104. Karen: Help, Jesus Help Me!

The most powerful words someone can admit is, "Jesus! Please help me!" More often than not, this desperate plea is expressed not when things are going well, it's expressed when things are all bad. God is always available and faithful whenever his children cry out for help. In this episode, you will hear the compelling story of Karen's desperate cry for help when she was suddenly struck by a car. Karen is a walking miracle and living testimony of Jesus helping her then and today; everyday. Jesus can do the same for you!

Transcript

EP 104 Karen Pre Descript

Jack: [00:00:00] Jesus in my life, episode 104. 

Karen: The paramedics come and we're taken away. I have one ambulance for me, one ambulance for my husband. Still, I don't know my condition. I don't know. Do my legs have to be amputated? Am I paralyzed? Do I have a broken neck? You know, what are the extent of my injuries? Am I going to make it through the night?

I don't know.

Jack: Welcome to Jesus in My Life, a podcast with Rob and Jack, where we interview everyday people like me and you about their extraordinary experiences with our Savior, Jesus Christ. Welcome to another episode of Jesus in my life podcast. This is your host Jack with my co host Rob. 

Rob: Hey everybody. So blessed to be with you and Jack, I'm so blessed to be co hosting this podcast with you.

Jack: Oh, well thank you. Well, today we have in studio, Karen. Karen is a new friend in Christ, sister in the Lord, and she has quite a [00:01:00] story to tell. Karen, welcome to the show. 

Karen: Thank you. Nice to be here today. Welcome. 

Jack: All right. Well, Karen, , we really want to jump into the meat and potatoes of what I want to talk to you about today.

But before that, why don't you give us a little introduction of Who you are, where you're from. How did you come to know Jesus? 

Karen: I grew up in a minister's family in a very, very small conservative church. And so I always wanted to be a Christian. I always wanted to follow the Lord. But when I was 15, I went to a church camp and unbeknownst to our little group, the Holy spirit just fell and the kids were, we were all just born again.

And most of our parents hadn't even experienced or. Seen anything like, like what we experienced. So we came back to our church on fire. And I honestly thought at that time I was like an apostle. And I thought I was one, a solo person in the world. I didn't know any other young teenagers or anybody else on fire born again for Jesus like this.

I didn't know [00:02:00] anybody in our church, in our town, nowhere. So. We were just like on fire for Jesus, having Bible studies at our home, doing, putting on youth conferences at our church, inviting other churches and just a revival is just breaking out in our little sphere of influence. And miraculously, which is another story, miraculously in my sophomore year of high school, I get an invite.

I get sponsored. to go to Pepperdine University. I was going to a school in Oregon. It was a total miracle set of fleas. The Lord was just showed us so clearly to go there. So I go there and lo and behold, There's a Jesus movement. All these other people are experiencing what I had experienced when I thought I was like the only one, me and my sister and my brother.

And the spirit of God had just been pouring out, saving all these people like on the beach, hippies, young people people from all different denominations, [00:03:00] people in church, out of church. Miraculous deliverances from drugs and alcohol and all kinds of things. It was so amazing to be there and I met my husband and so that's how I became a Christian and just followed him all, all the years and have had many Bible studies, led worship.

That's, that's my story. How I came to Christ. 

Rob: Yeah. I love how you describe the fire of the Holy Spirit's movement. And I just love how God connects, you know, like fire breeds fire type of thing, you know, and it sounds like, I mean, we're just getting into the story and I just love that we've already hit that.

All right. So 

Jack: we're going to fast forward to a couple of years ago. You and your husband had a ministry of praying and you guys would go on prayer walks and tell us about this crazy encounter you had. Okay. 

Karen: So one of our habits was to go on a walk, walk. We did our power walking. And as the Bible says, when you go on the walks, because the good [00:04:00] deeds of the Lord and pray and tell one another of his deeds.

And so we would go on our walks and we would. Just praise the Lord and pray for our family, pray for friends, pray for everyone. And that's what we're doing. That was just our typical practice almost daily or a few times a week anyway. And we are walking on part of the neighborhood that was built for walking, walking dogs, a big grass and sidewalk, very safe.

