Day 4

I waited to post about yesterday until all family had been notified.

Aunt Karol was involved in a cycling accident yesterday when another cyclist cut her off. Their wheels crossed and Aunt Karol was thrown from her bike. As of this morning, Aunt Karol was in the Iowa City hospital resting. She had a concussion and some bleeding around the brain. The good news is the bleeding has not increased over the last 12 hours and the doctors believe it has gone down. Please keep her in your prayers as she still has some severe headaches due to the trauma of the crash.

God did work yesterday in keeping Aunt Karol safe. Here are a few blessings in the storm:

-The first two cyclists that "arrived" on the scene were a doctor and an EMT. They were able to move her the correct way and keep her from sustaining further injury.

-When Karol crashed, she was only a mile or so from the next stop which allowed Jack to get there quickly and ride with her in the ambulance to the hospital.

-Some of Karol's friends who were riding behind her were some of the first there as well so they were able to contact Jack and myself.

-After I heard, I cycled hard to a town closer to the hospital (I was ahead of her at the time of the accident). There I was able to re-charge my phone in a sovereignly appointed home and receive a ride from a local farmer to the hospital. Great thanks to the wonderful people of LeGrand, IA!

-Aunt Karol was able to be transported by helicopter to the University of Iowa hospital in Iowa City...probably the best hospital for head injuries in Iowa.

-Due to Aunt Karol being transferred to Iowa City, Kendra was only a short drive away and was able to be there shortly after Aunt Karol arrived.

I saw Aunt Karol in the hospital this morning and it appears she's already talking about RAGBRAI 2009...for those of you who know her, doesn't she already sound like she's back to normal!?

While RAGBRAI didn't end as we had planned, I am thankful that God kept Aunt Karol from further injury and kept our group safe throughout the week. I am comforted in knowing we have an all-knowing and all-powerful sovereign God who loves us and cares for us. In the midst of an eventful day 4, that was very evident to me.

Because I don't want to finish this site off with a "downer" of a post, I will post some great pictures later of our mostly-good week!