I just realized that I have not entered anything on this blog about what has happened in my life. In case its news to you, my daughter, Maggie Lee, was injured in an accident one week ago today. She experienced severe brain injury when the bus the youth were riding on to camp flipped three times, throwing her from the bus and then landing on top of her and another youth. For a full summary, visit here.
I just looked up at the clock and saw that it was 4:45 am. It’s maybe not so strange that I just happened to look up at the same time that I was getting Maggie Lee up to drive Maggie Lee up to the church to board the bus for camp. We live less than five minutes for the church, so it wasn’t going to be a problem to be there by the departure time.
I remember how excited Maggie Lee was to go to camp, but how sleepy she was at that hour. She got up, stepped into her clothes for the day, brushed her crazy hair and then kissed what is most precious to her—Ellie the Chihuahua. If she could have fit her in her already overcrowded suitcase, she would have. And Ellie would have gladly obliged to be squeezed in just to be with her Maggie Lee.
I remember driving up and seeing that the parking lot was already full of kids. They looked like zombies standing there by the bus and their parents were dutifully filling out paperwork and wishing their kids were young enough to want to linger with them rather than grouping as they do with other youth and then lining up seating arrangements.
Maggie Lee had just gotten her braces put on a few days before the trip and was supposed to take some pain reliever on the trip. When I realized that I had forgotten it, I boarded the bus before it left and told Maggie Lee that I didn’t have it but that she could ask an adult for some if she started to hurt. Before leaving the bus, Jason (our Youth Minister) asked me if I would say a prayer for the trip.
I remember specifically praying for the safety of the bus, the driver and the kids. I have gone back to that moment many times since the wreck and the why of it all still linger and dog my mind and soul. I wonder if I said the right words, if I prayed specifically enough, if it mattered at all. The dogging, though, eventually gives way to a peace. While I do not understand why how such a thing could happen, I am finding God’s presence and peace breaking through even in the rollercoaster agony of these days.
