Mandatory Mary

I was at church on Wed. eve. when I received word that Phil had had a 4-wheeling accident. He opened the gate to the low grounds to let the man with the corn sprayer come through and somehow, the 4-wheeler tipped over and he landed face down and the 4-wheeler landed on top of him. He threw the machine off of him and lay stunned and breathless for a few seconds. He rode around with the man and the pain continued to worsen. He got ahold of Philip on his cell and Philip came down with the gator to pick him up. He made several calls and finally we connected and I met him and Philip at Pamplin Exxon and took him to Lynchburg Hospital. He laid in the back seat of the car and was just about passing out from the pain. I went through one red light with my flashers on and pushed the speed limit the whole way. All I could think of was how thankful I was that I was taking him to the hospital and that I was not going to a funeral parlor. When I got there, they helped us immediately and got him on a stretcher and took him in while I parked the car. The man at the window, Greg, a volunteer, reminded me of Pastor Josh right away and we got to know him a bit as the night wore on. He is a stock broker during the day and volunteers at the hospital at night. He joked at just the right times. Phil gave him Philip's phone number because he needs his roof redone.
They had Phil on morphine within 15 min. of our arrival and they were all so kind. He has never had that kind of pain. Thank God for morphine. They said that you still feel the pain but if you have morphine, you don't care. Whatever works is good with me. They took a CAT Scan and looked for spleen, liver, rib, neck, brain, and spinal damage. Everything was clear. They rechecked the spine since he was still in so much pain. Everything was fine. He actually walked from the wheel chair to the car and rode in the front on the way home. We both fought sleep because he was trying hard to help me stay awake. The last ten minutes were the worst.
Just a sort of funny note. He kept saying that he thinks he needs to throw up when we get home, but I made an executive decision and stopped at the bottom of our lane. He got out and hurled. When he was finished, all of the cows were looking at him from the other side of the fence. They had never seen or heard the like before.
Freeman and Susan helped Phil get into the house. He was in bed by 1:00 in the morning. He's been taking it easy ever since, resting and sleeping and doing some phone work once in awhile.

He is laying still and letting God make all things new.
He is being still and knowing He is God.

My husband doesn't hold still and he is holding still and he is at peace.

Thank you to all of you for your prayers and love and phone calls and offers of help. Thank you to those who offered to come give us a ride home from the hospital. Thank you for the offers to help us on the farm to get ready for the pig roast and to work in the fields.

We are taking it easy and resting alot. I am too tired to get much done and Phil has too much pain to get much done. He's only taken two pain-killers since we've got home. He likes to be able to think and is staying off them as much as possible.
Both doctors who worked on him called the next day to see how he was. One told us that it was a pleasure to meet us. We know several folks who were killed when they had a 4-wheeling accident. We are so thankful that Phil was not hurt worse or killed.
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I watched the morphine relax the strain on his face and I thought, 'I want to grow old with this man.'