Happy Holidays Everyone!! I have alot to be thankful for!

Well, its the Holidays and I hope everyone had a great Christmas. I wasnt able to have a Christmas last year since i was in the hospital, still in ICU. Even though I have no recollection of Christmas last year, I was very fortunate to have so many of my friends and family come to the hospital to spend time with me and my family. It makes me feel good to know that so many people cared enough for me to give up there plans to come and spend time with me, even if I wasn't talking the fact that they were with me means so much. During the Holidays, we spend time with our families and reflect on what we are thankful for in the past year. I can say without hesitation that I am thankful for SO VERY MUCH!!
1) Im thankful to God, for giving me a second chance at life and sparing me!
2) I am thankful to my family! Without them it would be impossible for me to have gotten through this accident. They have been by my side throughout the entire journey. My mom flew up the night of my accident and never left my side for MONTHS, my dad, brother and sister sacrificed so much to be with me and help make my recovery easy.
3) I am thankful for everyone at my church both in Little Rock at Pleasant Valley and my church at home at West Orange. They have supported me through so much. The love that was shown me in little rock by my church family was literally indescribable. Never before had the doctors and nurses seen that type of out pouring of love for one patient. There kindness and loved spread to everyone working at the hospital and left a lasting impression. I hope to return to everyone at PV soon, and use this accident to further glorify God!
4) I am thankful to everyone at Farner Barley for helping me set up my home for me to live in. Farner Barley had my entire living area blown out and made it wheelchair accessible. They also have given my dad and family the ability to use there airplane to fly back and forth to Little Rock so that my dad could spend time with me. THANK YOU BOB AND STEVE!!
5) I am thankful for my friends Karen and Jim who come to my house to help me with my rehab. They come a couple times a week to help with Physical Therapy. It is because of them I have gained so much in my legs. Well.....God has given me the ability, and Karen and Jim have utilized my potential and have gotten the maximum return out of my legs. I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!
6) I am thankful for everyone who reads this blog....YES, that means YOU (whoever you are) Thank you from the bottom of my heart. It is because of you and your support and prayers that has made my progress which is a MIRACLE possible. This blog is my ministry, and everyone who reads this is directly effecting my progress with your prayers! THANK YOU!!!! PLEASE KEEP PRAYING FOR ME!!
I could probably go on and on with this post! If I thanked everyone individually it would take PAGES upon PAGES to write about it all. I AM SOOO BLESSED!!! I encourage everyone out there, if you want to EXPERIENCE this type of LOVE....I would say to everyone to be apart of God's family. Being apart of his family is like nothing you could ever experience. Without Christian brothers and sisters in my extended church family, I would not be where I am today!!
I LOVE YOU ALL!!
SO MUCH IN HIM
BRENT!

A wonderful week to remember my Year Anniversery!

Last week in honor of my year anniversary I flew to Little Rock to thank my doctors and therapists for all they did for me. I went there as a surprise because on Sunday morning I was speaking at my church. It was my chance to see all my friends and tell them what they meant to me. I spoke that morning to a large class in my church gymnasium. It was wonderful to see so many people in the audience. It was wonderful to tell the story of how the Lord is blessing me and the miracles in my life. I have a feeling I will be telling that story to thousands more people in my lifetime. I will be telling the story to all who will listen. I will tell the story of Jesus, I will tell how he is blessing my life. I CAN'T WAIT! This is what he is calling me to do. I have heard the saying, "Without a test, you can never have a testimony" Going to my church at Pleasant Valley in Little Rock, made me miss everyone so much. I can't wait for the day when I can return to all of you! The love that was shown to me in the past year was beyond description. For everyone reading this blog, I apologize that I can not put into words how Pleasant Valley loved me during my accident. The nurses at UAMS while I was in ICU, asked my parents where I went to church,because they have NEVER seen anything like this before! The people there opened my eyes to what Jesus was talking about when he said, "Love one another!" I have been shown love by so many people since my accident. People have sent cards, and sent prayers up to God on my behalf from around the world. I am so thankful to all of you!

I wish it were possible to have a reunion of everyone who has sent me a card, prayed for me, called me, or visited me. If that were possible I would like to sit down with each and every one of you and hug your necks, and tell you what you mean to me! If it were possible I would want to PERSONALLY thank each and everyone of you. I have kept every single card that I have gotten since my accident. There are thousands of cards and I have read them all. I will never throw them away and I will look back over them one day and be thankful for all the loved ones in my life! How do people go through traumatic accidents without Christian brothers and sisters?

While in Little Rock, my good friend Cristina talked me into doing a walking demonstration for my therapists at Baptist Rehab. I did a small lap for everyone with my walker. They seemed to be impressed by my progress, it made me feel so good to see their faces when I took my first steps. I remember going into that place weeks after my accident unsure of so many things. Just one year after my injury, I WALKED, in the rehab center.....I WALKED!! PRAISE GOD!! I wonder what kind of miracles are in my future for NEXT year!?
Thank you all for your support, and PLEASE, PLEASE keep praying for me!!
I LOVE YOU ALL!
SO MUCH IN HIM,
BRENT

MY YEAR ANNIVERSERY!!

