Called on by our pastor to share our story in church on Brotherhood Sunday ~
Seemed to me that Brotherhood Sunday was a day for the men and boys to share; but Brother James asked me to join my husband Bill so we could both share our story . OK .... so looking up the meaning of brotherhood the definition brought clarity... " A Friendship Like No Other" . In my changing world this is what the Lord has blessed me with, so that explains why sharing our story will be a blessing on this day to everyone, I decided ! So as I see it, everyone of us are blessings to one another and we all need to be considered as blessings like no other. We have been created in the Lord's likeness ! He has called us to be His light in our journey... were my inner most thoughts.
The Esther Sunday School Class The Lord connected me with at Yellow Creek Baptist Church are included in my "Friendship Like No Other"! Picture to the right includes some of them that were visiting me at the hospital after our (Bill and me) accident.
Brotherhood = " A Friendship Like no Other" Where do we find this? How do we earn this? This, led me to thoughts of having lived in a marriage for forty years where control was placed over me pretty severely and I had lived it and allowed it for way too long. Then that one day came the Lord set me free , my husband just moved out. Could it be possible to ever have a friendship like no other? In the days ahead that had not been in my thoughts at all. Mostly I was hurting inside because this was a huge rejection after I had helped my husband while he had been sick with a bad heart condition and through it all had stayed to endure things from him for way too long . The life lived with a person who controls is called living on the edge and very degrading to self esteem. A stress filled life.
Now my thoughts turn towards my new husband of 4 years this May, 2013. Yes the Lord has blessed me now with someone very special and the sweetest friendship like no other. A friendship I had always hoped for. A partner that prays with me and for me . Encourages me and attends church with me. The love of my life. My six children are the love of my life also even if the road with their Dad was rocky ; my heart hurts for them and all they had endured . Let me just say everyone of my children are the best and have had to always work hard . They are always there for one another and me.
The year is 2011, me and my new husband Bill decided to travel. We had been married only 3 years and never had taken a very long trip so this was the year, We booked a cruise to Alaska with Holland America through a member of our church whose son has a travel agency connection . Let me tell you he was the best agent and detailed our trip right to the last bus trip back to Seattle from Vancouver Canada . We traveled with another couple , friends of ours from here in Owensboro, Kentucky. We were met at Seattle airport by my son in law, Tim. Needless to say we had the best stay with my daughter Cheryl and Tim in Snohomish WA , before we flew to Fairbanks AK. We did a 7 day land tour and then a 7 day ship cruise back to Vancouver, Canada. A wonderful trip we were so blessed to have enjoyed and then get met on our way back from our cruise by Tim . He drove us to their home once again to stay with them for a Fourth of July Barbecue, fireworks and all . Then we also got in a game of Croquet . The weather was so perfect plus the hospitality of Tim and Cheryl was tremendous and God will and has blessed them for all their love, generosity . Wow, what a trip and now home safe in Kentucky soaking up the summer heat! Church and endless summer Cruise Ins with our Car Club,Sunset Cruisers would take up our time . Nothing better than praying with our church friends listeneing to our favorite Pastor Brother James and showing off Bill's cars.
In September me and Bill traveled to Mississippi to see some of the famous Southern Homes of the Civil war Era and we also visited the Vicksburg Civil War Battlefield. This was a wonderful get away too that Bill had been saying he wanted us to take . We stayed a little over a week and we took in the home tours through most of the Grand Southern Homes. Some of the homes gardens over looked the Mississippi River and we walked through the gardensso we could sit in the gazebos close by the river. We were advised to eat at Doe's Place one of the oldest restaurants in Mississippi. There is a wonderful story about this eatery if you google it and needless to stay an experience we both enjoyed there. So glad we did all these trips because life was about to change.
The event that crashed in on our lives ..and our road gets bumpy! In the fall of 2011where we learned that life is never easy; but looking back the one thing we saw was the Lord provide for us while we experienced the journey.
"Journey" ? What is a Journey? Journey means travelling from one place to another. Yes, we had just finished a few journeys the past few months. I like to think that there is Hope in the Journey or Hope for the Journey to get a little easier from from here to that place the Lord has prepared for us. Hope that the Journey is a bit easier than it has been. The journey we learn brings refining from the experience although sometimes we would rather not take some of those journeys. Wish that maybe we had planned the journey a little bit differently. We find out it is all a part of His plan for us.
