StrawberryFields

I borrowed the above quote from my other post. I feel it fits better with this topic.When I initially told my story about the prayer and fasting I didn't think that it would bother anyone. I am sorry that this has struck a nerve with you. As I told you when I pm'd you that it is a story that has increased my faith and strengthened my testimony. As you can imagine I am still floating from this incredible journey that we are on and I might get a little excited when I talk about these things. You say that you think that God decided that He wanted Nick to live regardless of what everyone else was doing. I think the He might have wanted to have our faith exercised some as we learned and saw him in his peril. Yes, we saw Nick with his injuries at the tire store. We saw him in the ER as they prepared him for surgery. But what we felt was something so strong that it over shadows the horrors that we saw. We actually felt the love that Our Heavenly Father has for our son, it was and is undeniable. These things are very special and sacred to me but even as I struggle in my mind weather to share them or not my heart tells to go on. To keep the blessings of this miracle to myself would be selfish. I can say without a doubt that during that time if someone was to look for my footprints they would not be found, I was literally be carried by the love of Our Heavenly Father, Following the surgeries that Nick had the day of the accident, we where allowed to see him in the shock trauma until. Upon entering his room I commented to my husband about how big he appeared. He was lying in the bed with his head bandaged, tubes stuck into him at various places, and his hospital gown was placed over him exposing his chest. I said to my husband, “Look how big he is.” It didn’t take long before I realized that what I was really feeling was his spirit fighting from within him, I had not felt that earlier that day.

Nicely said. :)

Well, I wish you would write that book. I would definitely read it! This whole subject has just never seemed rational in my mind - and as a Christian, that is difficult. Shanstress, You have said that you do believe in Miracles. Now are you saying that it bothers you that everyone doesn't get one? My mom didn't get one when she was diagnosed with lung cancer in February 2003 and then she died less then a month later. I am still having a very difficult time without her in my life. One thing that I have had to come to realize is that I am not as wise as my Father In Heaven and I do not see the big picture. All I can do is put my trust in the Lord and accept His wisdom with faith.

*looks at list of character roles* Ok, well since no one else has taken the role, I will play devil's advocate. What do you mean in a coma for "4-6" days? That sounds like an estimate not an "actually happend" figure. Was he possibly just sleeping heavily part of the time and they don't know exactley when he came out of coma and yet remained unconscious? If I go to sleep at midnight and wake up at 0600am. I slept for 6 hours. Not 4-6 hours. Good question. He was defiantly in a coma because that is our body’s way of handling a trauma such as this. I am just not sure how many days he was actually considered to be in the coma. Within the 4th day we say what we considered movement. The nurses told us that it needed to be "intentional movement" such as wiggling his toes on command for him to be coherent. I remember the Neuro-Surgeon being discourage on the 4th day when he still was not out of the coma. Another reason why it isn't clear is that because of Nick's condition the kept him medically in a coma to let him heal. Nick also had a great deal of swelling and he needed to have a drain put into his head to relieve some of the pressure on his brain. They were draining CFS fluid.

Yes we do. :)

Just to clarify, the strange looking thing in his mouth is a breathing tube. I hope you can see how handsome he is in the picture.

Thanks Jenda.

On July 10th 2004, our lives changed dramatically. Our 17 year old son was at work at a tire store when an accident occurred that will shape the rest of our young son's life. Nick was struck by a tire and rim when the bead of the tire separated from the rim. The tire and rim first struck his left arm and broke it. The full force of the explosion hit Nick in the face just above his left side of his lip slicing it open and breaking his jaw. It "jumped" sides as it completely shattered the bones in his nose and opened the skin on his nose. It "jumped again" this time beyond his eye striking him at his forehead shattering it and splitting it open. Nick had surgery, and remained in a coma for 4-6 days. Under the circumstances, Nick is doing pretty good but suffers from cognitive difficulties among the loss of smell and other impairments caused from the Traumatic Brain Injury. Indeed we have witnessed a Miracle and I wanted to share with you, my friends at LDSTalk, this copy of a CT Scan that was done the day of the accident. There is a saying that says a picture is worth a thousand words...well this one speaks volumes for me. I hope I did this right

