Week 192
Positive post Sunday, October 25, 2020- Week 192.
By the grace of God (Faith), support from (Family) and friends, a foundation of (Fitness) and the commonsense to wear a helmet, I’m alive and back writing again! Some of you may recognize my Triangle of Life: Faith, Family and Fitness which is the foundation on which I live my life. The “Triangle of Life”, is a gift I wrote and presented to my children and grandchildren on Christmas day in 2017 (see PPS weeks 46, 47 and 48).
For those that may not know, I have been out of commission due to being hit from behind by a vehicle while riding my bike. It’s amazing how your life can change in a split second. I went from planning my traditional Saturday morning 60 mile bike ride with the guys to celebrating the first day I could actually stand. Although I have many serious injuries, I’m blessed to be writing to you from the comfort of my home after spending 3 weeks in the ER, ICU and rehab at Loma Linda University Medical Center. More on the world class care I received from over 100 medical professionals at LLUMC below. The photo below is the amazing welcome home greeting I received. With Jeff, Laura, Andrew and Austin there by Facetime, this was the first time our entire family was together. I love my family!
Although my journey to recovery is far from over, I wanted to pause for a moment, acknowledge the significant progress I have made, recognize the many blessings I have received thus far and express my deep and sincere appreciation and gratitude to ALL those who have cared for, prayed for and supported me and my family.
I’m certain that my strong mental and physical fitness before the accident have aided me in my continued recovery. I attribute my mental fitness to my faith, family and friends, and my physical fitness, ironically, to all my cycling. That being said, with my extensive injuries, it has literally taken a village to help me on my road to recovery. I have been so blessed to have had world class trauma teams, physicians, nurses and occupational, physical and recreational therapists from LLUMC help me in my recovery, many of whom I did not even get the pleasure to meet. Simply put, I owe them my life and will forever be grateful for the exceptional care I received over these 3 weeks when my world was turned upside down. And then there’s Jack Kelley, a wonderful man of God who I had the privilege of sharing a room with while in the hospital. Jack, your honest, positive, faithful and service oriented outlook on life was refreshing and inspirational. I am grateful God brought you into my life, and proud to call you my brother. I hope all is well.
I have also been blessed with an amazing family and wonderful friends. As an example, knowing that I would not be able to complete my PPS while in the hospital, my dad Ken Rendler, daughters Alison Buoye and Kristy Wilson and sister Karen Longpre stepped in and wrote PPSs to keep the tradition going. I found their posts to be thoughtful, meaningful and inspirational. I’m grateful for their help in keeping this weekly tradition of sharing positivity in a world full of negativity, especially during a year when the chain of many longstanding reoccurring traditions and events has been broken.
To all my family and friends, too many to mention, thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your support including prayers, care, encouragement, cards, messages, flowers and meals. Your support is helping me heal. I have never felt so prayed for in my life. I don’t know how to explain it, and maybe it takes one to face a life threating experience, but I can tell you that I have genuinely FELT all the prayers lift me up and support me through the darkest and most painful moments I have ever experienced. God listens, and by his grace, I continue to live and carry on my mission here on earth, to serve others and help them get closer to God.
Lord, thank you for working miracles through the many health care providers and all my family and friends. Please watch over all of them and guide them as they continue to do your work. Thank you for making my journey a spiritual one and reminding me that we do not just recover from injuries, we also discover. You have blessed me with discovering and personally experiencing the true and real power of prayer and for that I am eternally grateful.
Have you ever FELT the true power of prayer? It’s amazing!