We went there on purpose because it was a safe place to We come to a corner. It was a four way stop and there is a car sitting at the stop sign, not moving, no blinker, not going anywhere, just stopped and we're waiting. What is this person going to do? Go straight, turn. And they just kept sitting there. So my husband goes.

You know, they're looking at a phone or they're, you know, so come on, let's go. We're fine there. There's no blinker. So if they do go, they're just gonna go straight, right? So as soon as we take off [00:05:00] from the curb, my husband's in front of me, I hear, pow, my husband's hitting this car. The car had turned in an instant when we started out and hit my husband and knocked him to the ground.

And I turn and look and I see the grill of this car. Just coming towards me and I'm thinking surely after they hit my husband, they're going to stop, not keep coming. But they came on, hit me straight on, knocked me down and ran over me with the front tires over my midsection of my body. I am just in shock and disbelief.

I don't know if I'm dead or alive. I cannot even believe this has happened. I And I'm sitting there thinking, is this the day I'm going to stand before the Lord? Is this the day that we talk about? Is this it? What's it going to be like? I'm going to meet my maker. What, what do I, Oh my goodness, am I going to go through a tunnel?

Am I going to go through? And I'm thinking all this in a [00:06:00] split second. And all of a sudden I realize, Oh no, here come the rear tires. They're coming over my legs. And I have a split second. Do I tighten up or do I relax? Do I tighten up or do I relax? And I'm like, I, I just like tighten my legs as hard as I could.

I just tighten them. It was a Highlanders, that's an SUV. So it rolls over my legs and I am just like, Oh my goodness. Now it's even more of a reality. I don't know. Like, did my legs get cut off or they chopped off? Or I, I'm just in shock. I'm laying there and the person just drives off. We're both just laying in the street.

There's no one around. There's no one around us. No, no witnesses. Nobody, we're just both lying in the street and I don't know if I'm dead or alive. And I don't know what, you know, I kept thinking, am I going to be in a tunnel? Do I go through a river? Do I see a bright light? I'm just like, and I'm panicking [00:07:00] because if I'm not complete, if I'm not dead, another car, we're both laid out in the street.

If it turns, it's going to not see us maybe and just Come on me again, straight up over my face and head and everything else. And I'm, I'm panicking over that inside of myself. And all of a sudden a man shows up and he bends down and he puts his hands on my temples. And he says, hi, I'm an off duty paramedic and I'm going to stay here with you till the paramedics come.

And at that moment, Oh, I'm just like, if a car comes, he's going to wave his hands. He's going to. Stand in front of me and tell him don't go and and oh this piece just came over me like whoo You know how fortunate he came and then he goes over and he's talking to my husband and he's like, are you Rick?

Are you her husband? She's gonna be okay. I'm gonna be here with you. I'll wait here till the ambulances come then the [00:08:00] lady had parked and walked back to us and And Said to me, what's your name? What's your name? What's your name? And a very shrill voice and I was I, at that point I was so, oh, that voice just, my nerves were just, I was already in shock and my nerves just couldn't take it.

And my husband heard that and he starts crying and I believe he gets up and he's saying, what are you doing? You killed my wife. Get away from her. She can't talk. She can't talk. What are you doing? And then he fainted again and fell back to the ground. And then I couldn't take it anymore and I didn't know if I could talk cause I thought I couldn't.

I thought I was in some realm and it was so annoying to me that I, I just got the energy up and I just said, it's Karen. And then she goes, Oh, what's your last name? What's your last name? And I was like, ah, and my, and then my husband just came and glued about it. He's like, what are you doing? Get away from her.

And I'm thinking, why does this man just let her keep the man that's [00:09:00] still at my head? Keep letting her talk to me. Why does he not say anything? So finally he says. Go over to the curb. And so she just quietly turned and went over to the curb. And the paramedics come and, and we're taken away. Uh, one ambulance for me, one ambulance for my husband.

Still I don't know my condition. I don't know, do my legs have to be amputated? Am I paralyzed? Do I have a broken neck? You know, what are the extent of my injuries? Am I gonna make it through the night? I don't know. So we're, we're taken off in the ambulance and go to the hospital and rushed in and the doctors are looking at, you know, put through the CT scan a couple of times and all the exams and then they tell me I'm going to be going into surgery like for all night like for 15 hours I'm going to be in surgery and I'm just praying and my main prayer was please don't let them have to do a catheter.

