I Can't Sleep

It is after midnight and I can't sleep.  I tried to log into my blog to write this, but Shani Hubbard Tennant knows that access better than me.  Because of circumstances being what they are, I cannot ask her about it.  So, I use this forum to write tonight as my mind has a lot running through it...especially after seeing a photo of what is left of the family car and counting the blessings of my wife and two-year-old who survived the crunch.

Some of those blessings came from 49+ individuals and the numbers keep growing.  When the accident happened, I had the hardest time of getting a hold of anyone outside of my mom, Cheryl, and grandma, Carolyn, because I have not made that much of an effort to keep other phone numbers of family, especially on my wife's side.

 

I finally decided to change my status to mention something in hopes that I might get a hold of family some way and that is when the blessings began to pour in.  The blessings came in comments of some 49+ individuals who saw my status and responded.  To some, 49+ might not seem like a lot, but to me that was more than what I had dreamed of when I changed my status.

 

Thank you 49+ for the comments, prayers, and thoughts made.  Because of your efforts, I cannot help but think that the continued miracles are and will continue to come throughout the night, week, and months that my wife and family will need with this experience.

Then there are the miracles of my wife and daughter.  How did they survive?  How did they not come out worse than what they did?  My daughter came out of the wreck with not a scratch on her and that is NOT the first time something like this has happened.  If you go to my blog (kstennant.blogspot.com), you will read the story of my 1 1/2  year-old daughter surviving a head dive off of a trampoline onto a concrete slab with not a scratch on her from landing.  In fact, she didn't cry because of the fall...she cried because of the fear on my face when I found her after watching her go over the edge.

Then my wife.  Yes, she needed to have surgery tonight for compressed vertebrae that could have lead to nerve damage, paralysis, and/or broken neck.  He leg also got pinched, but there are no other broken bones.  Now for the moment, that is not a comfort for her because she is recovering from surgery and the next few days she will be in a lot of pain.  However, when you look at the picture's, there is no other damage to her and I cannot help but ask how?

Well, I have an answer and it is more a personal belief than a factual answer because it depends upon if you believe in life after death and I do.  For that reason, I know that angels where guarding my wife and daughter.  There is at least a father, two grandfathers, and a daughter/sister that had to have been there, but I won't limit it to those guardian angels as I will admit that many more could have been there.

To those guardian angels I say thank you!  How much I do miss you and still wish you were alive and here, but the protection and influence that they have had on my family’s life goes beyond just life.  They fill a vital role to the successful raising of my family and I acknowledge their existence, influence, and protection over my family.

Finally, I wish my wife could read this.  In the coming days there will be a lot of what could have been done different to avoid the situation and yes when I saw the weather this morning, I had my doubts about her going.  However, my wife had a desire and it is that desire that I love the most about my wife.  She wants to help.  She wants to do good to everyone and this time, she wanted to do good to her sister, Sam, and sister-in-law, Melissa, who just recently had babies.  She wanted to bring them bread and see the new additions to the family.  She figured if she did it during the week, she would only have Lizzie to take instead of all of the kids.  So, she went...or at least made an effort to go.  A lot would not have done that, but that is what defines Shani's character.  When she sets her mind to it, she does it and I cannot fault her for having such a great desire.

This tragedy could have happened to anyone.  I could spend a lot of time asking why, but in the end it doesn't matter as much as what am I going to do about it.  This is a time for me to serve my wife greater!  This is a time for my kids to serve my wife greater!  This is a time for others to serve my family greater!  And maybe this is the reason that it has happened.

It is a time to serve in whatever capacity people can serve.  I have already mentioned how many have helped already and I am sure in the coming days I will see more of it.  I do not have time to live with what if's and if only's and that is how I want to end this posting knowing that I will have a crazy rest of the week ahead.  I cannot help but for the moment feel overwhelmed, but I do know that in Christ, my family and  I can survive...even if it is one day at a time.

Now I think that I am ready to sleep...the time is approaching 1 AM and I need to get some rest before returning to my beloved in a little while.  She wants me by her side and I will be there all the way to the end...I LOVE YOU SHANI HUBBARD TENNANT...may I always have the grace of your presence during this life and into the eternities...good night all!