Shanstress, thank you for your sensitivity.I know that this may be hard for you to understand not having lived through this but I have seen a miracle take place within our family. No one in the ER expected him to live and they allowed us in there while they prepared him for surgery in order for us to tell him our final goodbye. I can't explain the miracle, I can only tell the events that lead up to it. Nick received a priesthood blessing where much faith was exercised when we turned his care over to the Lord. Many, many, prayers were offered throughout this time and a ward came together in prayer and fasting. Now I will tell you what I believe. I believe that the Lord hears and answers our prayers. I believe in the power of the priesthood. I believe that faith can move a mountain. Many people came together in one purpose, to ask for the Lords care of my son. Nick is special and I believe that you could feel this in spending just a few minutes with him. I believe that Nick was allowed to live because of many reasons and one of those reasons is to pronounce that miracles still do exist. We live in very perilous times and it is easy to get discouraged and I believe that we all need little boosts of faith every now and then. We share this story of our miracle every chance we get and this story has touched the lives of many people. I believe that the Lord loves us all and we are all precious in his eyes. One thing that has been made very clear to me though this experience, is that our children first belong to the Lord and he loves them just as we do.

So, is Linda Booth currently taking the role of President of the RLDS Church? The part where you said the people have continued to come in spite of it makes me think that she is.To the members of the RLDS Church, I am still praying that you find the leadership that is right for your church.

Today we live in a world that children are not taught something’s because it just isn't worth the fight to get there. My children a very different then I was when I was growing up. I think that many children have an opinion that the world revolves just for them. Unless you have recognized the blessings of fasting for yourself, it can be a completely pointless thing to do. I remember hearing my kids say, "Why do you call this fast Sunday"? "It's the slowest Sunday of the month!" I believe that once children know why we fast they need to be taught by example. When Nick got hurt, our bishop called a special fast for the very next day on July 11. We had just had fast Sunday the week before but this time it was different, it was for another child. They fasted until after they met at 4:00 for a special meeting on Nick's progress in the chapel. Only those who participated in the fast came to the meeting and from what I have heard the chapel was completely full. They fasted in families and it was families who came to this short meeting before they broke their fast. I believe that this had a real impart on Nicks recovery as well as those who participated in the fast. Many testimonies have been strengthened because of that fast.

So sad. To know what we know, then loose it all.

I appreciate all that you said, thank you Jenda. :) The part that you said about not feeling acceptable to ourselves is the problem with this young person. No matter what others have told this person about their worth in the eyes of Our Father, they can not believe it. How can you help someone who has gotten into this spot? This person prays all the time but only in behalf of other people.

Sorry about the multipal posts of this topic. The server read ERROR

If my memory serves me correctly, I thought that if you feel in your heart that you are unworthy to take the sacrament that you should not take it. Just recently, someone told me that we should take the sacrament until we are instructed not to by our bishop. The reason why this person believes in this is because that when we take the sacrament we are renewing certain covenants. When we have sinned, and feel bad about our wrong doing, we might voluntarily stop taking the sacrament. One thing this does is make us feel even worse about ourselves. Another thing that if we a finally asked, by our bishops to stop taking it after we confess our sins, then our time without taking it is not part of the penance. In many cases the time we are away from the gospel, or when we punish ourselves, we loose something very important...our closeness with our savior. After, this was explained to me I began to see things in a different light. I have watched someone who had committed a sin voluntary stop taking the sacrament, shortly after that point they began to fall away in other areas, and now this person feels so badly about themselves that they feel that they are so very far away and the fight isn't worth the effort to return to the fold. This all has happened before even confessing the sin. What are some of your feelings about a sinner taking the sacrament?

