Grace is Greater

As I was driving home today, I was listening to a local radio station. On this program, they were interviewing a Georgia father who had such a devastating story to tell. While this post is totally off-topic from my normal stuff, it is important to me to do what I can for this family. This mans story engrossed me. I had even stopped to get gas and found myself sitting in the car until the interview was over. I listened to this father tell his story. I heard his heart break all over and I was filled with admiration of his courage and his strength to make something positive come out of a horrible accident.

Count Your Blessings

Children are amazing… an absolute blessing. In this family’s case, the father is a two-time cancer survivor, and due to his past treatments, conceiving a child took nothing short of a miracle. That miracle happened, and their daughter Lilli Grace was brought into this world, but sadly, the world would be blessed by her presence for only a short time.

There is a news article about Lilli Grace and her family you can read, but I would like to quote the father’s story here. We all fear the loss of a child, but when it happens at home….well, are there even words for that kind of loss? If you have children, this will break your heart and hopefully, will it will cause you to take a little more care around the house to protect your precious children.

“It was a normal Saturday morning. I was not in a hurry. Nothing was out of the normal. We got up. My wife was taking care of Haley, our newborn. I had Lilli. We had breakfast. We played around in the yard. I was simply going to help a friend of mine for the day. I had a big F-150 Ford truck and was unloading the truck and needing to move it forward about three or four feet. I put Lilli Grace in the garage. We had the dog in there—they’re best friends. The dog was in the the crate. I watched them play for a few seconds. Then I ran out to the truck, only going to move it a few feet. I wasn’t leaving. If you look at it, you think ‘Wow, this is crazy.’ But I was only going to pull forward so I could finish unloading the truck.

So I hop up in the truck. I go to move it, and I say, ‘Wait, you know what?’ So I get out of the truck. Walk around to the front of the truck. Nothing’s there. So I get back in and put it in drive. I pull forward a few feet, and, you know, knew that I had run over … something. Just … phew … I could rip my heart out right then and there to be honest with you. I walked around and knew that it was Lilli Grace. And I tell you, it’s something I hope no one ever has to go through.” Paul pauses, remembering how he lost his little girl just five months ago. The raw emotion pours through his voice as he continues, “It really stinks. It really stinks. It was immediate. We rushed her to the hospital. We called 911. The autopsy said it was immediate. Ugh, sorry about that. I do pretty well until I have to … My point is that people say, ‘Well, I got out and looked.’ Well, so did I. ‘Well, I wasn’t in a hurry.’ Well, neither was I. So it’s one of those things that you can’t explain away. We’re going to just try to make some positive changes.”

There are no words, are there? This story will stick with me for a long, long time… and it will DEFINITELY cause me to look closer… DOUBLE and TRIPLE check before I move my vehicle ever again. When it comes to children, you just can’t be too careful.

Why Post About This?

Now, I am not posting this to depress you. I am posting this more for myself and this family than for anything. There is nothing I can do to bring Lilli Grace back to them, but I have this little blog….and I can help spread the word and pass along some link love to their new website for their foundation in honor and memory of Lilli Grace.
With all this said, I would like to share with you the Grace is Greater – Lilli Grace Memorial Foundation website. Please take a moment… read the news article … stop by the website…. and help spread the word.

Also, if you live in Georgia and you are a golfer, there will be a golf tournament benefiting the Lilli Grace Memorial Foundation on Monday of next week.

An important message from this family is also something we should all take to heart…

Grace is greater. People may have things going on that you don’t know about. Have compassion.

Thank you all for allowing me this moment to do something important to me.

Thank you to Star94 for having this courageous man on your radio show today.