December 8th 2007 was a day that changed my life forever! That day was just like any other day. I woke up on a Saturday morning and got my bike ready to go out for a day at the track with my roommate Jay like we had done for the past several months. I got out on the track and started riding it, coming around a corner and heading towards a step-up jump was the last thing I remembered. I have no recollection of the actual accident or how it happened. I know I had jumped the jump hundreds of times, but for some reason this time something went really wrong. The next thing I remember was in early January waking up in the hospital in ICU with tubes coming out of my body and several I.V.'s in my arms.
I remember a doctor coming into my room early in the morning to check my status. I remember telling him that I couldn't feel my legs and I asked him what was wrong! He told me the extent of my injuries but was careful to break the news about my paralysis. I asked him if I would ever walk again and he told me based on the extent of my injuries probably NOT! At that very moment i said....."Well.....I will walk again!" He began to retell the severity of my injuries and that medically speaking it was unlikely that I would ever walk again. After all he didn't want me to have false presumptions about being able to walk again. I knew at that very moment that I had to go to God in prayer. I began praying NONSTOP! Pleading with God to come into my room and touch my legs and make me whole again. Months and months passed with no change in my status. They told me that once the swelling in my spinal cord went down I would have a better understanding of what I would be left with as far as functional return. The first 6 months is the most crucial to my recovery and is when most people get the most return...IF ANY! Well 6 months came and went....still NOTHING! But the prayers NEVER STOPPED! I was still a complete injury, I still had no hope of recovery. The prayers however kept coming then one day it happened. The therapists wouldnt work on my legs because i was a complete injury so the only way i was going to work on my legs were to do it myself....AFTER HOURS! Going into rehab after everyone left I got on a machine to work my legs. When my therapist came out to check on me, the machines said I was pedaling myself. WHICH WAS IMPOSSIBLE!! He had the doctor retest me and my status was changed to an incomplete. PRAISE GOD!!! HE ANSWERED ALL OUR PRAYERS!!
It is my year anniversary since that fateful day and I can say that now I have gotten more return in my legs and we are working on walking now. With a walker and braces on my legs I am doing more than doctors ever thought would be possible. I have regained my hips and many of my muscles at the top of my legs. HOWEVER!! I still have a LONG WAYS TO GO!!! PLEASE do not stop praying for me. My friend has told me of a wonderful verse that I would like to share with you. MARK 11:24. "When you pray, believe that you have received it and it will be yours!" I believe that I am being healed and I know God has a great plan for me. I can not wait to see how he uses me to further his kingdom. Thank you all for your continued prayers and support! ITS BEEN ONE YEAR!!
I LOVE YOU ALL!!
SO MUCH IN HIM,
BRENT!

I AM SO BLESSED!!

The purpose of this posting is to share with you all the blessings in my life!! Wow...I have come so far in a relatively short time. The Lord has blessed me beyond anything I could have ever imagined. How can I ever repay those who have given so much to me during this struggle in my life? Sometimes I wonder what I did to deserve this outpouring of love and support. How do people go through this kind of tragedy without the support of family and friends? I believe that the blessings in my life have come from God and having a relationship with him. He has laid in front of me so many people who are working with me daily to encourage and lift me up. I could have never prepared for what was going to happen to me this time last year. How do you prepare for that kind of pain and loss? This time last year, I was caring on with my life without worry in the world. The Lord blessed me beyond measure! A great job, good friends, a wonderful church family. In a blink of an eye the world that i knew was going to change. Things weren't going to come as easy for me anymore. I was going to have to work and struggle for everything. I was going to have to learn how to live all over again. 25 years old, and my world would never be the same again! But would it really? Is my life all that different than before? Sure...there are some things that have changed. How I get from one place to another has changed,.....but thats it!

My Christian brothers and sisters have flooded me with love and support. They have sacrificed to spend time with me and lift up my spirits. They have come to my house several times a week to do physical therapy with me. They drove from Little Rock to Atlanta to go through a day of rehab with me and drive back! My Christian family has showed a multitude of doctors and nurses what being a Christian is all about. What a blessing!!! I am so thankful to all of you for your cards and words of encouragement. The Lord is preparing me for something which I have not fully come to understand. He has plans for me which I must fulfill. He is holding up his side of the promises he made to all of us in the bible and now I must do my part!

A saying that has gotten me through many nights was a phrase we used during my stint in ICU. "GOD NEVER PROMISED THIS LIFE WOULD BE EASY......BUT HE PROMISED IT WOULD BE WORTH IT!" I am sure God never wanted this to happen to me but he is using this accident to glorify him. He is healing my body, more than any doctor ever thought was possible. He is showing everyone what is possible through Faith and Prayers. He then gathered around me a multitude of Christian friends and family to help me get through this, because he knew it would be tough.....he knew i needed help! I AM THE LUCKIEST GUY ALIVE!!! I wouldn't change ANYTHING in my life....thats right.....I WOULDN'T CHANGE A THING!
I LOVE YOU ALL!
SO MUCH IN HIM!
BRENT