I don't want to go through that I'm already in enough pain but I [00:10:00] thought I don't want to have all this surgery but at least They'll put me out and I'll have relief from my pain. I'll be, 

Jack: was it extremely painful at this point in time? 

Karen: It was painful. I was coping with it. So maybe shock sort of helps you a little bit, but I never like fainted myself.

People wonder, did you feel the pain? Yes. Did you feel the car rolling over you? Yes. Did you ever faint? Literally faint? No. I was in that state of shock, but I never passed out as I believe my husband had passed out a couple of times. So the doctor, I, you know, I have the, I'm straight jacketed and I have the cone on my neck and all this, you know, and I'm just don't know, am I going to be a paraplegic?

Am I paralyzed? Will I be wheelchair bound? Will I be an amputee? I don't know any of these things, you know? And the doctor, after all this, when they put me through, they had to put me through the CT scan twice or the MRI. So that was a little unnerving because. If they have to [00:11:00] do it twice, it gives you a little more, maybe room for concern.

Maybe, maybe on the other hand, you could be more, they're like double checking that, that a better option might be available and they want to make sure I'm about to be sent to go towards surgery. And this doctor comes running out with my scans and everything, reading and he's like, he comes running out and he's like, I don't, whoa, wait up, wait up.

I don't think she's going to go to surgery. I don't think she's going to go to surgery. I had broken pelvis bones on both sides. I had a broken lower back. I had my organs were flattened in my middle, my legs were Muscles and tendons, the weight of a vehicle going over him, it draws them up. It draws them up because the pressure and my right calf was torn and they were twisted around and all my tissue in my legs was removed.

Like my tissue was loose. Like he said, it was like a baked potato where you have the skin around it, but you mush it up and inside it's just loose mush. So I had no, like all the [00:12:00] tissue was torn off and just loose inside my legs. And I had big cuts everywhere from my feet and ankles, face, arms, and I had huge like tire dents, like my thighs were just like smashed, you know, and my, my stomach area was smashed too from it.

My gallbladder was flattened and I had all kinds of internal bleeding and a lot of bruising and bleeding on in my mid section where the tires ran over. 

Jack: Is it fair to say you were in critical condition? 

Karen: I would think so. But when he ran out and said, I don't think she needs surgery. Sometimes less is more, sometimes less is more.

The way my brakes were, Oh, I forgot the main part of the story. When I realized the car was coming to me, I knew to get out the name of Jesus. Get out the name of Jesus. I shout to the Lord, shout, and I screamed out in that neighborhood at the top of my lungs as loud as I [00:13:00] could. Help me, Jesus. I screamed out, help me, Jesus.

And when he came running in and said, wait a minute, all her breaks look like maybe we don't need to do surgery on them. If she's just like bedridden, maybe less is more. We'll have the doctors confer, but the way your breaks are. And your legs, maybe we should see what your body does to heal itself. And it was just, they were just about to wheel me off into surgery and.

Um, I was elated. My friends and family had come hearing that I'd been seriously run over twice by a car and that I might be dead or critically injured, I might be paralyzed or whatever. They were crying. My, my husband was crying. He was in the next emergency little where you put the curtain between and he was in there.

Jack: He wasn't as badly injured as you? 

Karen: Not as bad. He had [00:14:00] concussion. and he was knocked down. He had have some injuries from his hip and maybe shoulder arm. I don't remember. So when they came and told me that, I realized, wait, if if I didn't have to have surgery, didn't that mean I didn't have to have my legs amputated?

At least they're going to wait and see. And didn't that mean I'm alive? And Maybe I, if they thought I might be paralyzed when they try to do maybe a surgery, isn't this great news? And so my husband next door was crying in the other emergency room curtain next to me. And we were having, going to have a party with our Bible study group.

I planned a party. And when I realized, Hey, I'm going to live. I'm going to live. So I told my husband, I'm [00:15:00] shouting. I don't know where he is. I didn't know he was right next to me, Rick, Rick, because I knew he was so worried, Rick, I'm screaming out in the emergency room. And then he's like, I'm right here.

And he's right next to me. I didn't know it. And I'm like, we're still going to have our party. We're still going to have our party. I said, I'm having a gardener come for spring cleanup. Make sure you meet him there. Make sure you meet him at eight. He's coming. I probably won't be able to be there. And then he was like, I knew she was okay.

