In God\u2019s mercy, when I crashed on my bicycle, I fell away\nfrom the busy highway and into the guard rail. On a Saturday ride for exercise,\nMarch 30, 2019, I fell and broke three ribs, bruised a lung, and suffered a\ndozen cuts and bruises, but God spared my life. New rumble strips on a familiar\nroad surprised me and took me down within seconds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In God\u2019s mercy, the two cars following right behind me both\nstopped. One woman whom I didn\u2019t know laid hands on me and prayed aloud, while\nthe other called 911. Within a minute, a sheriff stopped and kept me propped\nbetween the steel guardrail and his leg to prevent me from falling or\ncollapsing into the four-lane highway. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In God\u2019s mercy, a former student served as my nurse in the ER\nand a doctor whose children I teach reassured me but said it would be 4-6 weeks\nuntil I healed. My ER doc, a very recent medical school grad, thought she saw\n7-8 broken ribs and a punctured lung, and with too much trauma for the local\nhospital to handle, she sent me by ambulance to UVA Hospital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In God\u2019s mercy, I received excellent care in Charlottesville,\nVa., though on a Saturday night, with the University of Virginia in a March Madness\nbasketball game, and patients in the ER in much worse shape than me, I waited.\nEighteen difficult hours after the accident, alone in my room, I stopped the\nyoung doc who came on her 8:00 AM shift. I asked for answers and clarity on my\ninjuries. She halted her usual routine and talked to me, showing me broken\nribs, #6, #8, and #9. I had a bruised lung, she reported, not a punctured lung.\nIn a revelation of how small the world is, I discovered that my remarkably\nskilled first-year resident doc is an older sister to one of my World History students\nat EMHS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In God\u2019s mercy, my wife, family, and close church friends have\ntaken great care of me. I\u2019ve been through intense pain and night-time discouragement\nabout how I landed in such a helpless predicament. Bones heal, however, and in\nGod\u2019s miraculous mercy, internal pain slowly subsides. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In God\u2019s mercy, students came to visit me in my living room. From\nmy sofa, they extended kind words, laughter, and a song that I shall never\nforget\u2014their presence, like that of angels, encouraged me to get well so I\ncould return to my classroom. In God\u2019s mercy, I work at a school with\nsupportive administrators and colleagues who care about me. Many people rallied\naround me in my time of need \u2014 these gifts I acknowledge as flowing from God\u2019s\nabundant mercy. Seven weeks later, in God\u2019s mercy, I am mostly healed and back\nto regular work patterns.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In God\u2019s mercy, when I crashed on my bicycle, I fell away from the busy highway and into the guard rail. On a Saturday ride for exercise, March 30, 2019, I fell and broke three ribs, bruised a lung, and suffered a dozen cuts and bruises, but God spared my life. New rumble strips on … Continue reading In God\u2019s Mercy, I have healed<\/span>