Rachel's Miracle, my nightmare, and journey back to joy.
www.rachelcrisp.com
Our little Rachel who is now 8 years old as of Jan 17, 2011 and gifted, healthy, beautiful girl who is living life to the fullest.... but at 6 months old, on August 3rd, 2003, we were on the way home from lunch after church, it was pouring down rain, 3pm in the afternoon... I was sitting in the back seat of our minivan beside little baby Rachel in her rear facing car seat as my husband Bob, drove.
After several minutes of trying to settle her from serious crying, I realized that she had a VERY soiled diaper with evidence of the super-poop coming out from the TOP of her little pants at the waist line. OK gross! No wonder she was screaming! AND I SAID TO MY HUSBAND BOB, "BRACE YOURSELF, I AM TAKING HER OUT OF HER CAR SEAT FOR A MINUTE TO CHANGE HER DIAPER....!"
Her clean diaper on, soiled darling little pants from her church outfit all tied up in the publix bag, I was still leaning over to the floor board of the van where I had changed her diaper, when I heard Bob YELL, "WATCH OUT".......... I must have been in the process of lifting her up to put her back in her car seat... although, I did not see the wreck, so we guess I was still bent over. Not clear.
Moms, always stop your car or ask the driver to stop, off the road, if you have to change a diaper, nurse, or console your child. My mistake, although, the troopers said she could have been hurt badly in this case, had she been in the seat??? Divine protection regardless. I was a "never take your child out of car seat or seat belt" crusader. And you know how fast you can clean up your baby and put on a clean diaper... So, many moms have said to me "oh what are the chances".......... well............... !
SO, the lady told the state trooper that she saw the RED LIGHT, but she did not see anyone coming, and since it was raining so hard, it would be best to run the light rather than stop fast in the rain."
She hit our van, "T-boned" us, right into my back seat drivers side door, the impact busted the window out beside me (thank God) and sent our van spinning in the middle of that intersection...
OH MY GOD, we are in a wreck?! Rachel is not back in her car seat, glass in raining down on us... the van is spinning.
When I could see, Little Rachel, was in mid air, seemed suspended there at that second, and her bright blue eyes were looking right into mine... as she sailed out the window, across the intersection and landed... in a puddle, on her bottom, screaming and crying.
You know how fast these kind of things happen, yet while it is happening, time kind of stands still and you have what seems like a looooooong time to ponder, think, panic, pray, reason...
I was screaming "my baby, my baby" all the while I watched her like a frizbee out my shattered window. Bob, my sweet husband, did not know she had been ejected from the van.... he just turned around in panic to see about us and me yelling "my baby"... only to find me stuck in my seat, pointing across the highway.. and then I started yelling, "go get her please"...
He did. The sweet man, in the light blue sweater who saw the accident helped Bob move her from the puddle back to our van... it was still pouring rain so hard.. The man cautioned Bob, not to pick her up, he was a retired paramedic, but tell a Daddy he can not pick up his crying 6 month old who just flew over 30 feet in the rain across a highway and lying in a puddle face up in the rain... they gently picked her up and the man helped Bob walk back to the van. We were hurt, but not aware of it under the circumstances with our attention 100% on Rachel.
Bob said, he knew she was "whole" when he put his hands under her to lift her up into his arms...
Ambulance came, and freaked out since it appeared she was bleeding from the mouth, what turned out to be a small glass cut in corner of her mouth. Put her on the back board and put me and Daddy in the back of ambulance with her. We went to our local hospital, tests for 3 hours there while waiting for the storm to pass so that BayFlight could get her from Sarasota Memorial to All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg, FL. We stayed beside her the whole time except for the helicopter ride, patient and flight crew only. Our pastors drove us to St. Pete.
4 days of MRI's, ct scans and more... Everyone amazed that there were no broken bones, or bleeds to the brain. Doctor after doctor, radiologists, neurosurgeon, in and out of our room all amazed and totally NOT accepting that she was really ok. All telling us that this is always a sad ending, death or severe injury and pain the result of a person, a baby, being thrown from a spinning vehicle. Yes, A Miracle! Everyone agreed.
Well, miraculously, she was not injured other than carpet rash on her head and glass cuts from the shattered window.. you can see we realized we had our camera while we were in the ambulance and Bob started documenting this event at that time.
We were/are SO thankful for the news that she was not seriously injured and the follow up checkups with the pediatric neurosurgeon would confirm, she is 100% fine. Miracle! Happy parents and happy doctor. He said, such a rare report and he was thrilled!
She truly was touched by an angel and Rachel's ministry has begun. People could not help themselves from just wanting to touch her or hold her when we shared her story. And Now she just had her 8th birthday.
8 years......... every day a true gift and I know this. So WHAT has been wrong with ME? Shortly after the accident, I started going into what, now I know was post traumatic stress syndrome.... depression, despair, insomnia, night sweats, nightmares, numb. And my baby was FINE! She was thriving, and I was dying from the experience of this close call.
Lots of prayer, seeking, asking, and surrounding myself with others who live life to the fullest, reminding me that, that is who "I" am. Where have I been?.... still working it out, but NOW I KNOW.... there is so much to be gained by telling this miraculous story of God's protection as well as the things He has blessed me with through the years in my direct sales and speaking career... the millions in earnings due to the relationships that were built and most still remaining... someone would rather this incident render me "speechless" and silence the GOOD report.
Time flies, whether you are having fun or not! NOW, after hearing this story or visiting www.rachelcrisp.com, most people understand why I am such a supporter of working from home and having the power or CHOICES over how to spend your life. It is so much more than the money you can earn. It's the gift of today and what we choose to do with it.
It has been almost 8 years since that happened, and I have enjoyed my husband and daughter deep in my heart, but I know that I was literally going through the motions and I am sure my family was wondering where my joy went, my optimism... the eternal optimist that I have always been, but now I was just enduring the day, smiling as much as possible on the outside... but just not me. I was stuck.
Well, I am on my journey still, and the journey to back to joy is on!
I still have more that I know needs to come out, I need to write it, and someone needs to hear it.
Yes, earning millions in network marketing changed my life. I am thankful to understand this business model which gives us all options and can create financial peace and freedom of time. But.... watching my baby girl 'fly out the window' and that miracle of protection has brought a whole new level of meaning and purpose to my life.
Thank you for visiting and reading my story and pass it on. God is good. Life is great! Every day is a gift! Discover what the desires of your heart are and DO THAT! And choose to live your life today, to the fullest. Today you were given the g i f t o f a d a y. Brace yourself. And LIVE TODAY WITH PASSION!
Blessings!
