Lindsey's Story

Our fourth child is a bright, cheerful & smart little lady named Lindsey Brielle. She is full of life, and is growing up way too fast! She is only 7, but the Lord has already made Himself real to her in a wonderful way. Here is her story:

About 4 years ago, as we were getting ready for church, our 3 year old Lindsey crawled up on our bed and, as many kids love to do, was jumping on it. We were "otherwise occupied" and didn't see her.

Then we heard a noise followed by a scream & crying. When we ran to her, we quickly assessed that she had fallen & busted her mouth on the headboard.

At first, we were unable to determine the extent of the damage due to the blood....oh so much blood! So, we held her & put damp rags to her mouth to stop the bleeding.

When we were able to see in her mouth we saw a horrible sight! Two of her upper front teeth were completely pushed back & were flat to the top of her mouth. A third (an incisor) was twisted the wrong way & dangling. All in all, a very disturbing sight, to say the least!

Let me detour here to say that in the interum, we prayed. We also called some church friends & asked them to pray. I also gave her a dose of Tylenol. We called a dentist & they told us that, unless the teeth were completely out, there wasn't much they could do at this point. So, we did the logical thing: we put them back into place!

And they stayed!

For 4 years!

They were slightly gray, but they were in there & she had a normal smile!

Believe it or not, she WANTED to go to church. So we loaded her up & grabbed some damp rags (she was still bleeding). As soon as we got there, we had her prayed for. She did great.

I want you to know that, other than that intial dose of Tylenol, we gave her NO other medicines for pain!! She had NO pain!!! Amazing, huh?

The Lord helped her, and she knew it, even at the tender age of 3.

====F A S T F O R W A R D 4 Y E A R S=====

Tuesday night, November 30th, 9 p.m.

The kiddos were all getting to bed, when there is a crash and a horrible scream. Cries of "HELP ME" struck complete fear in my Mommy heart! In the 4 seconds it took me to RUN 2 doors to her room, my mind had already processed that I would be seeing something terrible.

I did.

Seven year old Lindsey was sitting on the floor by her sister's bed, where she had landed after losing her balance & falling off of her top bunk, crying uncontrollably & covering her mouth. I sat on the floor by her & tried to determine what the problem was.

She kept saying, "They're gone...they're gone!"

When I pried her hand away from her mouth, I saw. There, in her blood-filled hand were 3 teeth.

OH, NO!!!

Let me insert here that I am always amazed at how my mind becomes so clear & rational at times like this. I don't freak. I just take care of it...and fall apart later.

So, I just started issuing orders to the other children that gathered around.

"Heather, call your dad...we need him NOW!"

"Morgan, get me a glass of milk" (I have always heard to put knocked out teeth in a glass of milk...)

"I need some wet wash cloths"

Then, I just held her.

And prayed.

When Lloyd got there (which, thankfully, was only a few minutes), he took over. He cleaned & assessed. There was one more tooth hanging sideways that would have to come out. However, Lindsey wouldn't let us touch it.

After about an hour & a half, things had quieted down enough for us to take another look. I watched as Lloyd took a flashlight & looked around. His face said it all. It was bad.

Her gum was ripped, there appeared to be splinters in her gums, her lip had been punctured.

We swallowed the "no insurance" fear, loaded her up & went to the ER.

She was such a trooper! She let the doctors do what she wouldn't let us do! She was brave through the CT scan and the exams.

Thank the Lord, every bit of news came back good!!

Her jaw was NOT broken.

Her adult teeth were NOT damaged.

She would NOT need stitches.

She was ok...well, hurting, beaten up, bruised & bleeding, but OK!

I knew then & there that God & His people knew where we were! People were praying all over the U.S., thanks to FaceBook, even those who don't know us!

Here's the kicker:
As we were talking to the Oral Surgeon, we told her of Lindsey's previous accident. She was amazed! Lindsey had knocked out the SAME teeth TWICE!!! We told her how we put the teeth back in place the first time and, other than some discoloration, they were good as new.
I said, "yeah, they were gray, but ok".

The surgeon said, "her teeth were gray?"

"Yes."

The dr. then said, "Do you know that those teeth would have never fallen out? Because they were gray, that means they died. The had calcified to her jawbone & would have had to be surgically removed!"

Lloyd & I looked at each other.

Could this have been a blessing in disguise?

We think so.
No anesthesia.
No shots.
No fear.
Just sudden, irrevocable removal.
Hmmm....