She's starting to give me orders. And I was, I was elated. I was, instead of being, I just went to cloud nine. I was elated. So they put me in a room and now I am just so elated. That I was alive, I was an amputee, I didn't even have to have surgery, and I didn't have to have the catheter. 

Jack: That was your favorite part.

I was 

Karen: [00:16:00] elated. So, my kids were so concerned, so worried about me. So my daughter had little ones at home and she jumped in her old van and drove by herself all the way from Idaho. And if you know, there's a lot of desolate where it says, do not pitch, pick up hitchhikers. There's a prison there. You go through reservations, you know, and her, her van was not any top running vehicle.

Okay. She jumps in the car and she says, mom, I'm going to stay with you for the week. And I'm like, Oh my goodness, what a blessing. How awesome. How fun to have my daughter with me for a week. So now my, my quest in my heart was how am I going to get out of this hospital? Cause I just want to go home and hang out with my daughter.

And I'm there, you know, and I'm in, I'm in traction with my legs and, and everything, and I'm like, am I going to go home? And they're like, you can't go home. I'm like, no, my daughter's going to come take care of me. So can I go home? They're like, no, [00:17:00] you have to be able to walk across this room. And sit on a port a potty thing and walk back before you are allowed to go home.

And I'm like, Oh, I think I can do that. I got broken pelvises, broken back. I got all this. I'm like, Oh, I'm pretty sure I can do that. And it's like, no, you can't. I'm like, yes, I can. So the next day I was, my daughter was showing up. I think she was already there. And so I said, okay, give me the Walker. So I tried to get up on the Walker and I'm like, Oh my goodness.

And I'm. I'm using my arms, you know to hold me up Not my not my feet to walk on and i'm trying to like do my arms and just kind of drag my feet You know and I get over there and I make it and I turn around you have to sit down and get up and I turn around and I sit on it and the nurse goes There's no way you can go home if you you got to do better than that.

I can't let you go home like that 

Rob: Yeah, yeah, 

Karen: and i'm like Okay I've got to walk back. So I'm like, Jesus, Jesus. [00:18:00] So I get on that Walker and I get up and now I wasn't quite as afraid to try a little teeny bit of weight more on my feet. So I walk up and she goes, Oh, that was pretty good that night. They let me go home to my daughter.

Jack: So how long were you in the hospital then right now? Was this like two days? Yeah. Two days with multiple broken parts of your body, your organs flattened. This is a tissue off my legs. 

Karen: Yes. Really? Yes, 

Jack: you shouldn't even have been able I'm surprised even let you try to stand 

Karen: I know I know So another thing that happened when my son was in Redding, California And I'm in the Sacramento area when he heard about my accident and he thought maybe I was dead or dying He was panicked.

So he and a friend jumped in a car And I think they told me they went over a hundred miles an hour the whole way, which upset me because he could have ended up being the one meeting his maker. [00:19:00] Anyway, so, and on the way, the friend of his had a vision of me sitting up and smiling and laughing and being all fine in the hospital bed and there, my son's vision was me, you know, Half dead, laying there like in pain and unconscious and about, you know, and they raced and got out of the car and ran and ran into my room.

And when they saw me there, I was up laughing exactly the picture that he saw. I was smiling. My daughter was there. I'm laughing with everybody because I was so elated that. I was alive. I was so elated that, you know, people say, wow, you had so much faith. Oh, you had such a good attitude. No, I had such a good outcome.

I didn't have to deal with amputated legs or death or being paralyzed or broken neck. I didn't have to deal with [00:20:00] all the possibilities that could have happened and I was so thankful and so elated and I was on cloud nine for months, months after that, even though I had to be like pretty much in traction for a year at home, I had to always have my legs up.

I could, my knees were the size of basketballs cause I had like a lot of leg damage, meniscus tears in each leg and my one, like I said, my torn calf muscles up stuck under my knee cap and. And then I have no, I have no muscles on my knees. They were torn off. You know, my knees are like donuts that you see some of it around.