Deb,This is just not a SLC LDSTalk. This site is part of the WWW and so we share it with the whole web. We are open to many discussion as long as they don't break certain rules. We are not a closed site only welcoming those of the LDS faith. Does that help at all?

I admire this president for taking this action. I believe that by doing this he is a great example to many. The example is to stand up and be accountable for your sins no matter what the cost might be. Apparently, he feels whatever he did he could not stay in his current position. He made a mistake, and by stepping down he show his respect and commitment for what he believes in. I am sure that it would have taken less courage to have stayed in his calling. I am grateful that the sins I have made in my lifetime are not as visible as his are. "He who is without sin, cast the first stone"...

Heh, would it take you that long to figure out that he was for real? Well, believe it or not, there are quite a few “strange” people in this world we live in, and many of them wouldn’t be phased in the least by anything you could say to them, no matter how you said it. For someone like this it’s best just to pray for God to soften his heart and help him realize the type of person he really is, and that we all need God to help us become better people. Without that realization, any amount of help you give to someone like this will be taken in the mindset of “what do I get out of it”, and if it’s not convertible to U.S. funds, he’s just not interested. Ah, yeah, thanks Ray..... I would still like the 10 minutes. For what? ...if you don't mind me asking? You mean you don't know? I thought you knew everything.

Heh, would it take you that long to figure out that he was for real? Well, believe it or not, there are quite a few “strange” people in this world we live in, and many of them wouldn’t be phased in the least by anything you could say to them, no matter how you said it. For someone like this it’s best just to pray for God to soften his heart and help him realize the type of person he really is, and that we all need God to help us become better people. Without that realization, any amount of help you give to someone like this will be taken in the mindset of “what do I get out of it”, and if it’s not convertible to U.S. funds, he’s just not interested. Ah, yeah, thanks Ray..... I would still like the 10 minutes.

My instincts were right. Firstly this unborn child is a child of God and this life is worth more then money. Secondly, this woman didn't just get "knocked up"...the father had equal part in it and that is why the laws protect the interest of this child. Your foundation of money for the custody battle is not solid in the respect of providing for the child, the courts will decide who the child will be better off with. Your bitterness will not get you what you desire here. For the child, that is a blessing, children can not just be bought off and sold like that. I don't think that under this pretence the father would ever win custody of this child. There are good honorable men, who have fought a good fight, and still the custody goes to the mother. This father needs a reality check and appears very immature to say the least. A scheme like this just in order to protect his money is uncomprehensionable to me. I would like to have just 10 minutes, face to face, with this father to be. I wonder if the supportive parents of this father know that money is the driving force of their son. If this was my son and he was to take on this scheme to rid himself of financial responsibility, I would be very disappointed and feel as if I had failed to teach my child something really important. The answer to the married by the church question...NO, The church only performs marriages that are upheld by the state. It takes two people to reach a settlement to have a divorce. I will pray for the well being of this unborn child and for this father that he might become a father, and not just a bitter donor.

Ok, SF, Breathe in and breath out........... Still trying to get the "quote" thing down right, Oh well. edit change.

Huh? Did you sneeze? :) I think a lot of you (((((((((((((Blessed)))))))))))). :)

I hesitate to say thank you because I don't want to appear proud. Nick for the past several months has been most of my focus, but I don't take the credit for his recovery. I do appreciate your nice comment. As I am sure everyone knows, I wear my heart on my sleeve and I never am sure how something I say will be perceived.

Amillia, Thank you. He is still working within the miracle as he continues to improve and everyday we are with him we feel truly blessed. I am working on being able to post a photo of him that will show how far he has come. When I am able to post that I would also like to share with my friends here about an awareness program I have been working on. :)

I would certainly hope not. The way I read this question is that the two parents are not married, and only one parent wants to give the child up for adoption. Does the one parent want to do this to avoid paying any support for this child?