When Others Are Put in Your Path

We want to share the story of a couple, John & Brandy, that have recently been affected by a tragic car accident leaving John a paraplegic, paralyzed from the waist down. This happened a few weeks back and he’s been recovering in the hospital as well as in rehab. They have children and are engaged to be married. But now have been stricken by this awful tragedy and will be faced with a life of paralysis as part of their relationship & family.

What helped us so much in the beginning was the love of others…people that we knew and many people that were complete strangers. They came around us, loved on us, were a part of our life and helped us in many ways. People we had never even met would come to visit, would give us money to help get us by, gave us food, helped in physical ways, and many prayed for our family. One Nurse even showed up in the middle of the night Christmas Eve that year in Kelly’s hospital room to fill his room with gifts & treats for our 2 little girls so that when they got to Daddy’s room on Christmas morning they wouldn’t miss out on Christmas!

Another thing that helped us in the beginning was knowing we were not the only ones. Someone at a Church gave a close friend of ours the Joni Eareckson video “Joni” for us to watch and another friend gave us the Joni  book to read. That was powerful for us to read & watch the story of a young girl left as a quadriplegic after a diving accident…and at the time Kelly was in the hospital in 1997, she had lived as a quadriplegic for 30 years! This was so encouraging to us.

Through reading Joni’s story, the Lord gave us so much hope that there IS still life after paralysis and it IS a life worth living! It’s a different life. And it can be VERY hard. But it is still worth living and every person here on earth has purpose.

We were also told “God won’t give you more than you can handle”, and we have clung to the verse “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me”. Our faith and reliance in Jesus is the main reason we have persevered. He continually connects our lives with people that bless us and people we can bless.

We are very grateful for the many people that God continues to put in our path, people that have come into our life to “do life” along side of us and help us in so many ways!  It’s one aspect that helps make this hard tragedy in our life easier & is such a blessing!

So as we share the story of John & Brandy, we think about how God has put us in their path to come along side of them…to help in any way we can & to Pray for them. Their story was shared by someone at our Church of how Brandy “accidentally” sent him a text message from across the country. But instantly he felt the nudging in his heart to connect with her and John. He pursued to dig deeper with Brandy on how things were going, he put out the word to our Church, and shared their story & needs on Facebook.

We Pray for John, Brandy and their children as they begin this new chapter of their lives. We know they are in need of house modifications including a ramp, medical supplies needed for daily care, along with the expense of medical bills, not being able to work, and many many other expenses that are adding up. We hope by sharing their story it will allow you to help them however you feel led. You can pray for them, encourage them and/or give to their family via their Go Fund Me Account.

One last thought: Pay attention to the people God is putting in your path. When you are in need and He puts someone in your path, be grateful for the blessing. When He puts you in someone else’s path that is in need of help, be like our friend at church, don’t hesitate – take action.

Kelly & Corina

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