Blessings and Miracles

Tonight, I (Ken Tennant) write with a heart praising God!  I witnessed a miracle today and the sad part is that I did not really realize how much of a miracle it was until this evening as I sat in the Saturday evening session of Stake Conference.  Actually, I witnessed more than one...you could say that it was a day filled with blessings and miracles.  They all took place down in my in-laws town of Grace.

We left this morning about a quarter to nine.  We made the 60+ mile trip dressed in our Sunday best to attend the baptism of my niece, Nessa Hubbard, who also turned eight today.  For me, this was a little bit different of a baptism for the family because Shani's dad would not be there physically for the baptism as he has in the past.  I am not sure if anyone else thought of this fact, but I am sure that a few did and I know that I did too.  The baptism went well and lasted about an hour at the Grace Stake Center.  Everyone was there except for Dave and Lora and Alex.  They had other commitments and could not be there.

After the baptism, we headed back to Shani's mom's house where there was a luncheon and party planned for later in the afternoon.  We actually did not eat until a couple of hours later by which time I was really hungry.  I did not have a lot for breakfast this morning knowing that there would be a lot of food.  So, we all ate with the family gathered as well as sang Nessa the happy birthday song, she opened gifts, and we pretty much had a great time with the family.  The weather was bright and sunny, but I could not help but feel pretty close to the family both present and those already passed on.

Eventually, the festivities began dying down and I had planned on us leaving to come home to enjoy the rest of the afternoon here at home.  The kids begged to stay a little longer and seeing no harm, we agreed.  So, I got on the trampoline in the back yard.  The rest of the kids seeing me joined in and we began playing games.  That lasted probably about twenty or thirty minutes.  Then through minor injuries and crashes among the kids, people began to loose interest in jumping and they cleared off.

By this time, Lizzie wanted to get on and jump around.  So Christopher got her on and she began to do her best to walk, jump, and have a good time on the trampoline like she saw earlier with the other kids.  Now, here at the house, we have a trampoline too.  So she was used to a trampoline and having a good time.  Well a few minutes after getting on, we were bouncing around a little and Lizzie starting from one side of the trampoline began to walk/run/bounce to the other side and I watched her as she went.

However, I quickly realized that she was NOT going to stop and if she didn't, she would have ran right off of the tramp and crashed onto the ground below.  Before she did, though, she fell forward, bounced on the edge and went over the side of the tramp while I called out her name and tried to reach her to keep her from falling, but failing miserably in that attempt.

I sprung over the edge myself to see a two year-old little girl looking up at me with a questioning look of how she could have possibly ended up on the ground.  I also found her laying flat on her back on the cement pad that the trampoline was sitting on.  Fearing the worst, I snatched her up to check the back of the head, which at that point she started screaming.  Here cry though was not of hurt, but of shock from the whole experience of falling, flipping, and falling onto the cement.

To my shock, I found no blood.  No scratches.  No indication that she had fallen on cement anywhere on the head.  I took her into the house and sat down with her in a chair.  I got her to stop crying and just held her grateful that she was not more seriously hurt.  The others in the room (Shani, Samantha, Abby, and Melissa) said that she looked a little pale and that we should keep a close eye on her in case she went into shock or showed signs of a concussion.  With concern, we did keep an eye on her and we came home.  However, she showed no other signs of possible brain damage.  She never fell asleep.  In fact, she was still awake after we got back from conference, which means that she stayed awake after the fall (that took place around a quarter to four this afternoon) until around eight this evening.  A good four hours since the fall and she was fine.

It was during the conference session that it hit me how much of a miracle it was that she did not sustain a head injury and that she landed in such a way that she essentially got up and was fine.  The only answer that I have for this miracle is that the angels of Heaven (her grandpa and older sister and possibly others) caught her and laid her gently onto the ground.  I can not explain any other reason why she would NOT have had a scratch on her from a fall of about three feet after doing a head to toe flip off of a trampoline with a look of surprise in her eyes.

I had to write about this tonight even though it is late because of my realization during the conference.  This is a miracle.  A big miracle and I almost mist the impact of it.  I came home and gave my daughter a hug.  She was happy to see me and I her because under other circumstances, we could have been spending the evening in a hospital instead.  So, a miracle...simply a miracle...