Tag: traumatic brain injury

From Our Struggles We Find Our Strength

- dannalundstrom

It was June, the summer of 2005.  We were preparing to move from Hoover, Alabama to Vestavia Hills, Alabama.  Carter, my son,  was six and Macey, my daughter,  four.  This particular week, the kids and I were participating in Vacation Bible School.  I made a deal with them that if they learned our new address and phone number by the end of the week, on Friday after VBS we would get ice cream.  Every morning on the way to church and every afternoon on the way home we practiced in the car over and over again.

Friday morning came and along our drive I asked Macey, “what is our new phone number going to be?”  She answered with ease and efficiency.  Then I asked Carter, “what is our new address going to be?”  He too answered correctly and promptly.  A silence fell over the car until a little voice piped up from the backseat.  In the most curious of tones, Carter asked, “Hey mom, I was just wondering, what our new last name is going to be?”  After I caught my breath from laughing so hard, I explained that there are some things we are born into, and they never change because they were given to us.  I am not sure my answer made sense to him, but it seemed to satisfy his curiosity at the moment.

We have had to ponder a similar question a lot together over the past two years.  His life was changed forever two years ago today, July 28, 2014 due to a traumatic brain injury.  All of our lives were changed.  Despite all the redirections, again I can tell Carter, some things will never change because they were given to us.  The One we did not earn that was given to us for free will never change.  Although our physical locations may change, and we change, our identity as a child of God will never change.

The moment we accept Jesus as our Savior, we are adopted into the family of God.  Our identity, as his beloved son, or beloved daughter can not be altered by circumstances.  He delights in us on our best days, and just as much on our worst days.  No amount of good works or model behavior can earn us His love.  They were imparted to us when we chose to believe.

Ephesians 2:8-10 ~God saved you by his grace when you believed.  And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.  Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.  For we are God’s masterpiece.  He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

What a gift we have in Jesus.  I cannot even fully comprehend the depth of His sacrifice. He has been a faithful friend to us through the hardest of times.

It is not because we have Him that our lives are easy. It is because we have Him that our lives are changed for the better.  He brings purpose to our pain and consistency to circumstances that continually change.

Last night I was replaying the last two years in my head.  I never knew looking back on my past tears would bring so much abundance to my present years. Situations that seemed like the hardest of times were in many ways the sweetest of times in retrospect.

Suffering is the soil most fertile for growth and change is often God’s conduit for the cultivation of hearts. We can joyfully and fully embrace our struggles because we later find we have walked out of them having found our greatest strengths.  

We are all still works in progress in our family.  It is a cradle to the grave process, but we can rest in the assurance that it is as it should be.  Thank you Jesus for loving us in all our brokenness.  Remind us everyday to rest in what was given to us and will never change-You.  We love You Lord Jesus.

God Is Faithful in All the Details

- dannalundstrom 1 Comment

I wrote this Monday and am just getting around to posting.  For those who do not know, my son suffered a traumatic brain injury while attending camp at JH Ranch in California on July 28, 2014.  It has been a rough road at times during his recovery, but God time and time again shows himself faithful!

I know some of my posts are long, but if you never read another one, please read this one! If you doubt there is a God, or you doubt that He could love and adore you, please be encouraged and take hope from what happened to me today.

It all started two weeks ago. I was sitting outside the Newk’s on Highway 280 having lunch by myself. A very attractive woman who was older than me approached me and said; “Your hair is so cute. I have not lived here long, do you mind telling me who cuts it?” I told her I would as I was scrambling for my phone that I could not readily find. I told her to write her phone number on my napkin, and I would text her the information.

After she had left I found my phone, and I texted her my name and the name and phone number of the friend who cuts my hair. She texted me back right away and told me she was so grateful to now have a place to get a good haircut. I responded to her “God is good all the time.” A few minutes later I get another text from her asking me if I would be willing to have lunch with her. I felt there was a bigger picture-God’s picture- being played out, so I said SURE!

Last week, she texted me and said she had gotten her haircut by my friend and she was anxious to have lunch. I told her I could not go last week because my sister was in town, but could the next week. She responded, “How about Monday,” and I agreed.

