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FROG Perspective

Earlier this week I visited Rebecca at the rehabilitation center in Olympia. As we were talking, she said:

“I talk to God all day.”

And then she added, “God has been so good to me.”

On May 2, Rebecca was awakened in the middle of the night by the estranged father of her three children. She had been the victim of domestic violence and had moved to this area in large part to escape him. Unfortunately, all the restraining orders and efforts to start over in a new town didn’t stop him from shooting her six times in her own home. In front of her three children (ages 3-7).

She could have been angry at God. But her response is just the opposite.

“God has been so good to me.”

Rebecca is a coworker and as she’s battled for her life these past few weeks, this community and the people at this company have rallied around her with an outpouring of both prayerful and financial support. A fund has been set up in her name at Anchor Bank and donations have been pouring in in all sizes.

She’s going to need every last cent of it. And then some.

It occurred to me..if everyone in Westport gave $5, the fund would be about $10,000. If all my Facebook friends chipped in $5, it’d be another $1,250. And what if their Facebook friends reciprocated? I wonder just how powerful social media and word of mouth can be as all the “insignificant” contributions add up to something pretty damned significant.

Could that be considered a veiled challenge?

But what is more amazing is the inspiration Rebecca has become and will continue to be for so many in this community and beyond.

I don’t care if you believe in miracles or not, because the only way her recovery can be explained is with that word.

Miracle.

While she is still missing a part of her skull and her body is still home to three bullets, she is recovering with amazing resilience.

Sitting in a chair in her room on Wednesday, I watched her rise from her bed as the physical therapist outfitted her with a helmet. I then watched her slowly stand and walk on her own strength out the door and toward the PT room.

Three weeks ago, I sat next to her bed in Harborview’s ICU. As I held her hand and prayed with her, I felt her squeeze my fingers and felt the undeniable presence of God in that room.

As I visited with her on Wednesday she spoke with fluidity and grace. It was easy to forget that less than a month ago she was in critical condition at one of the region’s premier trauma centers with injuries that would likely prove fatal to most.

Talking with Rebecca on Wednesday, she reflected upon the past several weeks. She described seeing God and her deceased Grandmother telling her it wasn’t time for her to “go home” yet. She has known all along that she was going to survive. She has known with such brave confidence that it puts all the juggling acts of my daily life into sad perspective.

Her faith and reliance on God is nothing short of amazing. Through these past few weeks, I’ve learned that it’s her faith that is behind what I had always thought was simply her quirky collection of frogs. If you look at her desk, you’ll see pictures of frogs pinned to the wall around her computer. Turns out, she’s held tight to a phrase she developed some time ago:

Fully
Rely
On
God

With that in mind, I laid down a small frog-shaped bath mat next to her bed as I left that afternoon. She’s been Fully Relying on God for some time now. Long before this tragic event and certainly will be long after. This small reminder as she puts her feet on this rug each time she gets out of her bed on her own strength is merely a gentle reminder of that fact.

It’s also a reminder that God works through His people. Which brings me back to Rebecca’s fund. She is going to need a lot of financial help. She is confident God will provide what she needs. Just as she has been confident that she will survive.

If you feel the urge, the call, the desire, or just the whim, answer it by clicking HERE and donating $5. More, of course, if you are so inclined. But most people can lose $5 without even noticing it. So it seems a good start. It really does all add up.

We could all learn from Rebecca. I’ll never look at a frog the same way, and pray that as she continues to make her steady march out of that bed, then eventually down the hall and out the front door and back home again where she can be reunited with her children, that God will continue to be with her ever single step of the way.

The more support we can provide her the more able she will be to act as the inspiration God is clearly intending her to be. Not only as a voice for victims of domestic violence, but for the true power and importance of an unshaken faith.