Life Is Precious...Don't Waste A Second

Our family certainly does not need to be reminded how fast things can change in our lives but today we were hit with something that stopped us in our tracks and made us reevaluate how we live our lives. One of our neighborhood and Ward members 8 year old son was riding his bike to school when he didn't pay attention and ran into a cement truck. He was life flighted to the hospital and all indications at the time were that he would have very extensive injuries throughout his body.

It was comforting for me to arrive on the scene and immediately be there with others from our Ward and neighborhood. Offering comfort, help and love to his parents as he was being flown away was hard and yet brought all of us closer. We talked together and planned how we would help them in the coming days for the next 45 minutes. None of us seemed to want to leave the comfort of each other. After the parents left we cried more, hugged and gave support to each other as we realized it could have been any of our kids that this could have happened to.

At the scene of the accident he was given a Priesthood blessing. How comforting that was to know that the power of the Priesthood and the prayers of all of us were with this child and his family. As we left the scene we all talked about how we would discuss this situation with our children.

It's been hours now since the accident and he will need to have a lot of reconstruction to his leg but there is not one bone broken in his body. This is NOT what we expected from the reports of all the possible injuries from those who helped him at the scene of the accident. Cole Larsen has been truly blessed and a miracle has happened today. Many of us have had a hard time today in going on with our daily tasks, but hopefully tomorrow we will be able to continue our prayers but move forward. I have volunteered to bring dinner into the family tomorrow night and hope that I can find other opportunities to help the family as it is sure to be a long recovery for him.

I am grateful for my absolute knowledge that we have a Savior who helps us at these difficult times. I know that prayers are answered. I know that with faith miracles can happen. I also accept that God can hear our prayers and feel our faith but God's will is more powerful. Learning to accept His will in our lives is what is hard to learn but the experiences that we have in this life WILL help us to return to Him if we but accept it.

I've hugged my children and husband a little more today. Maybe the lesson I was to learn from this was that I need to not wait for something like this to remind me that I need to hug and love them more. My family is so precious to me. I've waited so long to have a marriage like I have with Matt. What a wonderful man he is. I am truly blessed to be his wife. My 7 children are a gift to me. I want to spend more individual time with each of them on a regular basis. I need to not let the busy aspects of our lives interfere with that quality time together.