richard.wollard

Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:

Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shown kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand, at the city of New York, the 3d day of October, A.D. 1789.  GEORGE WASHINGTON

So, I got a call Friday night that went something like this; “Hi, I’m so-and-so and I work at the wall-climbing place. I’m with your daughter Catie, and she fell off the wall from about 20 feet. We’re pretty sure she broke her leg and not sure about her head or back, but I have to go right now because the ambulance just showed up.”

Okay… so what do you do with that? I managed to find out which hospital they were taking her to before we hung up. After catching my breath, I got my shoes on as Carolyn was returning from the grocery store, shot out an email prayer request, got in the car and we headed to Wisconsin.

After arriving at the hospital, we found Catie in the emergency room getting x-rays. The pain from moving her legs around trying to get an x-ray made it oblivious something was seriously wrong. The hospital she was in was not able to work with her, so they transferred her to a trauma hospital in Milwaukee. A few hours later, it’s 2AM, and we find out the good news; her head, neck, and spine appear to be fine, but she has shattered both ankles and broken her right leg.

Saturday morning she went into surgery. Originally it was supposed to be a two-part surgery, one to fix her ankles and a second to fix her broken leg, and she was looking at two weeks in the hospital. Six hours into her surgery, the doctor called us in the waiting room and said he was going to be able to finish all the work at one time. It’s funny what kind of things you can get excited about!

She has several pins, screws and plates in her right leg, but her left leg was the worst. They had to remove a lot of bone and cartilage from her left ankle and do a lot of reconstruction; this ankle will be the most problem moving forward. Saturday night was a pain ridden night and no one got any sleep, although I probably pulled down the most Sunday she did better with the pain meds, we ran home for showers and clean clothes, got back and we will stay with her Sunday evening.

Catie is sleeping well right now, I’m catching up on a few emails, and Carolyn and I are getting ready to settle into our chairs for the night. I’m not sure what Monday and Tuesday will bring, or when she will come home. The doctor is thinking sooner than later, but she can’t feel her toes right now and they are watching that.

She won’t be able to put any weight on her feet for 3 or 4 months, and then will require physical therapy after that. Recovery is going to be long and require a lot of full-time care, so we will bring her home to Illinois with us. There are still a lot of blanks to fill in and we continue to more through hour by hour, but have really experienced God’s love and guiding hand through this experience. We are so thankful for the outpouring of prayers and support, and are looking toward God for His leading.

My eyes are getting heavy, so it’s time for bed. A good friend of Catie’s gave her this verse this evening; I think I’ll clam it too: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” ~ 2 Corinthians 12:9