You see at this time in my life and because the many life experiences that have occurred the poem Footprints" comes to my mind. Probably because of the great need for Jesus to carry me through these devastating life experiences. The loss of my Dad when I was 18 years of age crushed me. He fell from a bridge construction site his company was building. This was huge for me but God was allowing His touch in my life through it all. Then the biggest loss , my son Christopher in 1987. He was my baby of 6 children and the Lord had me dedicate Chris to Him in 1975 and he was 3 years old. Jesus had just became real in my life that year! A very special baby boy as it turned out because even though my son at 15 made a bad choice to drink a whole bottle of brandy on a $15 dollar bet the Lord used it for many to know the dangers of alcohol at such a young age. Their bodies cannot tolerate the alcohol and Chris' story is used in the Dare Program across the USA. The Lord has given me burden carriers to comfort me in this loss. OK now I see Jesus through the eyes and heart of His mother Mary. This love overwhelms me with comfort and Lord I will worship You always!
So I knew He was there once again on that sunny day on October 8, 2011 when I saw that the Cobra we were riding in was taking us off course . It was a beautiful fall day and our Sunset Cruiser Club was cruising in a group to the Overlook Restaurant in MT Vernon IN. We had all met at the Owensboro Christian Church and everyone was excited , the day was beautiful and many members were commenting on Bill's pretty Cobra. It was a kit car he had built from a Factory Five Shelby Cobra Kit and he had done a beautiful job with the help of his son and grandson building it. The Cobra was painted with a beautiful Mitsubishi red and Cadillac white pearl stripes. Inside the panel was beautiful hand worked wood of mahogany handcrafted by Bill. We both strapped in that morning and I even had flip flops on my feet because the weather permitted. The seat belts were like the race car drivers wear and strapped in we would be held secure. Great day to take the Cobra ! Weather so perfect and besides Bill was fine tuning his two other collector cars , so they were unavailable. The provision was there and now our trip was in the Lord's hands. We joined our club members in their cars at the meeting place. When we gathered many were talking with Bill on his car's beauty. They had not seen it before because he had mostly taken his 35 Chevy Coupe and 29 model A to the Cruise Ins of late. Everyone that was going had gathered and it was time to take off and all was looking good!
We learned later from Bill's daughter Sally that when Tristan ( Bill's 12 year old grandson ) got home and saw the Cobra was gone ( because it was temporarily stored in their garage) he wanted to know where it was and when they told him we went for a drive in it; the tears welled up in his eyes like he knew something was not good. Tristan and Kelsea have spent a great deal of time with me and Bill these past few years on the days school were closed because Sally and Kris both work and they needed a place to come to. This has been a blessing for me in many ways and helped me to get to know these special grandchildren of Bill's !
We were going into the corner and later learned it is called Gypsy Corner, a strange feeling came over me ....We were not making the next turn ..we were ...going to crash!!! I looked at the TREE ! ...coming at us, and said my quick goodbyes under my breath to my children back in WA State. I just knew the Journey here was about to end. Even though we were only travelling at 35 mph it seemed like 100 mph right then!
Psalm 56:3-4 "But when I'm afraid , I will put my trust in You. I will praise God for what He has promised. " I will trust in God so why should I be afraid ? " His words came to me.
These thoughts went through my head very quickly ..and then the crash was over; my stomach lunged and groaned. Bill was squirming and I could hear our Sunset Cruiser Club members scrambling to figure out what to do first to help us! Agnes was trying to call out but her cell phone would not lift out of the forest and connect so I told her, " Find my cell, it is Verizon and it will get out. She found it and called for help and called our families , too. Looking down at my right knee the red color of blood was pouring out from the huge tear in my white pants at my right knee and my side and back hurt some but was OK as I lay there looking over at Bill... once he murmured "I need to get out of here," The friends were telling him to lay still that help was on the way. I wanted to cry. :(
Life was now tossing at us more hurt another journey I concluded as we lay there waiting for help. What was this about? Why are we still alive? Are we soon to die? Seems like we both had been through many trials and we had hoped for just a few more years of enjoyment together so maybe this was it I surmised.
Then my thoughts went to ..would help ever come? would they get here to this area so far away from everything ..it seemed like. The call went out we were told. For me not knowing where I was anyway my whole being said " Just wait and trust in Him."The Lord is here helping our friends to help us! yet deep down was this question .. Lord, how much more and are we going to make it?
