Tag Archive | Living Inside The Testimony

A Short Story… from FaceBook

Jun28

I posted this picture on FaceBook earlier this month as my profile picture along with a rather long caption. I called it “A Short Story…”

Yes, I know it’s rather odd to have such a long post on FaceBook, and I’m fairly certain most of my friends didn’t even read it before they clicked like. My guess is they just liked the picture and kept on scrolling. But for those who took the time to actually read it, they left some very encouraging comments and thanked me for sharing my story. So I decided to copy my FaceBook post to my blog since this is where my storytelling actually belongs.

Below this 1993 picture of my husband William and I, you will find my actual short story post from Facebook, copied exactly as written. I’ll explain the details after the end of the story.

A Short Story…

This pic is from 1993. Ten years prior to that, William had a near fatal head injury, an epidural hematoma (bleeding around the brain) requiring emergency surgery to save his life. The neurosurgeon had to do a craniotomy where he opened up part of William’s skull to remove the hematoma that reduced the pressure on his brain. By the way, that was May 17, 1983, a few days before high school graduation. William and I weren’t even talking to each other at the time. We had broken up like many teenagers do in high school…. On again, off again… we just couldn’t get it right, so we were going our separate ways forever after high school.

BUT THEN THIS HAPPENED! God has a way of getting our attention, doesn’t he? I had no idea he had even been injured. My brother Dennis was home from California and heard about it before I did. He just causally asked one evening at home “Did y’all hear about that Collier boy who got hit upside the head?”

TIME STOPPED! MY HEART DROPPED! Somebody please help me… The rest is a blur. Fast forward a bit, and there I am walking down that long hallway all by myself to that scary neurotrauma ICU where I see many Colliers standing at his bedside. (Remember, we were NOT a couple at this time. It was way over for us.) They saw me walk in, and EVERYBODY left. I don’t recall any words spoken. 

There he lay with my shattered heart scattered in thousands of pieces all over his ICU bed. How could it come to this? I don’t recall much of anything from that first visit except that he appeared lifeless, his beautiful brown eyes almost swollen shut, and that gauze dressing wrapped around his head like a turban. His head was huge, machines were everywhere, and I was afraid he wouldn’t be able to speak or even recognize me. Or if he did recognize me, would he want me to stay? After all, I had broken his heart in high school.

Well, I can’t tell you what happened next because I don’t remember. To this very day, I still get a headache when I think about it. Of course he doesn’t remember because he was recovering from brain surgery after almost losing his life. 

All I know is this. Surgery was over. He was recovering. We were beginning.

Our true love affair began at Methodist Hospital as he continued to improve over the next few days. He went home 12 days after surgery. Our high school romance, as shaky as it was, just didn’t matter anymore. We had fallen in love in 9th grade. We fell in love again at Methodist Hospital. And yes, I do remember some of those conversations, unlike the first one in ICU. Suffice it to say, many tears were shed. 

God saved William’s life that night for me. So when I say I just love that man sooooo much, and he is the absolute love of my life, now you know why. 

Ok, getting back to this pic. This was 1993, 10 years after our life changing experience right before high school graduation. By now we had been married 7 years and were expecting our first little bundle of joy. (I’m pregnant with Jordan on this pic… lol) So when I see pictures like this, sometimes it brings back all sorts of memories for me. This one opened the floodgates! I like looking back and reflecting on where we began, what we’ve endured, and where we are now. There are trials and tribulations in all marriages, and ours certainly isn’t exempt. But this one thing I do know. When I look into those beautiful eyes, I can still remember 1983 and what it felt like when I thought it was the possibility that I would have to live my life without William. I know there is an ear-to-ear scar all the way across William’s scalp that no one can see underneath his hair, but I can feel it. It’s an ever-present reminder of God’s grace and mercy. I can also feel the lifetime of love that we’ve shared. And even though Jordan wasn’t born yet, when I look at this picture, I know he’s there inside me. That’s where love begins – inside. Jordan will be 25 next week. William and I will celebrate our 33rd anniversary in August. All I can say is #ThankYouLord!

So yeah, I actually wrote all that on FaceBook as the caption when I updated my profile picture. That’s why I prefer FaceBook over Twitter and Instagram. I haven’t mastered the craft of brevity yet. My friends know I tend to be long-winded once I get started, and my posts often go on much longer than most people’s attention span. But that doesn’t stop me. I continue writing anyway hoping that someone will read what I have to say and get something out of it. That’s really my reason for copying this post to my blog. I hope when you read this, you will get something out of it too.

We all have stories to share to help inspire and encourage others. Think about your own life. I’m pretty sure you have many stories to tell. What has God done in your life where you have absolutely no doubt it had to be a blessing from him? Many times he blesses us beyond measure without us even asking. He knows us just that well.

As for that little bundle of joy hiding inside me at the time this picture was taken, he’s now 25 years old. This is our precious little firstborn, Jordan William Collier. He’s getting married next year and is well on his way to becoming the man God created him to be. I encourage all of you parents to continue praying for your children. There is greatness inside all of them.

Children are a gift from the LORD; they are a reward from him.

