My Friday...

I had every intention of doing a real "my Friday" post, but that got changed around noon today.

Kristen and the kids and I were at my in-laws for a big Fourth of July lunch. Around 12:45pm, the phone rings.

Kristen answers...it's my mom, who's upset and asking to talk to me.

I take the phone to find out that my dad had been in a large motorcycle accident and was in the hospital in Jasper. The only info she had was that Dad was "okay," but had broken his leg. In addition, 2 fatalities were being reported as well.

She rushed over to my in-laws and I jumped in the driver's seat to get us there while she worked the phones trying to get more information.

We made to Jasper just in time to see my Dad headed back to get an x-ray.

Here's what happened:

My dad was on a big "group ride" with folks from his church. At around noon, my dad's group (around 20 bikers) passed another group of bikes headed the opposite direction. At about the halfway point, one of the motorcycles veered into the oncoming lane and struck another rider head on.

My dad remembers a huge explosion and smoke as all of the bikes tried to navigate through without getting hit.

My dad's bike hit the guardrail to his right (which broke the leg,) then shot over to hit the guardrail on the left side. He never fainted or fell off the bike, thanks to some folks passing by.

Emergency services were immediately on the scene tending to those injured. My dad broke his leg in two places, but very clean breaks. As it stands now, he will have surgery this evening to insert a metal plate into his leg.

He's in pain but the medicine is helping.

However, one of his good friends was killed in the accident. We weren't going to tell him anything until he was feeling a bit better, but he heard anyway from a hospital employee. The other fatality was a member of the other group passing my dad and his friends.

I'm asking you to pray for a few things:

#1. Please thank the Father that my Dad did not suffer any further damage. He could have easily been injured worse or killed. What's more, the accident occured as the riders drove over a very large dam. We're thanking God that no one was thrown over either side or injured more on the guardrails.

#2. Pray for the families of the men who were killed. My dad's friend was named Donald, and we had the unfortunate experience of being with them when they received the news today. It was a nightmare...please pray for them. I'm not aware of the other victim's name, only that he was a recently retired Galveston police officer. Pray for those close to him as they endure this.

#3. Pray for Dad's loss. Losing Donald is already taking its toll, even now. Ask God for peace for Dad.

#4. Pray for the surgeons and nurses who will be tending to Dad over the next few days. Pray that they would be wise (and caring!)

Thanks so much, guys...I love it when blogs can encourage us to lift each other up in prayer. It makes a difference!

(One big miracle is that my dad's new motorcycle would not start when he got ready for this trip. My mom knew already that my dad wasn't comfortable on the new bike and since it rode much lower to the ground, the potential for serious injury might have even been greater. My mom believes that God just touched the new bike as a measure of protection for my dad. I think that's probably excactly what happpened!)