‘Please pray, a truck just drove over Lily!’
This was the text I received on a Friday afternoon from my sister, Krista, about her 4-year-old daughter.
After receiving that horrific text, I immediately called my sister. She did not answer. Her husband Nate did not answer. They were camping in Michigan and I didn’t know who else to call to find out what had happened and if my niece was alive.
I tried not to panic as I said a prayer for God to heal little Lily.
I asked for a miracle.
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Krista finally called me back and said Lily was alive and they were in an ambulance, headed to the hospital. Lily wanted to talk to my son Luke.
I tearfully and happily handed the phone Luke.
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Here is Lily’s story in Krista’s words:
It was a great day in South Haven. We had breakfast and enjoyed the morning together. Later, I had a bad headache so I laid down to try to sleep it off. While falling asleep, I dreamed of Lily being hit by a car (not normal for me to imagine anything traumatic). I prayed about it and fell asleep. I woke up and went for a run.
I came back to the kids playing and Lily chalk-coloring next to our camper.
I went inside to change clothes, leaving the door open. I looked out just in time to see a truck drive right over Lily. The front and back tires of an extended cab hauling truck drove over my daughter. The truck laid Lily flat – TWICE. It rolled over her head and back.
I screamed and was in shock. I couldn’t move. Nate (my husband, Lily’s dad) went running towards the kids. Nate did not know what happened until after he picked Lily up. She was spraying urine through her clothes.
I had to tell myself to keep it together, to think, to breathe, to be strong for Lily and my other kids. Lily asked me to sing the “Jesus” song.
I’m on the worship team at church and she attends practice with me. She has her own little microphone and hopes to play drums one day. The “Jesus” song is called Tremble, and is our favorite song. All she wanted was for me to sing that song.
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Kate (Lily’s 11-year-old sister) laid hands on her and prayed. So simple, so powerful, our only hope.
It was hard keeping Lily awake through the ambulance ride to the children’s hospital (a 45-minute ride). We FaceTimed the people she wanted to see: Papa, grandma, Luke (her cousin), and eventually she asked to stop talking and just sing.
We arrived to a level 1 trauma children’s hospital. There were 20 people of all of different pediatric specialties in the room moving around quickly. A social worker was on me like honey in a hive. Once the social worker assessed Nate and I, she let the other kids in the ER room. She helped care for the kids, getting them snacks and settled. Jack (9-year-old brother) said she was the nicest lady he’d ever met. The social worker was so good with Lily, getting her excited about a blanket she would get to keep, that she would have breakfast in bed, and get special jammies.
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While wheeling Lily to her room, Lily said “all the doctors are so nice.” There were lots of concerns over her, one being her bladder and bowels since she wet herself when the truck rolled over her. There was blood all over her vulva . She refused to use the bed pan or the portable potty . She was put on bed rest until morning when the pediatric orthopedic surgeon looked at her x-rays and injuries.
The next day, the pediatric orthopedic surgeon came in.
He said to Lily, “Where do you hurt?” She said so sweetly “I don’t really hurt anywhere”.
He said “Well, aren’t you super woman.” She giggled. Nate and I said,
‘She’s a miracle.”
He agreed.
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They found one broken pelvic bone that would heal on its own. They gave her a walker and released us. The only medicine they gave her was a dose of Tylenol.
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I had a burden to go back to camp as a family to hopefully close the door to fear and find the woman who ran over her and let her know Lily would be ok. I would never want to be in her shoes and I would personally have a hard time living with myself never knowing the end of the story.
Going back was hard, and healing. Seeing Lily’s chalk art drawings, the smashed chalk, reliving the horrible memories.
Thankfulness and gratitude gets me through. I don’t try and push them away, I let it come in waves. Knowing I get to hold her makes the healing salve of gratitude cover the horror and pain of memories and thoughts of what she endured.
That night, Lily slept great. She woke up and played monopoly with all of us (a game we started the day the truck drove over her).
She said, “I have no pain. I don’t even feel like I have a broken bone”.
I can’t tell you what a miracle this feels like when I saw the accident and see her bruises, tire marks across her shirt, road rash, and bruised swelling all through her back and spine.
When we got back to Indiana, Lily’s dance pictures were waiting for us in the mail. I reminded her she would be back dancing in no time! She fell asleep watching Dancing with the Stars with me and Kate.
Nate and I were taught in counseling to ask God where He was in traumatic times or wounding memories. Nate and I both prayed and we both had pictures and answers. I saw and heard God say:
“I was holding her head in the palm of my hands.”
Nate felt like God said:
“I was moving her out of the way.”
Lily is all smiles and says she has no pain, even though her body tells a different story.
Today when I asked her if she felt anything when the truck rolled over her. She looked at me and pointed to her head and said:
“I felt God here. It felt like feathers.”
I was in tears when she spoke these words. I pray Psalm 91 over my children.
Psalm 91 tells us..
“He will cover you with his feathers, under his wings you will take refuge.”
I’m grateful to God, the One who not only holds the world in His hands and moves mountains, but holds my daughters head and moves her little body.
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Here’s our favorite song, Tremble:
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Today Lily is seven years old. It’s been exactly 3 years since her accident. She dances, runs, smiles constantly, and brings joy to all who know her!
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I share this story to reinforce a few things:
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1. Pray scripture over your children.
Psalm 91 is a collection of verses that our family has prayed for generations. It specifically says, “He (God) will cover you with his feathers, under His wings you find protection.” God answers our prayers! It’s especially powerful to pray Scripture.
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2. Sing songs of faith.
Find songs to sing with your family that will build your faith.
Below is a song called ‘Lily’s song’ – it was one of her favorites because it had her name. She would sing along to these words:
I will not die, I will live. I will tell of the works of the Lord and sing of his wonders.’
There is power in what we speak and what we sing!
Find your song. Your verse. Your declaration. (Click here for a declaration we use in our house.)
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3. God still does miracles.
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4. Choose faith over fear.
The Bible tells us that our days are appointed. We don’t have to live in fear of the future. God has a plan for your life and the lives of each of your children and His plan is GOOD.
“Your eyes saw my body even before it was formed. You (God) planned how many days I would live.”
Psalm 139:16
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Jeremiah 29:11
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Prayer:
Dear Lord, Thank you for the miracle you performed for Lily and for the ones you perform in my life (and the lives of my children). Help me to trust you and not fear the future. In Jesus’ name, Amen
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Psalm 91 – Insert your name and pray this for yourself and your family members. I challenge you to memorize it.
Psalm 91
1 Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.[a]
2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”
3 Surely he will save you
from the fowler’s snare
and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
5 You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
nor the plague that destroys at midday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
8 You will only observe with your eyes
and see the punishment of the wicked.
9 If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”
and you make the Most High your dwelling,
10 no harm will overtake you,
no disaster will come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;
12 they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on the lion and the cobra;
you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
14 “Because he[b] loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
15 He will call on me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.”
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Thank you for reading this beautiful, miraculous story! I hope it encouraged you. Please share.
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