Sunday May 21, 2006

Sunday May 21, 2006 Zack joined me for a meeting on Thursday May 12th with Carol Britton (his tutor) and the Christian Academy (CAL) administration to discuss plans for next school year. Carol explained that Zack had really come far with her in the last three months. Mrs. Rafla (H.S. Principal) complemented him on his attitude. She said everyone recognized how hard he was working and that was a good sign of how successful he would be next year. They asked Zack what he felt was his biggest concern and he told them reading was still very hard. He has to really concentrate in order to comprehend what he is reading and he recognizes that it is more difficult than before. We talked about school in general and then Mrs. Rafla told us that Christian Academy was asked by the School Board to report on what area they had excelled in this past school year. The CAL administration had discussed it and decided that their area of biggest success was Zack. They were proud of how the students had responded to Zack’s accident, organizing a fundraiser to raise money for our family and embracing him when he finally returned to school. There are many cases were students return to school after a traumatic brain injury and feel ostracized by their peers. Not Zack…they welcomed him like family. The staff also came together and developed an educational program to fit his needs and put together a team, with Carol as his tutor, to insure his success. Mr. Greener (supervisor of academics) will present Zack’s story, the accident, his recovery and return to school to the School Board as their greatest successful this past year. We are proud of how hard Zack has worked but also honored that we gave CAL an opportunity to show what it means to meet the needs of every student. They are an example of how Christian education takes prayer out of the classroom and lives it… makes it tangible to the world. As I left I ran into several teachers and parents who told me how amazed they were that Zack was doing so well. One teacher told me that she knew we were trying to get Zack more involved with the current sophomore class, since he would be with them next year, and she had notice a difference the past few weeks. Zack was pulling away from the juniors he usually hung out with in the halls before school. She said she was used to seeing him hanging with Trey and William, listening to his DVD player. But lately he has been sitting by himself in the morning, reading his Bible. She said that had to be a huge testimony to students who knew him before the accident and now see him studying God’s word. Another blessing.
On Saturday before Mother’s Day, I asked Zack to help me paint the den at my Mom’s house. She is 88 years old and needing another hip replacement (her 5th) and I thought that painting for her would be a better present than more flowers or candy. My sister had gone over during the week and stripped the wallpaper from the room and told us that she had washed the adhesive off two walls. Zack and I started by washing the other two walls and then began to paint. We were 1/3 through with the first wall when I noticed all the paint was balling up and realized my sister didn’t do as good a job at removing the adhesive as we thought. Now Zack and I had to wash the paint off the wall and continuing scrubbing the rest. It was a much bigger task than I had planned and at times I would get very frustrated and throw a little fit. Zack would hug me and say, “It’s going to be alright Mom. We can do this.” At about 6:00 PM he said we weren’t going to be done any time soon so he probably wasn’t going to be able to go to the movies as he had planned. It took us 7 hours to paint one small room. He never complained, he made me laugh repeatedly at times when I would have normally cried (or screamed). My Mom made us pie and we played cards with her until midnight. I told Zack that was the best thing he could have given me for Mother’s Day. On Sunday I went back to Mom’s to celebrate with the rest of the family. Scott had cooked dinner and had it ready when I got home. He told me to sit down and relax that the kids would clean up the dishes. It wasn’t long before I heard Dylan complaining that Logan wasn’t helping and then he and Kyle were fighting. One by one they disappeared…all except for Zack. He washed the dishes and cleaned the kitchen by himself. Then he came in the living room to give me a back rub and said Happy Mothers Day. All of my kids gave me cards but Zack wrote a letter. He thanked me for being there for him in the hospital and taking care of him. He said he heard that I fought with the doctors so that they would do the right thing and he loves me for helping him get better. This is what I was thinking about when we listened to speeches at the Brain Injury Association of Ky. (BIAK) Awards Banquet a few days later. Zack and I were there along with other survivors, their friends and family. A flow of tears ran down my face as several victims of brain injury spoke. Their deficits were obvious and Zack injuries seemed trivial by comparison. Zack looked at me puzzled as I cried while strangers spoke, but I was struck by how blessed we are. After the ceremony I spoke to Mary Haas, a volunteer with BIAK, and she told me about people that called her after Zack’s accident asking her to help us. Even a Senator who heard our story called and asked the organization what they could do. She said we will never know how many people were praying for us or how many lives our story touched. I left there feeling extremely grateful and strangely unworthy. I kept asking myself why God would chose to heal Zack. Then I remembered the hundreds of people that prayed for him every day, asking God to heal him. God was listening. He bends over to hear our prayers. Scripture tells us that He “inclines His ear to us” and He answers our prayers.
“In His love…He redeemed them, and He lifted them and carried them.” Isaiah 63:9
When we get in the car Zack tells me that some of those people are “still really messed up” and their accident was long before his. I tell him that was why I was crying, feeling so blessed and wondering what God has in store for him. He was quiet and then said “I’m thinking about that too”. We still have many hurdles to overcome but they seem so insignificant in the big picture. He struggles to read…so do millions of other people with no brain injury. His memory is weak…mine is not as good as it use to be either. Scott took Zack to the field where Christian Academy played Trinity his last baseball season. Zack remembered what uniforms they wore, who rode in the car with us and where we went to eat after the game. He doesn’t remember pitching but he remembered being very excited after the game that they won. He remembered the “feelings” and that’s the best part any way. His memory might not be so great but his feelings are sharper than ever and he expresses them often. What the accident took away God replaced with something better…sincerity, gratitude, contentment, kindness, compassion, faithfulness and hope. He changed our path, set it straight. We are so blessed. Zack has come so far and is continuing to improve. We are thankful for the many prayers on his behalf. We ask that you continue to pray for his complete recovery because we believe God is listening. His answer will be to His glory.
Psalm 142:3 “When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, You knew my path”.
Jeremiah 31:9 “I will make them walk by streams of water,on a straight path in which they will not stumble”.

Sidenote: Zack and several other students will be with Carol Britton on the 6:00
News Friday May 26th on Wave 3