because of the angle of the top couple of anchors, he had to end up down-climbing from each clip to the next instead of repelling, meaning that he was unprotected for 10 feet at a time. He had to stay in one spot for longer than normal dealing with a loose rock, and by the time he reached over to unclip this ring, he lost his grip and fell, which means he fell 10 feet to the next clip and ten more feet with the rope that was already out. As he fell, he hit a small ledge and hit his hip and leg and immediately started crying out in pain, having felt a bone break. He was suspended awkwardly, sometimes upside down, about 40 feet in the air, thankfully with a very strong guy at the bottom on belay. One of those with him was a guy, Josh, formerly in our ministry, who is a nurse and a good climber. While others called 911, Josh climbed up and stabilized him, and they were able to lower him to the ground by the time the ambulance got there.
At Memorial Hospital, x-rays revealed a cleanly broken femur a couple of inches below the hip, but no other internal injuries. (Wade had started up that last climb the first few feet without his helmet, remembered it and then returned to put it on-PTL!) Josh began trying to contact family, but I was in Texas with the kids, Wade’s mom was in Baltimore and Jenni was in town but had misplaced her cell phone. They decided that they needed to do surgery to but in a rod and screws, and they wanted family there. Thankfully by the time Wade was taken to surgery after 8:00, Jenni had arrived. Thanks to the wonders of family working for the airlines, I was able to catch the last flight from Dallas to Denver last night and arrive at the hospital after 1 a.m., after Wade had gotten out of recovery and was taken to a room. (Josh’s new bride, Sara, picked me up in Denver.) After I got there, Josh and Sara and Jenni were able to leave and get some rest and I took night duty.
Although we did not get much sleep between nurse’s proddings and such, Wade was feeling a tremendous deal better this morning. The surgeon, orthopedic doctor and physical therapists worked with him in the morning, and we were coming home by late afternoon. I envisioned weeks in a wheelchair, but the doctors were saying that research shows that some pressure on a bone speeds healing, so Wade is on crutches with the ability to put no more than 50% of his weight on his leg. His leg is really swollen and he is in some pain, but we are thankful that it is no worse.
I am sure that as Wade is feeling better, he will put something in his own words on the blog, with all the correct climbing terminology (sorry to all you climbers who are cringing at the butchering I did of that part of the story).
To those of you we were supposed to see this summer, I guess you can say, “Lord willing, we will see you.” Don’t know when that will be, but we will be in touch as we can make more plans. To the rest of you, keep Wade in your prayers for a quick and full recovery, and for a servant’s heart for me as I try to do my part. Thank you to those who have already served us in a myriad of ways. Thank you all for being part of our community of friends, whether nearby or far away.
Love,
Dara and Wade
It is definitely such as summer as we make our own plans while at the same time recognizing that God is in control, and being ready to submit to his higher purposes. Well, yesterday God changed what we thought the summer was going to look like through an accident that Wade had. (If you can’t stand suspense, he’s okay now.)
Saturday, Wade went rock climbing here in the Springs with some of the college students. At the end of their time, Wade was making the last climb to “clean up,” taking down the protection they had used for the previous climbs. Because of the angle of the top couple of anchors, he had to end up down-climbing from each clip to the next instead of repelling, meaning that he was unprotected for 10 feet at a time. He had to stay in one spot for longer than normal dealing with a loose rock, and by the time he reached over to unclip this ring, he lost his grip and fell, which means he fell 10 feet to the next clip and ten more feet with the rope that was already out. As he fell, he hit a small ledge and hit his hip and leg and immediately started crying out in pain, having felt a bone break. He was suspended awkwardly, sometimes upside down, about 40 feet in the air, thankfully with a very strong guy at the bottom on belay. One of those with him was a guy, Josh, formerly in our ministry, who is a nurse and a good climber. While others called 911, Josh climbed up and stabilized him, and they were able to lower him to the ground by the time the ambulance got there.
At Memorial Hospital, x-rays revealed a cleanly broken femur a couple of inches below the hip, but no other internal injuries. (Wade had started up that last climb the first few feet without his helmet, remembered it and then returned to put it on-PTL!) Josh began trying to contact family, but I was in Texas with the kids, Wade’s mom was in Baltimore and Jenni was in town but had misplaced her cell phone. They decided that they needed to do surgery to but in a rod and screws, and they wanted family there. Thankfully by the time Wade was taken to surgery after 8:00, Jenni had arrived. Thanks to the wonders of family working for the airlines, I was able to catch the last flight from Dallas to Denver last night and arrive at the hospital after 1 a.m., after Wade had gotten out of recovery and was taken to a room. (Josh’s new bride, Sara, picked me up in Denver.) After I got there, Josh and Sara and Jenni were able to leave and get some rest and I took night duty.
Although we did not get much sleep between nurse’s proddings and such, Wade was feeling a tremendous deal better this morning. The surgeon, orthopedic doctor and physical therapists worked with him in the morning, and we were coming home by late afternoon. I envisioned weeks in a wheelchair, but the doctors were saying that research shows that some pressure on a bone speeds healing, so Wade is on crutches with the ability to put no more than 50% of his weight on his leg. His leg is really swollen and he is in some pain, but we are thankful that it is no worse.
I am sure that as Wade is feeling better, he will put something in his own words on the blog, with all the correct climbing terminology (sorry to all you climbers who are cringing at the butchering I did of that part of the story).
To those of you we were supposed to see this summer, I guess you can say, “Lord willing, we will see you.” Don’t know when that will be, but we will be in touch as we can make more plans. To the rest of you, keep Wade in your prayers for a quick and full recovery, and for a servant’s heart for me as I try to do my part. Thank you to those who have already served us in a myriad of ways. Thank you all for being part of our community of friends, whether nearby or far away.
Love,
Dara and Wade
posted by Wade at 4:55 PM
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