Thankfulness.....................

Jared Watkins with daughters Kayleigh and Allyson
Christmas 2010

Ten years ago today my family lived out a nightmare.  My second nephew, and the oldest son of my middle sister, Jared Watkins, was in an auto accident that left him comatose and clinging to life.  As each day dawned, it seemed the news only went from bad to worse.  The coma lingered and brain functions were dropping.  We were told the right and left hemispheres of his brain had been severed and that, if he lived, he would no longer be able to care for himself or ever be Jared again.

We prayed and tried to give support to my sister and BIL and to Jared's siblings in the best way we could.  People from so many places prayed with us and for us.  The days seemed to be never-ending.  Then, miraculously, Jared opened his eyes one day. Not long afterwards, he began to talk.  He wasn't the same Jared who entered the coma, he was more the Jared from many years prior.  He was child-like and couldn't remember several years of his more recent life.

Gradually, his memory returned and his body regained strength.  He was discharged home and began his life again.  I wish I could say there was some sort of great epiphany that changed his life completely after that, but it didn't happen that way.  He returned to many of the same activities that had landed him in the coma.  However, he was spared and for that we are eternally grateful.  Like many people, Jared is a rebel to his core.  He now has two beautiful daughters who adore him and whom he loves most dearly.

Thank you, precious Father, for allowing us to have Jared for these added ten years.  He has a good heart and honorable dreams.  Unfortunately, he hasn't yet learned that the answer to his questions lie in You and the source of his dreams should lie in You.  Thank you for dealing so tenderly with his heart.  I earnestly pray he will someday see You for who You really are and see the love You have for him and submit his will to Your Will.

I love you Jared, with my whole heart.  I am so thankful to have you still be with us so we can tell you how much we love you, hear your voice, the sound of your laughter and even the frustration and anger that so often erupts from within you.  You are a workmanship of the Lord, still in progress.  I am eager to see what He will reveal in you in His time.

Now God has us where he wants us,

with all the time in this world and the next

to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus.

Saving is all his idea, and all his work.

All we do is trust him enough to let him do it.

It's God's gift from start to finish!

We don't play the major role.

If we did, we'd probably go around bragging

that we'd done the whole thing!

No, we neither make nor save ourselves.

God does both the making and saving.

He creates each of us by Christ Jesus

to join him in the work he does,

the good work he has gotten ready for us to do,

work we had better be doing.

Ephesians 2: 7-10   (The Message)