Just the other day I read these words from Kay Arthurs' book
"When Hurt Runs Deep : Healing and Hope For Desperate Moments"
If you hurt your knee, it becomes much easier to injure afterward and takes longer to heal than it would have before. It's the same with the heart if it's been torn apart, it's far more prone to future injury and will take longer to recover the next time it is hurt. But with God, our wounds that seem impossible to overcome , are healed and those places of pain in our lives become even stronger than they were to begin with. God has allowed this pain so he could take us through it, so that we could realize that it is Him at work in our broken lives, and that through our wounds , through our weaknesses, we can show others who are suffering exactly what God's love can do.
How do we do this? A scripture I gave my grand daughter Jenna when she was struggling at school as a young preteen, she gave back to me when she saw her grand mother needed strengthened . My doctor had diagnosed me with breast cancer in 2007. This was before me and Bill got together and my heart was torn because I did not want to put Bill through taking care of me if the necessity arose. He had already taken care of his wife Anne through Alzheimer's for 4 years before he lost her. There was also my doubt of going through a lumpectomy and chemo and radiation that year. The scripture me and Jenna share is Philippians 4:13... I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. These words from God and numerous prayers brought me to this wonderful man I now share life with... my "Friendship like no other!"
My sister Vicki wrote these words on my daughter Cheryl's 'Women By Intentional Design' page the other day : I want to share them!
Did you know you are God's Poem?
Paul writes in Ephesians 2:10 "We are His Workmanship"
"We are His Achievement"
" We are God's own handiwork "
FB Meyer, writing on this passage, says the word 'workmanship in Greek is 'Poem we are God's poems"
Are you troubled and concerned about the direction of your life? You needn't be. After all He is the great Poet of your life. You are His beautiful poem; as Denis Durham has written in his wonderful song "His Workmanship" the years of your life form the stanzas, and the days form every line." It may seem at times as though this poem has no rhyme or reason; the Divine lines can be all too painful , but He is directing all your good {Romans 8:28 } All things work together......
all in His own way your His masterpiece of love. He is patiently shaping you ; He is telling His story with your life. Rest assured you are like a building under construction , a painting yet wet and unfinished, a batter still being mixed, a tree that has yet to reach maturity , a tapestry still being woven. Await with patience the Master's grand completion.
James 1:12
Blessed is the man who preserves under trial, because , having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love' Him.
What soon became fact in our lives.. we were going to have some adversity to walk through..
so we began the Journey'.. The helicopter airlift..two helicopters and the ambulance ride to get to the helicopters..Bill was taken out first then they came for me and lifted me out of my comfort zone of the crash! My screams pierced through the draw full of trees as they twisted my body out of the wrecked Cobra. The screams seemed to echo back at me. The pain became all too real ! Then darkness..the next memory was the hum mm of the cat scan.
OK .. God I rest in You ..give Bill and me courage to face what is next..courage that only You can give! There is no turning or walking away from this Journey so help us walk through it I prayed. Sometimes we tell ourselves I can't do it , I can't handle it . I can't bear it. I knew if that became our attitude ...frame of mind there would be no victory. God send encourager's , prayer warriors I prayed. Then I wondered where Bill was as I woke up in the head trauma ward. I was in traction for a broken hip and my daughter Cheryl had flown in from WA and was at my side, her husband Tim would fly down later. She had missed her flight in Texas and had a layover but was there pretty fast. Eddie and Sally , Bill's daughter and son had found him in ICU with a broken 6 &7 vertebrae. This was not good! They said he could not feel his feet.
Later we were told our car club members prayed at the scene of the accident . The head trauma ward was a very frightening experience for me that night and I will not detail it here but I thank God Cheryl got me moved the next day up to the Orthopedic floor! There was some tough decisions to be made about my back break of the L2 vertebrae and my hip so Cheryl called my two sons and other two daughters . Leland, the first born child and oldest brother could not get away from his crane job in North Dakota so he bought a plane ticket for my daughter Wendy ( his sister) to come down to Evansville IN and help Cheryl make my medical decisions. Leland was always the brother my children would go to when the decision was difficult.
Bill was moved from ICU to Health South for rehab after 10 days went by and I would stay longer in traction for my hip and need for my back to be Kypo plastyed and a brace to be molded for my back. I stayed another week so they brought Bill in on his bed to kiss me goodbye..he doesn't remember because he was so drugged for his pain. I wiped the tear from his eyes when reaching over to squeeze his hand goodbye and kiss him. Bill was going to learn to walk again..and we needed prayers! The church prayed... all our family prayed and the doctor was going to be surprised as time passed was our Hope!
