Birthday In New Westminster

This morning I went to church as usual. Going to church the past two weeks was accompanied with an extra level of intensity: the sermons more poignant, the prayers more fervent, the conversations more raw, and Presence in the sacraments more Real.

Immediately after church I drove up to Grouse Mountain to meet up with Shane for a hike. As we've done for the past few weeks (since January 9), we hike the BCMC trail every Sunday morning at 9am.

In the afternoon I visited with Ralph. Thinking about his condition brings tears to my soul.

In the evening we celebrated mom's birthday at a Greek-Italian restaurant nearby. Everybody's downcast. For whatever reason, it seems that our family's especially susceptible to pessimism. I think I'm the only one not naturally inclined towards it. Strange. Surely it's Mercy. But I think it's imperative that we don't forget to be thankful during these difficult times.

Visiting Ralph With Jennifer and Sanjit

This morning around 10:30 Jen, Sanjit and I met for breakfast at a small little Korean joint near the hospital in New West. breakfast was good, although I found a long strand of hair in my pancakes.

After breakfast the 3 of us went to visit Ralph. First, Jen and I, then Sanjit and I.

In the afternoon Jennifer and I hiked the BCMC trail.

Package

I decided to take a severance package from work, rather than be transferred to another department.

I believe that this is the right decision. I have little doubt, and total Peace about the situation.

I don't know when my last day of work will be yet.

More Plants

Today is mom's birthday, but we're not really in a celebratory mood. This is especially the case for mom. Still, we will celebrate her, albeit not today. It's mid-week and we're all focused on caring for Ralph. Instead, we will celebrate her on Sunday (30th), over dinner at a restaurant in New Westminster.

In preparation for mom's birthday I bought some more plants: one for her, one each for Melanie and Ralph, and 2 for me. I also got some new planters from Just Potters, an organization that does great work among the economically disadvantaged of Vancouver.

So here are the plants that I purchased:
1- dracaena (I will partner this one with the other two I bought a few weeks ago)
1- tropical "palm" plant
2- peace lillies (Melanie & Ralph)
1 - anthurium (mom)

In the coming days I will post some pictures of the plants I'm amassing.

Timing Through The Eyes Of Faith

God's timing is amazing, even humorous.

Just over three weeks ago I applied for acceptance into the CPE program, thinking that maybe chaplaincy is where God is leading me to vocationally.

Just over a week ago my beloved nephew Ralph was in a serious car accident and his life hinging on a thread.

Three days ago I was told by the Director of Facilities at work that the company would be laying off more people, and that he had the terrible task of laying off hourly workers. He gave me the option of transferring from the shipping/receiving department to the production group, or be laid off. I have a few days' time to think about the options before making a decision. My gut feeling is to choose to be laid off: I'd get a severance package, claim EI, and be able to spend more time with family.

To some, these 3 events - chaplaincy application, Ralph's accident, and job layoff - are "random", "isolated", "chance" incidents, but in my mind there's something bigger happening here. God's big Hand is evident here. To the eyes of faith this reveals plan and purpose through and through.

Ralph Update

Here's an email I sent my friends today regarding Ralph's condition:

Good evening dear friends, I trust you've all had a good week. I am very grateful for your phone calls and emails, offers to cook meals or meet up for coffee, and offers to visit Ralph and read to him. My sister's family has been equally inundated with love .. Melanie hasn't had to cook a single meal this past week, as people from her church have brought fresh food to her doorstep everyday. We are so blessed to have you as friends....

Some of you have asked for an update on Ralph's situation, so here goes: this time I'll keep it short, really!

* in one sense, his condition has not changed, he's still in an induced coma; we met with the doctors on Thursday night and their concern is still the same: the severity of his brain and neck injuries. They will be unable to determine his status until such time as his sedation levels are lowered and he "wakes up". Currently, his brain pressure is still too high and his head too swollen to conduct any meaningful testing.
* on the other hand, he has improved very very much since one week ago: his brain swelling seems to have climaxed and is on the way down (he looked "good" today, for the first time). The nurses began decreasing sedation levels on Friday, and that went well until today when he didn't respond well (brain pressure increased) so they had to up his sedation levels slightly.

Please continue to pray for the doctors, nurses, Melanie's family, and Ralph.

Growing Concerns

Upon hearing about Ralph's accident from other relatives, mom and dad cut their vacation in Mexico short (they were supposed to return on Monday) and returned today. I went to the airport to pick them up.

Afterwards, I updated them on what had transpired over the past 6 days, and drove them directly to the hospital. When mom saw Ralph she broke down and wept hysterically. Dad was stoic, unemotional, at least on the outside. Certainly inside there was a storm.

The enormity and gravity of the situation is slowly dawning upon me. Ralph's condition as of now is very tenuous. He has massive injuries to his body, most serious of which are his head. There are very real fears of significant brain injury. There is also concern to the neck area. One of the vertebrae seems to be fractured and there's concern about his spinal cord. His right ear is at least partially severed, his jaw is wired shut in order to heal, and both, his right arm and his left clavicle are still broken and in need of surgery.

Thankfully, he's still unconscious, and the machines are doing his living for him.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on Ralph, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on us all,
for we are all sinners.

