One of my favorite movies of all time is “It’s a Wonderful Life” I would think that most have you reading this have seen the movie at least once in your lifetime. For those of you that haven’t, its about a young man named George Bailey who dreamed of someday leaving his small hometown and going out into the world to make it big, but instead he gave up his dreams, stayed in his town, and gave of himself to his family and friends and even strangers.  George goes through a very difficult time and was about to lose everything he had, and eventually considers suicide thinking that his family would be better off without him.  Through the prayers of his family and friends, an angel is sent to help him, and George receives a rare gift of seeing what life would have been like had he never been born. 

 A 15-year-old girl that I am very close to was recently in a terrible car accident that has left her fighting for her life.  The amazing things that have happened since are too awesome not to share.  Grace is a true sweetheart of a young lady.  She is beautiful in every way, both inside and out.  She, as all teenagers do, has struggled with self-worth at times, and I have had many conversations with her about just getting through high school, knowing who she is in Christ, and her purpose in this world. It’s often hard to believe that someone who has so much going for them could ever feel these things, but as we all know, life is hard, especially teenage years, and people are not always kind.  Every time I am around her, I enjoy her company so much.  She has a light about her that just makes you smile.

  After the accident, Grace was taken to Cleveland Metro hospital with multiple skull, jaw, and ear fractures, a brain bleed, and small tears in her carotid artery. She was put on a ventilator and faced surgery and many other hurdles.  Grace is a cheerleader at West Branch High school.  Their community immediately surrounded the family and in no time at all, hundreds of people were praying for Grace. 

They started a “pink out” movement at her school since pink is Grace’s favorite color and sold pink T-shirts that read “Grace’s Warriors“ to raise money for the family and to show support for Grace.  They sold over 1100 shirts in 24 hours.  Friday was game day.  Grace would have been cheering that night if it weren’t for the accident.  A family member put a post on Facebook asking anyone that was wearing pink for Grace that day to send a photo so they could get it all together to show Grace when she woke up.  Hundreds of people were wearing pink for Grace!  It was amazing!  That night, all of the local schools participated in the “pink out” for Grace.  West Branch, Marlington Local Schools, Salem City Schools, Minerva Local Schools and Alliance City Schools.  The fans wore pink, drumsticks were taped with pink tape, pink flags, pink gloves, pink ribbons, pink socks, pink everywhere!  Just before the game, Grace’s family gathered at the game and a thank you statement was read to the community for their support.  They were overwhelmed with all the pink in support of Grace.  Just at game time, I walked through my kitchen and saw out my window that the whole patio was pink.  I walked outside and absolutely everything was pink.  God had painted the whole sky with the most beautiful pink I had ever seen in a sunset.  This was no coincidence.  Our awesome God had participated in the “pink out” as well. He even went one step further and painted the sky pink for three nights in a row, adding in His promise rainbow for us.

  I believe He was assuring all of us that love her that He’s got her in the palm of his hand.  So many people have written beautiful memories of how Grace has touched their lives, and she’s only 15!  It’s a beautiful thing how each person’s life touches so many others, and most of us never ever know it.  She has been given this rare gift.  I can’t wait for her to see it.  What an amazing thing it has been to see so many people come together in support of Grace. To see teams put their rivalries aside in support of her.  She has made amazing strides in her recovery but still has a long road ahead. 

Please pray for Grace and her family, especially her sister Mayze and their friends who were with them in the car that night.