Today was the day! To be perfectly honest, I was feeling a little blue this morning about some circumstances. I prayed and told The Lord I was not feeling like going to lunch today, but if it was His will for me to go, to make it happen. I still had a sense there was a story unfolding. Not long after my prayer she texted me to confirm.

We meet today at noon. As we were standing in line to order, she said to me, “You have no idea who I am, but I have found out who you are.” Now a statement like that immediately made me a little nervous! I awkwardly said, “what do you mean?” She told me when she was getting her haircut, my hairdresser was talking about me (not in a bad way), and she told her just enough that she learned who I was. She then told me, “I work for JH Ranch, and I was standing at the lake the moment of your son’s accident. Immediate tears!

She went on to tell me that she and the other staff around the lake knew it was serious, and they all dropped to their knees in prayer. I now am crying hard. She felt bad, but I assured her this was a good cry. A cry of, Oh what an awesome God I worship who orchestrated this whole meeting. A God, who knew just what I needed today. A God, who blows me away, with His love for me. God is good, and He does care about every detail, even my melancholy, Monday morning.

Needless to say, we did not eat much. She shared so many stories with me that filled in what has been a lot of blanks for over a year now. I shared with her all the mercies and miracles we experienced after the paramedics had taken Carter from the ranch.

She also told me that she had initially passed me outside Newk’s that fateful day. She noticed me, and something inside her tugged at her heart, “Go talk to her.” Then, after she received my last text, again she told me she felt that nudge, “Invite her to lunch.” All along she didn’t know why but she has learned to be obedient to those promptings.

This divinely designed encounter was one of the most beautiful gifts I have ever received. I will never forget today! God can love you like that too, friends. I am a sinner who needs grace every day and every hour. Still, He adores me and today he blew me away with his faithfulness and love. Thank you, LORD, for loving a sinner like me. I ask you today to shower your affection on all my friends, reminding them WHOSE they are.

Jesus Holds Our Little Lambs

- dannalundstrom 3 Comments

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Yesterday was a difficult day for me as a mom. Some days our hardest job is remembering that God does not get it wrong-ever! In no circumstance is this a harder fight than circumstances involving our children. My son suffered a traumatic brain injury last July. His cognitive recovery has been a struggle. School is a struggle. Life is a struggle.

His neuropsychologist and case manager spoke with me about considering placing him on a life skills tract as opposed to a diploma/college track at school. He is in the ninth grade. The doctor said his cognitive scores place him within the category of a life skills track. These were very tough words to digest. I tried to put my best armor on and let the words bounce off of me, but the tears were tougher, and they won out.

The emotions are still raw from that tragic day. I think they always will be. A sight, a sound, a smell, a memory; they can all trigger a rush of emotion that no amount of effort can contain. My son is forever changed. I am forever changed. Our family is forever changed. This is not all ominous news. Change chiseled from crisis forges character, perseverance, deeper faith and so much more. The fruits born out of frustration are often some of the sweetest.

My son is not a victim, and I refuse to be either. Once we take on that role we put limitations on ourselves. We also maximize our sufficiency and minimize the soverignty of our Savior. I am sad that the circumstances are as they are. I hurt, I ache and at times I worry about the future. In all my fleshly responses, a voice keeps echoing in my head, BUT GOD. That is my life preserver friends! Test scores are indicators, but they are not dictators. Doctor’s opinions are assessments, but they are not absolutes. I much prefer the infallible provisions of My Provider to the fallible predictions of man.

I don’t know at this time what our decision about our sons’ school track will be. I am not ready to make that decision, nor am I ready to confine him to the limitations of a label. Labels we put on things are typically stickers. Over time, they are prone to fall off. I choose not to rely on labels, I prefer to rest in the hope of providential plans.

Yesterday I heard this quote from my friend, Julie Sparkman, of Restore Ministries. During the third session of her bible study series, Unhitching From the Crazy Train, she said, “Getting under the yoke with Jesus does not give you a different life; it gives you a different way of doing life.” Those words spoke so poignantly to my heart.

No matter what obstacles you or I are confronting today friends, our hope does not rest in the what of our struggle. It resides in the Who of our surrender. That is great news! This truth is a rest for our weary souls. Will you fight to reside here with me? Jesus holds our little lambs.