Psalms 127:3 (NLT version)

I would love to hear from you guys. What stories do you have to share that will encourage someone else? After all, we all live inside testimonies meant to be shared with others. Thank you for living inside this testimony with me. God has certainly been way too good to me, so I’ve got to tell it!

Let’s See Where Baseball Takes Him

Aug29

That’s the title of one of my numerous photo albums on Facebook.

It’s also part of living inside the testimony. This testimony is actually my youngest child’s pursuit of a college baseball scholarship.

Allow me to digress for just a moment for those who have not visited my website before.

I’m a nurse by profession, author by passion, and storyteller by the grace of God. My desire is to help readers discover that we all live inside testimonies meant to be shared to help inspire and encourage others. You’ll find yourself laughing, crying, rejoicing, and soul-searching all at the same time as my books take you on a roller coaster of emotions and self-enlightenment. Discover the inspiration, faith, hope, humor, and love we all have in common. I share my own personal testimony in the first book, and the remarkable testimony of others in all the books that follow.

Living Inside The Testimony® is actually my trademark. I really do “own” it. So why didn’t I realize my baby boy was living inside his very own testimony?

Brandon has been playing ball every year since he was a 5 year-old kindergartner.

Brandon Collier - 5 year old T-baller

Brandon Collier – Ellendale Little League T-ball (5 years old)

Like many parents, we thought he would enjoy playing different sports. His first sport was basketball, and that’s where he earned the nickname Speedy. He was so fast running down the basketball court that his coach simply started calling him Speedy. Later that year, he started playing T-ball too, and somehow the nickname just stuck with him. After all, he had been running ever since he learned how to walk. He had been jumping, and climbing, and defeating the laws of gravity ever since he was a toddler. He scaled my kitchen cabinets like spiderman and then sat on top of the counter when he was only one. He leaped across the living room from the sofa to the love seat, and I caught him in mid-air once to prevent what surely would have been a terrible head injury as he jumped from a chair toward our brick hearth before he even turned two.

Fast forward 12 years, and Brandon is now a 17 year-old senior in high school whose dream is to earn a college baseball scholarship. He wants to major in Business Management and perhaps follow in his dad’s footsteps and own his own business one day.

Brandon Collier, Boltoh High School Varsity Outfielder, Class of 2017

Brandon Collier, Bolton High School Varsity Outfielder, Class of 2017

He’s still Speedy too. Just take a look at this video composed of several short clips of some of Brandon’s high school games which I thought would serve as my personal memories only. Little did I know that I would use these same “home videos” to create part of Brandon’s online recruiting profile for college coaches, recruiters, and scouts to view. On the video, he’s the one batting and/or running bases.

Okay, since this is a blog and not another book, I’ll try to be brief and get to my main point… 🙂

Whether Brandon earns a baseball scholarship or not, whether he ever plays baseball beyond his senior year of high school or not, and whether baseball doesn’t take him anywhere other than where he’s already been, Brandon knows life will go on with or without baseball. He will still go to college. He will still have a career. He will still become the man GOD created him to be. College baseball is a dream. If this dream doesn’t come true, all he has to do is dream of something else. It’s all part of living inside the testimony. Baseball is part of his testimony; it’s part of his life, but it’s not his whole life. It has taken him places he otherwise would not have gone. Being part of a team and the life lessons learned on the baseball field will serve him well later in life.

However, I most certainly do believe he will get a baseball scholarship. He believes that too. I also believe Jesus died on the cross to save me from my sin, and I will spend eternity in heaven. He believes that too. I believe we were all created for a purpose, our lives should glorify and magnify our Creator, and we all live inside testimonies meant to be shared to help encourage and inspire others. I believe he’s too young to fully understand that although he does understand people are watching him. His life is a testimony, so wherever baseball takes him, it’s all part of the journey.

One of the first projects he had for school this year was to create a small poster with a picture of himself and 10 words to describe who he is. Along with 10 adjectives, he included this picture of his favorite scripture:

Philippians 4:13

Count the words in the scripture. Yes, it’s 10 words.  It’s not 10 different adjectives that describe Brandon but a combination of 10 words put together into one sentence which describe him. This is what he brings to the baseball field. This is what others will learn from him as he continues living inside the testimony, whether the testimony is on or off the field. It really will inspire and encourage others even though he may be too young to see it right now.

Where will your dreams take you?

I hope your answer is “Wherever God leads me.”

So let’s see where baseball takes him…. Click here if you’d like to see some of the pictures from my Facebook photo album. (I think you have to log into Facebook once you click the link in order to see the pictures.)

BONUS VIDEO

Thanks for reading all the way to the bottom. I’m throwing in this little video clip simply because it’s part of the testimony. Brandon is a massive 5’7″, 140-pounder who starts on his high school varsity football team as a wide receiver and cornerback. Needless to say, I have to trust the Lord every.single.day for his safety and protection when he runs out on that football field because he is one of the smallest players out there. This was the season opener last week. All I’m going to say is watch this #StompDown by #27 Blue, my baseball player… LOL. Yes, I thoroughly enjoy watching him play baseball and football. What’s even better is watching him grow up and become the young man GOD created him to be. We can certainly enjoy his athletics along the way. 🙂