Then my release came to go to Health South for therapy with Bill where I would join Bill in his room. My friend like no Other! I was excited! The ambulance came for me and the wheelchair knew where to go! I was in his room for one day then they moved me because Bill wasn't going to therapy like he needed they said. He really wasn't ready yet he was in therapy there way too soon was my opinion !
Brother James Wedding, Pastor from our church at Yellow Creek Baptist would come and pray with us and many friends and family continued to be with us and help. My daughter and son in law Tim stayed for a month and a half until I was ready to go home with them. Two more weeks of therapy for both of us and we were going to leave. I was going to go to WA State with my daughter and Tim . Bill was going to have to go back to Owensboro to a nursing home for awhile until we both could be together again. Tears many tears through the healing process.
When I left on the 17th of November 2011, Bill left the next day for Owensboro . He was ill and they found out very ill, a UTI infection so his daughter got him transferred to Owensboro Medical Hospital which turned out to be God's Divine intervention for Bill's healing process to turn around and for him to get the therapy that would get him walking again. Praise the Lord!!
We had waved goodbye and it was very hard to do because when I left Health South there was no way of knowing when we would be together again..the tears formed and dripped down my cheeks.
"Journey " , from one place to another..and I was so glad Bill had his kids to support him while I was away. Romans 12:12 Be Joyful in Hope, Patient in Affliction, Faithful in Prayers
Walter Ford , Bill's brother and friend Pete Smeathers from church met us at the airport and brought my car back to Owensboro and hugged us goodbye . More tears !!
What a fiasco that was to get a wheelchair through security and lifted from the ground into the plane and then transfer to a plane in Atlanta GA to head to Washington State. One thing I leatrned, airplanes do not work for people in wheel chairs and leg braces. It was a longflight for me with my bad hip and back and knee. When we reached Sea Tac Airport my daughter Wendy was there with a walker and wheelchair for me plus a rented wheelchair van. It was hours later ..1am , my head would hit the pillow in the hospital bed my grand daughter Jenna had waiting and prepared for me. Felt so good . My son , Paul had built a wheelchair ramp to get me in his sisters house . God bless them ..my children are the best! My medical records were transferred to WA State and Tim would take me to the doctors in a rented wheelchair van.Then I got more mobile and graduated to a cane after therapy in house and then out patient therapy..by May I was using a cane.
Bill would call ..I missed him so much and the news of him getting better blessed me very much.
Faith , strength ..all played a part and prayers being the most important. Not too mention all the cards received from family and friends with encouraging words.
This word is shared from the Breast cancer site:
A strong woman believes that she's strong enough to face her journey but a woman of strength has faith that it is in this journey that she will become strong !!
Faith ! Hebrews 11:1
What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see.
OK .. once again I choose to live by Faith because at this time in my life the events are pressing in and Lord help me not to lose hope, because You have given me strength and doubt go away there is no space in my life for you because I know what to be true brings on Your light!
Lord I pray, let me not faint in my adversity I'm facing ! Help me to get well enough to fly home to help Bill because he is there in our home all alone. Events that unfolded while I was healing in WA have overwhelmed me right now and Lord will You help me face the days ahead , I prayed everyday after the tragic news of the death of my son Leland on January 11, 2011.
Lord I know You have something to teach me in this but help me understand the whys . Help me get
through the days ahead and give me burden carriers , I prayed. Lord let Your Justice prevail and reveal an understanding to my son's daughter Seanna , his brother Paul, his
sisters,
Cheryl,Wendy and Dana also his parents . Dana seeks to understand why because she went to her brother's rescue and brought him home for Christmas so he would have family around as he had a pacemaker put in his chest and after that polyps removed from his nose. Mostly because you were her encourager in her down times and she totaly needs understanding because she has lost two brothers that she needed in her life. We all grieve knowing Leland did not make it to Arizona to meet his new grandson, Aydin. His life cut short because of sin in this world. Two bullets in the head the first one up through the throat and your face forever destroyed, The next shot you made from laying on your face they say , but how we ask . No way would he have been able to shoot the second round or even reach the gun that must have jumped away from where he layed. Lord was this a staged suicide we ask?
Thank You Lord that my son bought two new suits and took his youngest daughter Amanda to candlelight service at church Christmas Eve and we have a picture. Thank You Lord for the rainbow over his grave on his birthday. My mother said the Lord showed her a rainbow and all her children were under it and I told my mother I claim this vision for my children too and of course my children are my mother's grand children ! My son Leland was my firstborn of six children and he was born on Easter Sunday.