Angels At A Car Crash

Ralph's accident is still enveloped in mystery, but a few things are becoming clearer. For one thing, God sent some angels to follow him on the road.

It seems that the accident on Sunday occurred while Ralph was on his way home from church. He was driving on Clayburn Road, when his car hydroplaned upon hitting a sea of still-standing water. This makes sense, as the sudden warm temperatures of the past few days melted all the snow from the snowfalls earlier last week, overflowing the ditches with water.

There were apparently 3 witnesses - angels - who appeared at the accident site within a very short time of the accident: these angels saved his life. The first one actually saw the water-wall that went up when the car hit the standing water, as he was driving behind Ralph: the car flew up in the air, hit a poll further down the street, and then landed in the ditch. The man stopped his car, ran towards the ditch, and upon arriving there noticed that the car was fully submerged. He jumped into the muddy, ice-cold water, and began feeling his way, looking for signs of life. At first, he found none.

A second angel appeared out of nowhere (was he real?), also in the water, and together the two of them were able to locate Ralph inside the car (on the passenger side!), pry him loose, and bring him out. By that time, Ralph had been under water for at least 2 minutes.

The third angel appeared in the form of a nurse, who performed CPR on Ralph and stabilized him. The wife of the first angel had already notified 911, and in an amazing display of emergency response, the ambulance arrived shortly afterwards. It was immediately determined that Ralph's condition was critical and that he would need extremely urgent care. The decision was made to airlift him to the hospital in New Westminster.

Thank you Lord for sending your angels in the form of Good Samaritans. We bless and praise you, and ask for many blessings upon them.

Here are two articles related to the accident:
1- January 18
2- January 19

A New Routine

I went to work today, but in a very real way I experienced what it means to be somewhere only in the body. My soul and my spirit were at the hospital with Ralph and his family.

A few co-workers asked about his condition and it was very difficult for me to keep a straight face. Is it even desirable to keep a straight face? Everyone's very compassionate.

Yesterday I sent out an email to a whole bunch of people, requesting for prayer.

After work today I went straight to the hospital to be with Ralph. I read Psalm 13 and 23. I prayed the On Visiting a Sick Person prayer. I read the first two chapters of CS Lewis' Prince Caspian with him. Can he hear me? According to the nurse, "we assume that he can."

I'm shelving virtually all activities from my calendar of events for the time being. The exception is board games night, a weekly dinner with Jennifer, regular BCMC hikes with Shane, and of course, liturgy on Sunday mornings.

On A Thread

Things really were as bad as Heinz described them last night. I arrived at the hospital at around 11am today to find that Ralph was in the ICU, his life hanging in the balance.

He looked miserable: his head was shaved and with suture marks on both the left and the right side; there was a big tube coming out of the left side of his head; the right side of his face was purple, especially the ear area (the ear itself was not visible, it was bandaged); his entire face and head, swollen almost beyond recognition; a trachea was connected to his throat, providing air to the lungs; his right upper arm is broken, his left clavicle is also broken; his jaw is broken and wired shut (to allow the bones to heal); scrapes, cuts, and bruises on his face, throat, and arms, with blood marks throughout. Horrible, absolutely horrible.

At once, upon seeing Ralph, the suffering of Christ on the cross made perfect sense to me. Whatever Ralph is going through, God in Christ has already gone through it. God co-suffers with Ralph because of Christ's suffering on the cross. Thank God for the Resurrection!

Ralph's unconscious, machines are doing everything for him, including breathing. There are somewhere in the vicinity of 10-15 cables connecting him to various machines. A nurse sits just outside his room 24/7, monitoring his condition.

I was able to keep my composure on the outside, but on the inside I wept and wept and wept. I think the presence of the TWU chaplain who arrived almost at the same time I did helped me keep it together. He prayed for Ralph and our family.

Later in the afternoon, around 5pm, Heinz, Melanie, and family arrived. The details of the accident are still sketchy. We visited Ralph together, and we prayed.

The nurses in ICU are very kind.

Providentially, I'm reading Caring right now, by Morton T. Kelsey.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on Ralph, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living Go, have mercy on us all,
for we are all sinners.

Voicemail News

After a very good (and busy!) day today, eating breakfast at Rachelle's, hiking the BCMC and eating dinner with Jennifer, and playing board games with some great friends at Patri's, I got home to a horrible voicemail message from Heinz.

It seems that Ralph has been in a very serious car accident around 1:30pm this afternoon. He was airlifted the Royal Columbian Hospital In New Westminster, where he's still in surgery. As of yet, we don't have an update on his status.

Obviously, Melanie and Heinz are beside themselves in their anxiety. At the same time, mom and dad are in Mexico enjoying a vacation, oceanside.

I've emailed Darren, advising him that I wont be at work tomorrow. Instead, I want to visit Ralph at the hospital.

Greenthumb

An interest in plant-growth seems to be developing within me. I can't explain the reason, except for perhaps an increased sensitivity and awe for God's creation. Maybe this is all a part of a new-found conviction towards the sacramentality of this world.

Today I picked up 2 peace lillies (one for Jen and one for myself). We've been at war lately, and thus my hope is that these lillies will work towards reconciliation. I also bought 2 dracaena plants, and 2 succulents. I'll see just how green my thumbs are...