And then the hole in the middle that goes to my kneecaps. But anyway, so, you know, I just, I could get up and walk eventually a little bit, but. I'd have to quickly go back and put my legs up because they would just my ankles and my knees would just swell up but I could do a little I could get up and move get a drink of water go back and put my legs up I could go and eventually I could even like maybe go go to church you know I I started with a [00:21:00] wheelchair and then I had the walker then I had a cane You know, it was a year progression of of that and I went to physical therapy constantly for like three years 

Jack: Karen, can you give us a time frame?

Like how many years ago was it that you got hit by the car? 

Karen: This has been over 10 years ago now 10 years ago. Yeah, 

Jack: this is not an A visual podcast, but just so our audience knows, you would not know that she was in a major accident run over by a car twice. I guess what you say, but you know, two different tires.

She's, she walks around normal. I mean, you're, you're a walking miracle. 

Karen: They told me I might always be in a wheelchair for the rest of my life, or at least a walker or cane, you know? And I said, well, no, I'm going to get well, I'm going to get well. And what, well, what's well, well, I want to do the things I did before the accident.

Well, what do you mean? Well, I want to go tobogganing with my kids in the snow with my grandkids and we jump on the trampoline and I ride [00:22:00] horses and I play tennis and I just want to do the normal things I did before, you know, just get well. And the doctor looked at me and said, Well, you shouldn't be doing those things anyway.

And I'm like, what, what, that's what getting well is. You do the same things you did before. You're well. And to this day I have, I play tennis. I can jump on a trampoline. I've been tobogganing in the snow with the kids. I've ridden horses. I can walk and jog. It was hard. When I first started walking again, I had to take the walker and just to go through a Through the parking lot strip mall from one store down to the end, it would take me a half an hour with my walker just to go what normally would take you four minutes.

It was just so, hard, but there's no reason to give up. Just stick with your physical therapy. Just do your exercises , and just know you're going to get well with God's help. You know, I still have issues. I have issues to this day, but they're livable. So if I would have had this [00:23:00] surgery. They, they said sometimes that can cause other complications.

Sometimes it's 50 50 with surgeries is what they told me. You can get better, but also it can cause complications that can make maybe things worse. So sometimes the way God has made our bodies, they can heal themselves. And you know, I've thought about a possible couple of surgeries, but that's mostly just for looks, you know, just to make my legs look better or things that are ended up weird and lumpy.

And I could do them, but then it could cause problems too. So, at the end of three years of recovery, trying to recover, our insurance is trying to debate. We had the same insurance as the woman that ran over me, and there were no witnesses there. The whole thing is, who's part of the insurance pays for all, all of this.

It's kind of weird because it's the same insurance company. 

Jack: Comfort of interest. Yes. 

Karen: And then they were trying to prove that we jumped out in front of the [00:24:00] car that with no witnesses, one word against another word, the woman had confessed that she'd been drinking, but she was older and it was a rookie cop and he didn't even give her a breathalyzer test because in his mind, old people just acted funny anyway.

And he didn't even think. That at this time of day that she'd be possibly drunk and afterwards just out of her own remorse She volunteered that information, but now there's no way to Use it or anything and I didn't want to sue the woman but we did have to get a lawyer involved because I was too ill and my husband was too distraught to even try to You know, even answer when the insurance starts calling you and bombarding you and, you know, offering you 5, 000.

And so a friend of ours recommended a family member lawyer to help us. So that's why it took, it took three years of the insurance trying to figure it out. 

Jack: And 

Karen: at the very end, I was so tired [00:25:00] of insurance questions because all I want to think about is being well and being healed. And the insurance wants you to think about.

Uh, your injuries so they can 

Rob: say 

Karen: how injured you were and they were 

Rob: reliving the yeah and be 

Karen: be ill and see how bad it is. And I didn't want to think like that. So it was a big conflict. But so at the very last we're talking like some attorneys and insurance agents and people and we're all in a in a group conference room together and they're still debating that there were no witnesses.

And I say, Well, what about the man, the off duty paramedic that was there that showed up that held my temple and talked to us and stayed with us till the ambulances came? How come nobody's got his, his statement? How come nobody's mentioning him? He was the first one there. He was right there. And they all just look at me really strangely, like deer in the [00:26:00] headlights.

