Meet the Fountain & the Jones Families

I searched my Christmas Ziploc bags in the attic for pictures of the Fountain and the Jones Families. Many of you have been praying for these families who are good friends of ours whose daughters were in a severe car accident and who are still hospitalized.

First is the wonderful Fountain family. Preyer, Mary Norris, Richard, Peter, and Janie (L to R. Janie is the one who was in the accident).

Janie is in a medically induced coma and on a respirator. Pray that she not get a lung infection, and that she will respond to simple commands. Janie loves singing and tennis (she's sings in a group called OneVoice). I know this sounds funny, but I think of Janie everytime I take the lint out of the dryer. Emily once told me Janey loved that job when she was little. I lifted her up to the Lord again for His touch with the untold others who are praying—as I scraped the lint off today.

Emily writes a Christmas letter that I can't wait to get each December. (My Mary, who many of you know is blind captures Emily's high energy and incredible busy life with 5 children in her crack impersonation of her.)☺ Stop reading my blog and read Emily's at Soli Deo Gloria. She is now blogging bedside from Janey's ICU room. You will want to check out Emily's blog—I promise—you will not be the same after reading it.

I couldn't help but include the picture below even though it's a couple years old.

As for Richard, Emily's husband—everyone says he looks like Robert Redford. I agree! Don't you think so? To top it off, his favorite all-time movie is Jeremiah Johnson (Robert Redford stars in it if you haven't seen it). Richard came to know the Lord when he was still under his 20s at a Billy Graham crusade.☺

Now meet the Jones Family. Lisa, Tessa, Mary Courtney, Troy, Rob, and Clay. (L to R) This picture wass a few years ago—but I grabbed it when I saw it just now—the attic temp was rising—it would Christmas 2012 before I got this out! I want you to see who you are praying for.

Tessa is the one who was in the accident. She remembers everything and is very concerned about the other three girls. Tessa suffered multiple fractures, and has had wrist, shoulder, and hip surgery. She also has back fractures. (Her dad had very similar fracturea when he broke his back pole vaulting in college and missed the pad—from what Lisa told us—the back has to heal itself. Rob became an orthopaedic surgeon:-)

Tessa runs cross country—but I think her favorite activity is TALKING!!! A young woman after my heart!☺(Update to this blog: we saw Lisa and Tessa yesterday, and Tessa had her third surgery—her hip today, 8/29. I posted a very brief update of our visit here.)

Here's Tessa's brother Troy, with her before her neck brace was taken off: (I didn't take this, I wasn't there) Troy tweeted it with, "couldn't have asked to be with anyone else on my last day of summer."

We all live about a quarter a mile from each other and worship together at the same church—as do several other families who all live in the same neighborhood. Emily is our women's Bible study leader beginning in two weeks (she has a back-up teacher). And girls love going to younglife whose mission is to bring the good news of Christ to adolescence whose laughter and LOUD singing I could hear in our basement when we were blessed with the 80 or so kids here when it was our son's Alex's turn to host younglife.

I want to end today with what both families put in their Christmas Cards.

The Jones put Matthew 19:26 ~

"With God all things are possible."

And Emily closed her Christmas 2011 letter saying:

"... Whatever our blessings or our losses, Christmas has come to remind us that the Lord has come; the Savior is here! No loss is any match for the Lion of Judah. No fear can overwhelm the Prince of Peace. No sorrow can overcome the King of Glory. If He can redeem a lost world, then He will surely ultimately redeem all our losses for our greater good and His greater glory. May we all rejoice in Him!"

Thank you for continuing to pray for these and all the families in the accident (Crone and Bernard families as well) through this time.

"Those who know your name will trust in You, for You, Lord, 

have never forsaken those who seek You." ~Psalm 9:10

Walk in Faith,