How God's Power Works Best in Weakness

            I have found that God carries me the furthest when I have to depend only upon His grace. Three years ago I was lifeguarding and teaching little children swimming lessons. I got them all out of the deep end. I had my eyes fixed on them as I was getting out of the pool then stood straight up under the elevated concrete lifeguard stand. Immediately a loud thud echoed as my head collided with the concrete structure.  I remember telling myself, that I had to keep it together in front of the children and to stay alert to make sure they were protected. 

Later that night, I was studying with some of my friends who started asking if I was feeling well. They said they noticed I was acting funny and not like myself. I told them that I hit my head really hard. They told me it was serious and arranged for a nursing student to call me in the middle of the night, to make sure I was still breathing. The phone call came, I answered, and went back to sleep. 

First thing in the morning I visited the school nurse who suggested I see a doctor to evaluate me. My dad picked me up from the dorm and took me to the hospital. They explained that I had a traumatic brain injury and that time would tell as to how my post-concussion symptoms would pan out. I was thankful for the results, but had no idea of how this accident would change the course of my career choice as well as my empathy for people. 

The nurse gave me warm blankets

The after effects of the concussion included intense throbbing headaches, sensitivity to light, inability to keep my college course load, sadness, and feelings of being overwhelmed. For months I went to Madonna Rehabilitation Center for Physical Therapy to help reduce the headaches and neck pain and received Speech Therapy to help with time management. I was one of the few patients who looked normal on the outside, but was struggling from post-concussion syndrome on the inside.

Most of the patients there are in wheelchairs, have lost limbs, and receive inpatient therapy. I remember waiting in the lobby one morning and seeing a normal looking Husker football player, telling someone that since he had hit his head he could not remember his team player’s names. I wanted to tell him that I was having problems with normal tasks like that too, but thought, What’s the point? It’s not like he’ll remember it the next day. J  

My Speech Pathologist took thoughtful care of me and encouraged me on my journey of strategizing my time. She helped me get a planner to record when and what places I was supposed to be at and gave me three goals of completing for each day. My cognitive ability function right after the concussion was at the level of a sixth grader. 

One month before my concussion I was living in Hawaii with my family. One of our favorite activities was to hike a steep trail up Koko Head crater, an extinct volcano with beautiful views overlooking the ocean. On the trail, I paused to pray, first praising God for the beauty that was surrounding me through the ocean and bright blue sky. I quoted the scripture, “Ask and you receive, you receive not because you did not ask.” I asked God to move my family to Lincoln, NE, give my dad a pastoring job there, pay for our plane tickets, and to stop me if He didn’t want me to pursue a degree as a Physician Assistant. Up to this point, my dad knew nothing of my prayer or even that I had settled on going to school in Lincoln.  Two weeks after my prayer, the phone rang, and it was the Kansas-Nebraska Conference offering my dad a job in Lincoln. I told dad to take it because I had prayed that we could be a family on the mainland as I went to school. We took the job, hopped on the plane, and I enrolled into the Pre-Physician Assistant program. It was one month into the program that my life-changing lifeguarding experience happened.

Koko Head

Since then, God has strengthened my stamina for the rigors of college life and He has equipped me with the encouragement I have needed to function well in everyday situations again! I am graduating on May 1, 2016 with a B.S. in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology from Andrews University. I am applying to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to pursue a Masters in Speech-Language Pathology and will specialize in Traumatic Brain Injury. 

The past three years of my life have been challenging, but what I see even more is a God whose power works best in my weakness. God made my home a happy home. My brother is now my best friend. My family is closer than we ever were and it is because we had to depend on God completely and wholeheartedly. God took my prayer on Koko Head and answered every part! I had no idea that I was going to end up studying Speech Pathology and that I picked the one state that gives the best in-state tuition for graduate school! 

God strengthened our family’s faith by being faithful to Him; He has showed me that He gives and takes away and yet gives even more in return! I still have my good days and my bad days. Yes, the headaches have stayed, but the heartache has not. Today I received a test score that shows God is merciful. His faithfulness is renewed each morning. He sends encouragement right when you need it!

God sends encouragement when you need it most

I want to leave you with this verse found in 2 Corinthians 12:9 saying, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” My Lifeguard walks on water and His name is Jesus. Have you met Him yet? 

Family time at Holmes Lake in Lincoln, NE