My husband and I are looking at each other like What in the world, you know, and you're, we're actually letting the insurance agents and the lawyers speak more than we do. That's kind of the way it goes. So when we left, nobody addressed him. Nobody addressed him. Where's his statement? He was there when the police officer came.

He was there when the ambulances came. How come nobody's got his statement? They don't even have his name. There's no record of him on their records. So we leave and I said, Rick, you know what? We've really got to go find that man and thank him for being there with us. We've got to thank him and, and maybe he can have a statement or something.

So my husband says, well, how will we find him? And I said, well, we'll just go back to the accident scene and we'll just knock on doors and we'll ask about him. And then we'll, he probably lives right around there. That's probably why he was right there. And you'll recognize him. And he goes, well, how will I [00:27:00] recognize him?

And I said, well, you were talking to him. He was talking to you and you saw him. Obviously you'll know what he remember what he looks like. And after three years, my husband says, well, I never saw him. I'm like, what? You were up standing up. He was talking to us. He's waiting for the ambulance. Well, I never saw him because I could never, I never opened my eyes.

And you never saw him either. And there's no record of him on, as a statement given, he was the first one there and stayed through the ambulances coming, the policemen coming, taking the record, and then when he told that woman, go over to the curb and she just finally just quietly turned and went to the curb and he says, I'll be here with you, your wife's going to be fine.

And we're like, Oh my goodness, I screamed out, help me Jesus. And he was either Jesus or an angel. And he, the [00:28:00] piece he gave us when he showed up that, Oh no, another car won't come and run over me. The piece I got when he touched my temples and stayed with me and his voice was so comforting. And to both me and my husband, we were all three having a conversation.

And I thought all those three years that my husband had his eyes open. They were talking together. He was up, standing up, talking with him and my husband never saw him either. There's no record of him. So, 

Rob: uh, I love it. I think total speechless. It's just amazing. 

Jack: It is. And I think, you know, God never promised that we would not face hardship in this world, but he has promised to never leave us and never forsake us.

And he didn't forsake you he didn't leave your side And if it wasn't jesus, it was one of his angels That was clearly there. Yes, and you're a walking miracle, right? Like the fact that the way you describe i'm not [00:29:00] physician, but I don't think you need to be a physician A highlander is a heavy car Your organs.

I don't know how you could be alive if your organs get flat like a pancake. Yes, you're a miracle It's 

Karen: a miracle. 

Jack: Yeah, 

Karen: and You One little anecdote about six weeks before this accident. I got up one morning and We go through spurts. We're pretty active. My husband and myself were pretty active and Health conscious not extremely but some a little bit somewhat and I woke up this one morning and I said You know what?

I'm really inspired. Let's up our game. Let's every morning. Let's start off. I'm going to take bone up, which is a bone density. It helps your bone density be stronger and these vitamins. And let's do, let's start doing some strength exercises. Let's do leg lifts and lay. And we did them for six weeks before bone uptake six weeks.

And it's like, I was being, I was being prepared for this accident. I was getting in shape for it. And I said, you know what? Everything [00:30:00] works together for good for those that love God and are called according to his purpose. And I always wished I was thinner and slimmer and leaner. And I was like, Oh my goodness.

If I didn't have the padding I had, Oh my goodness. How did my bones and my legs even not be just crushed to smithereens? I was like, you can be thankful for everything. Right. 

Rob: I just love Karen. Oh, there's, I mean, there's just so much. I mean, truly, when I describe after hearing sort of the crescendo of your, of your testimony, like speechless, speechless, because.

That's kind of the similar posture of when it comes to God being so good. I just go back to when you were walking there in the hospital room and, and the nurses and the doctors, I'm sure is telling you like, what are you doing? Like, no, no, no, no, no. Sit back down. I just love how God, you know, his way of describing and showing miracles in front of those who need to [00:31:00] see and experience the goodness of God as that took place in your hospital room.

And then. Subsequently through your rehab and all of that it's like Jack you said this like Jesus is the great physician he is the one who healed you and When when everything in the physical was impossible God did the miracle Impossible. He did the possible and it's just such a testimony and I'm so blessed.