Cheryl worked on her brothers funeral service and put together a beautiful picture tribute with beautiful songs . We as a family pulled out pictures and helped and it helped us process the grief. She also wrote his Euology for his service and led the service. The Lord was there at his funeral and the song that played ..I cling to is "Don't Cry For Me. "
Many family and friends attended my son's service and even his boss from Minot North Dakota came all the way to Washington State to honor Leland's memory. His daughter , Seanna came from Arizona and brought baby Aydin to his grandpa's funeral. Even Leland's first wife Nita came and paid her repects and grieved with us.
There is a lot more to this story but that will come later in YoMomIMHome'.
On May 17th 2012 I was able to fly back to Bill ! We were so blessed by all the cards recieved from our church friends and car club friends. We know the many prayers they prayed were the biggest blessing we recieved and that is the source of power in where our healing came. We thank each and everyone of you from the bottom of our hearts!
On my return to Kentucky me and Bill knew we had some more healing and at this time Bill had come to a stand still on his therapy so after a visit to his neurosurgeon he was prescribed more out patient therapy, Praise the Lord! Our routine through the summer was 3 days for Bill and 2 days of therapy for me. At the end of summer I was released to my own excercise routine at home and Bill is still working towards his goals ! He has come a long way and his doctor said for us to thank our church and all who have prayed because he was surprised to see Bill walking !!!
Lord we give You the Glory everyday we are given one more day and ask You to lead us to be your light. Thanks be to God for new strengths in our souls and bodies ! Then lastly these words from Phillipians we share:
Phillipians 2:17
But even if I'm being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your Faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all.
Who says the Journey has to end once you each your destination! The Hope of tomorrow is the Journey of our desire !
Share these words if you want to keep going!
What a fun trip as we took in quite a few sights on the way. The weather was beautiful and only had bad rain showers once in Oklahoma coming back. On the way up we stayed at Hatchet resort before we got to the Grand Tetons and the cabins were so nice and rustic. The restaurant served up Huckleberry pancakes too! Above you see the Chapel at the Air force Academy in Colorado Springs . The one place my Air force Lt. Colonel husband wanted me to see and I was amazed at the beauty of this place. He had been a liaison officer for the Air Force Academy . We had to wait until the wedding for an air force couple ended before we could tour the chapel. On to Glacier National Park after we toured through Yellowstone and saw Old Faithful erupt we met up with my family and many of our Montana families of my Dad's side. Was so happy that Wendy, Venesa ,Colton , Cheryl and Tim came. It was fun to see my sister Vicki , sister Val and Leroy also brother Carl, Bev and his family.What a wonderful event . There was about 70 of us Jensens that stayed at Apgar Village in various cabins, I was told. We all rode up the Highway to the sun and Bill and I rode with Leroy and Val to the top. A very scenic trip and even saw a bear( a baby ). Some of the family river rafted and we watched pictures that Julane Jensen took of the rafting adventure at the family picnic gathering. My family really enjoyed this getaway! We traveled on to Spokane to see my brother Ralph and Joyce Jensen and then to Valley to see my youngest daughter Dana and Stan. In Spokane we had breakfast at a specialty breakfast place Al suggested and we visited with him and his wife's brother. 
On to Snohomish and stayed with Cheryl and Tim then on to home via the Oregon Coast. Thank you Jenna ( my grand daughter worked out our itinerary). We stopped in Flagstaff AZ where my daughter in law Nita and grand daughters Seanna and Nicole with their two little ones, Aydin and Olivia came up from Phoenix AZ to meet with us. We all had lunch together. Was so fun to see them!! Our trip home was eventful with a visit in Albuquerque with my cousin Marilynn and Lyle Welchel. Thank you both for calling my cell phone ,the home style dinner and wonderful visit. Bill's brother Walt suggested we see the Cowboy museum in Oklahoma City so we did! Last stop, Branson MO. two nights , two shows!! 
Next trip for me was Hawaii in Sept.with my girls , Stan , Dana's boyfriend and two grand daughters , two great grandsons and daughter in law Nita. Bill stayed home alone and did well without me for 3 weeks . He is a wonderful partner and I missed him as GG (me) made wonderful memories in Hawaii. Now we are back in the groove of Therapy for Bill and watching our winter birds and looking forward to a new Spring 
