journey.through.fire

On August 2nd, 2009 Jessica was driving to church in her green VW Beetle and was struck on the driver side by an oncoming car. A Good Samaritan ran to her aid immediately and started CPR. Jessica’s heart stopped in the ambulance and was revived and taken to Valley Medical Center’s Trauma Unit in San Jose, CA where she required immediate brain surgery along with other very serious respiratory help along with some bone fractures. Twice her family was told to say goodbye to her but with a strong will and thousands praying Jessica survived but is fighting to recover from a Traumatic Brain Injury. She remained in a coma for 3 months and is currently in the Brain Injury Rehabilitation Unit at Valley Medical. Jessica continues to progress on her journey back to what all who love her pray is a full recovery, and will do “WHATEVER IT TAKES”. Jessica must relearn everything from swallowing to walking and talking. Her parents plan on taking her home in mid February where she will require 24 hour care and continue to ask friends, family and community for prayer. Since day one, they have chosen 10-3-10 as a reminder to pray each day at those times. Jessica’s Mother posts regularly on the information portion of this page, updating her progress and the families daily struggles as they wait for Jessica’s healing.

Help us help Jessica. Email me at jtf.info@gmail.com if you would like to be a part of the Jessica Huse Benefit.

All information here: http://www.journeythroughfire.com/jessicahuse

Monty Keller, as Matthias (18) is fondly called, just finished his first semester at University of Hawaii. Brother Ruedi Keller (20) attends SF Culinary Accademy. 

Coming home for Christmas break, Monty’s flight was supposed to arrive around midnight on Friday, December 18. The plan was for Ruedi to pick him up from the airport and take him home to Ruedi’s apartment before going to the family home in San Rafael the following day. The flight was delayed several hours due to mechanical difficulties. Monty texted Ruedi at 4:00 a.m. that his flight had arrived. Ruedi drove his bright green Geo Prism to the airport. His apartment is within 15 min from the airport. Monty checked no baggage, so the pick up was quick. 

The boys proceeded to Ruedi’ apartment from the airport. They came off 280 onto Junipero Serra, traveling north. A 911 call was received about the accident at 4:33 a.m. They had been rearended by a late model turbocharged VW driven by a 21-year-old young man from Freemont. Officers at the site estimated from the wreckage and the scattering of debris that the VW was traveling at about 100 mph. We do not yet know what happened to Geo after the rear impact. We do know that it was mangled beyond recognition. The VW traveled perhaps 100 yards down the median of Junipero Serra until striking a pole. The VW driver did not survive the crash. 

We surmise that Ruedi was tired and asked Monty to drive—Monty was found in the driver’s seat and Ruedi was found in the back seat by officers at the accident scene. 

God was looking out for the boys—they could hardly have picked a better place to have a terrible accident—the accident occurred within a mile of one of the top 3 trauma hospitals in the country, San Francisco General Hospital. What’s more, the top neurosurgical team from UCSF, a top neurological team in the country, was on shift at the time, and both boys are attended by the chief of that team. The boys arrived there within about an hour of the crash. Both arrived unconscious but breathing on their own. 

Mother Meg received the call at about 5:30, as she neared the end of her nursing night shift at Novato Community Hospital.

Between the two of them, the boys suffered only Ruedi’s two broken ribs. Spinal cords check out fine. No internal bleading. Ruedi suffered a lung puntured by broken rib, but that resolved early in the day Saturday. Initially ultrasound showed a cut on Monty’s kidney, but later films showed that to be gone. 

The Concern:

Head trauma for both boys is the concern. Throughout the day Saturday, both boys remained in a coma, under sedation and anti-siezure medications. They were placed on respirators. The team performed two CT scans and placed intracranial pressure and H2O monitors on both boys.

Monty had the most significant injury. His CT showed relatively small bruising/bleading on the back of the brain. Ruedi had no bruising/bleading. Both had intracranial swelling. Monty’s swelling resulted in pressure early in the day at about 23. That later reduced to about the 6-10 range. Under 20 is desired. Ruedi’s pressure was under 10 all day. 

The medical team’s plan is to check the boys’ mental status three times per 12-hour shift. They reduce the sedation and assess the stumulus that evokes response from the boys. Monty remained non responsive each time he was checked yesterday. Ruedi reacted to poking. One nurse reported that in checking Ruedi he gave her a “thumbs up” when asked a question designed to assess higher brain function. However, that report could not be confirmed on later inquiry. Also, the last assessment before 9 p.m. received no response from Ruedi.

Please get the community aware. Please pray for them.

In SF with the fam. Only 2 more hours till cheesecake factory. Sitting in fancy chairs waiting….