Just so blessed. I mean, 

Jack: wow. Karen, I, as we kind of wrap up, I do want to address something. You were able to maintain a positive attitude through it all, right? And I have to attribute that to your faith. You recognize that Jesus helped you. He was there with you, but there's other people who suffer. There are other believers in, in.

in Christ that suffer and they struggle with seeing God in the picture or, or not finding [00:32:00] resentment for what happened. Could you speak from your personal experience to people who maybe are struggling with, why did you allow this to happen? God, 

Karen: in one way, I don't even feel I, I have a place to speak to anyone like that because all of the possibilities.

That could have happened that would have been so detrimental to me did not happen. Like I said, I'd have been in a different place if some of those possibilities would have happened. And I know that's a lot harder of a struggle to deal with. But you think of people even like Johnny Erickson, you know, God can use your situation and it just put your faith in him and just.

Keep doing the best you can physically, try, and don't give up, don't give up. My doctors told me I'd probably be in a wheelchair the rest of my life because most [00:33:00] people maybe don't work as hard on it, but I can't say that because I know people aren't able, just their injuries or their disabilities are just too prohibitive, so I, I don't feel like I can really even.

speak on the same note because I was so fortunate. That's why I was on cloud nine. And I know it's really rough to not have that good of an outcome that I had. But all I know to do is call on the name of Jesus. Put your trust in Jesus. He'll work things for your good through everything, through anything.

And just see how God can use it in your life and in other people's lives. Just give where you are in your, your situation to Jesus and ask him to use it for his glory and whatever way. And just every day try to rejoice, [00:34:00] try to play the glad game. What is there that you can be glad about today? You know, I have disabilities from my accident, but oh my goodness, Every day, play the glad game.

There's, there's always something worse and be thankful for what you do have. I know that's hard when, when you have so many obstacles maybe, but just try to focus on the good and be thankful for you're alive, you have breath, you have loved ones, you have God, you have Jesus, you have eternal life. Just be thankful.

You probably have a good testimony. Just see how God wants to use you for his glory. 

Rob: Wow. Thank you for sharing that wisdom. Well, Karen, thank you so much for sharing your story. This is going to take a little bit to process , you know, just as you declared here at the end of your story, the goodness of God and his grace and his mercy [00:35:00] and his healing.

And thank you so much for sharing. Even at the end there, the wisdom of what God has given you through this, to encourage our listeners who may be going through some, you know, whether it's health issues or emotional issues or even spiritual issues. So thank you so much. And the next episode is gonna be the testimony of your husband, Rick and his side of the story.

Mm-Hmm. and the things that he went through. Kind of a different version and am looking forward to that. But thank you so much for being , on the show today. 

Karen: You're welcome. It's my pleasure. 

Jack: It was ours as well. Everybody else, stay tuned every Tuesday for new episodes. God bless. A

reflection on today's interview. Karen's story reminds me of the power of Jesus's name. I mean, we sing this on Sundays. We sing the song, Break Every Chain, that says, there's power in the name of Jesus to break every chain, [00:36:00] to break every chain. And after our interview, Karen shared another little story about the power of Jesus's name and I was luckily able to hit record and capture it for your listening.

I hope you enjoy this little story as much as I did. 

Karen: I believe calling out the name of Jesus and screaming out his name. Shouting was my salvation or my, you know, I think it was the name of Jesus. You know, I've had other incidences where I was threatened. By a group of Bloods with ice picks in a desolate area and, I, when I was young, I was about 19 and, and I just, I just knew I had to say the name of Jesus.

I just knew I had to say the name of Jesus and they come out and they're like, I'm Chocolate Joe of the Crips. It's dark. I'm in these bushes area and by myself, I'm like 19 years old. Yeah. I'm Chocolate Joe of the Crips and I'm at Pepperdine. And I'm like, Kei Steel of Jesus Christ. [00:37:00] I'm going to a Bible study.

You guys wanna come . That's awesome. So they stopped and pick and they came, okay. They came their game, 

Rob: no way. And they just turned around. They just 

Karen: turned around. They, they came, they followed me. I walked to the, and I just knew in my, I just knew I've gotta get, Jesus, I gotta say his name out loud. I got a shout out and when he, that was perfect segue.

I'm chocolate Joe with the Crip. I'm Kei Steel of Jesus Christ, , and at the name demons. Flee at the name. Amen. Amen. 

Jack: Amen. There is power in the name of Jesus. So was good. Yeah. Wow, that's so good. I recorded that by the way, .