Won't You dance with me, Oh
Lover of my soul,
to the song of all songs?
Romance me, Oh 
Lover of my soul 
to the song of all songs.

is the first official team meeting for INSPIRE.2010, very excited to share the heart of the event with the team. For those of you who have not gathered what the event is, stay tuned for more updates as it begins to approach. Keep this in your prayers, regardless to what god you pray too or if you pray at all, it means no difference to us, just keep inspire in your hearts because I believe it will be a life changing night.

thank you for your support.

//c.childs

we’re all in this together.

A few months ago I played guitar at a church I did not attend. A good friend of mine was the worship leader there. I only knew a select few in the crowd, for the most part I was a stranger there. Worship, for me, is life; every aspect of it. After the service was over and the music stopped I was approached by a girl named Bethany, who said she had something to say to me from God. She said she didn’t know me, and that she didn’t know where I was in life and she knew nothing about the non-profit and the band. But she said that God was saying to me that the songs He leads me to play will be known as “new” worship, and it will draw people closer to Him.

I live my life to see that promise fulfilled. I am flawed, I fail more often than not but only to see God lift me up. I need grace. If his grace is an ocean we’re all sinking.

//c.childs

things aren’t as they seem.
life doesn’t go the way you would desire. 
you feel ignored, rejected or misunderstood.
you feel unappreciated. 
you get hurt.

we understand. we’re people. we experience life the same as you do. Taking a risk is a hard thing to do, and reaching to someone in an effort to help them is a risk in itself [what if they dont want your help.]

trust me, i’ve experienced this in every degree. even when all intentions are pure, people will always distort them and make into something you never intended them to be. i’ve even experienced this from close friends. and often, its extremely discouraging to know something you’ve set out to do with the most honest and purest intent can be perceived as a selfish act.

let me encourage you, don’t let pure slander stop you. don’t let peoples twisted perception of what you are doing stop you from doing good.

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, Because the Lord has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners.”

//c.childs

A good friend of mine wrote this, and i thought it was something all of you should hear. Read it all the way, great message:

“Today while lying in the sun on my trampoline, I was chatting with my best friend. It reminded me how important it is to love yourself.

in a effort to try and not judge other people and the way they worship God, or live their lives. I feel the importance of loving yourself has been over looked. Loving yourself, feeling confident, soooooo important.
A. You should love yourself because you were made exactly the way God wanted you
B. You should love yourself because you respect something you love, and you should respect yourself, and the holy spirit dwells inside you
C. it has been proven that it is harder to trust, and let others love you if you don’t love yourself first.
It seems obvious the world has offered some twisted ideas about what love is, it’s hard to attain true, true love: “Love is patient and kind. Love is not boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever truths wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.” 1Corinthians 13:4-7
When I think about God’s grace and love he has for the world, for me, it’s hard to wrap myhead around it.Why me? Am I worth his love? I feel that is because humans are used to disappointment; disappointing ourselves, disappointing others, and being disappointed. And with so much hurt, how could you imagine never disappointing someone? Someone who has NEVER and will NEVER disappoint you? Because we are often so distant from real love, God’s idea of love, so it makes it harder for humans to realize his love. The world makes it easier to hate yourself, because if your “insecure” people feel more bad for you, but if you actually like yourself your called names like “cocky” or “self-centered”, and yes I agree those terms may apply to some people, and are negative. But loving yourself, for the fact God loves you, is right, not negative, being confident in the Lord is not a bad thing. Because with that confidence that he loves you and will take care of you relieves the worries of the world, the worries God wants to take care of FOR YOU. God is there for me, and for everyone, i urge everyone myself included to be there for him back. With loving yourself comes loving others, which is important to God because everyone, whether they believe in him or not, is a creature of God, and he loves them. “Therefore, love each other deeply for love covers over a multitude of sins” 1Peter 4:8. With loving yourself comes respecting yourself, not falling into the offerings of the world, which will harm you, but sinking into the offerings of God which are always in your best interest. “Don’t you realize your bodies are actual parts of Christ? Should a man take his body, which is apart of Christ, and join it to a prostitute? Never!” 1Corinthians 6:15. The fact that God dwells inside me, disturbs me because I often feel like I’m a unsafe home for the holy spirit. But I do love and respect myself, and others (fail sometimes), because it is what God has called me, and everyone to do. I want to be a safe haven for the holy spirit.

Fact is: love yourself, and love others.Not only for the fact of being made in God’s image, believing that or not believing that, but for the fact your a living person, and your worth it. I urge all to love themselves, then to love people. YOUR WORTH IT, I promise. I don’t care what you’ve done, what your going to do, or who you are, YOUR WORTH LOVE and that should never be forgotten.”

-gabriella gaus.

:: well there you have it, she summed it up quite nicely so good night friends. read more of her blog at http://ithinkillfindmyway.blogspot.com/

peace.

//c.childs