Monday, December 15, 2008

Lights, Camera, Action!

They pulled up in a white station wagon.  They came in, took a look around and began unloading stuff....lots of stuff.  Hard cases, heavily padded cases and miles and miles of cables.



They had lights...lots of them!



They had dimmer switches, in case your lights were too bright.  They had filters in every color, in case your lights were the wrong color.  They had microphones, light tents (am sure there is a more techy title but...I'm a farm girl!) and of course, a monitor and a wham-o-dyne, real deal, television camera ($10,000 worth no less!).



Who were these people and why were they at our farm?

They were from the Christian Broadcasting Network and were doing a special on adversity.  Believe it or not, they weren't here to interview me (amazing isn't it....if they only knew the trouble I've seen!). They were here to interview my Mom.



But she isn't the "hero" in the story.  The real story is about my brother Mark.

My brother was a cop. In 1982, he was on a 4 lane highway directing traffic around an accident that involved a fatality.  It was Halloween night.  There were multiple police cars, ambulances and firetrucks around with lights flashing.  He was standing on the highway helping traffic crawl around the tangled metal.  Then it happened.  Some young man, drunk out of his mind, came barreling down the highway, apparently unaware of the lights, cars....unaware of anything.  He hit Mark at a high rate of speed, throwing him hundreds of feet down the highway.  My brother died that night....yet he lives today by the mercy of Yahweh.

My brother's story is an incredible one.  Over 30 operations later, and still more to come, his life is a strong testimony on allowing our Father to work through you to conquer adversity in your life.  He has written a book, which you can find here.  He is now a polygraph examiner full time and a motivational speaker part time...which he'd really like to be full time.  The 700 Club wants to do a short piece on his story and they wanted my Mom's perspective. As she was going through some of the details, I sat on the couch and wept at some of the memories.  I was pregnant with my first child when this happened.  Twenty-seven years ago, yet the emotions attached to that time are still so strong!  I still can't talk about much of it without crying.  Once he was able to talk, weeks later, I called my brother everyday.  He was so worried he would die before my child was born....he so wanted to be an Uncle.  He was also out of his mind on pain medication...and remembers none of those conversations.  Of course, as his big sister, it remains my duty to question the state of his mind to this day (love you Mark!).

I am so proud of my little brother.  What an amazing example of courage and perseverance he has been for my boys.  He was told that he would face double amputation (his legs literally exploded from the impact) and that he would never walk, much less run again and that he would never be a cop again,.  My brother dug his heels in and defied all the predictions with the help of our Father.  He refused the amputation...in fact he threatened to shoot anyone who took off his legs. I think he might have been serious!  (I still feel sorry for the lady from the prosthesis company who was sent to show him what life could be like without his legs...I'll just chalk it up to the morphine!)  It took him years to get on his feet again. He is still in pain everyday and will be for the rest of his life.  His legs...not pretty...but he can walk!  He ran in a short marathon, with his police buddies surrounding him so that no one could bump him and cause injury. He went back to police work and was a homicide detective for many years.  There is no limit to what you can accomplish when you lean on the Father!

I and the boys were allowed to be behind the scenes that day.

I explained that we were a homeschooling family and would really like to learn about what they did.  They let Elijah sit in the interviewer's chair for the lighting check.  Neat!



I found this picture, Elijah must have taken it, and have no clue what this is...wish I had seen it to ask.  My guess would be some sort of light meter...any Hollywood type people out there?



Getting ready to start the interview!



And the camera with a monitor on the floor...



They were so gracious to answer at least 5,000 questions and to suffer having their pictures taken repeatedly. Elijah is a rapid-fire photographer!  They had lots of interesting stories about people they had worked with and places they had been.  They were sweet, kind, respectful and fun.  It was a great way to spend a rainy afternoon.

I don't know when this will air but I will be sure to blog about it when I find out. We'll pop some popcorn and head next door to Mom's to watch since we don't have t.v.

We've settled back down into the normal farm routine around here pretty easily.  This is our last week of school before we break for Christmas.  I'm trying to get lots of Christmas baking done.

Oh!...I almost forgot! This last weekend...we had our annual Tacky Party.....and I have pictures worthy of blackmail....

Blessings,

10 comments:

  1. Hi Cheri!

    I just caught up on the last several posts on your blog. I'll have to get to the library to hear your boy drum (they have headphones and highspeed :)).

    Wow! Lots going on up there in your corner of the state.

    Daniel will be arriving here on Friday (our youngest guitar playin' son). If you can borrow a guitar from somebody maybe we can come up and visit and the boys can jam while the moms beam with gratefulness!

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  2. Cheri,
    We just happen to have couple of guitars. Josiah is now following his brother's footsteps and teaching himself to play.

    Sounds like fun!

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  3. Wow - that's a pretty cool experience! It isn't everyday that you're interviewed to be on TV! Sweet!

    I don't know there...I've got some pictures from the Tacky Party that would make great blackmail as well (tell Elijah not to dare!). I didn't post any of the embarrassing ones on our blog though - I know, I'm so gracious. Ah, I flatter myself! No need to thank me.

    :-P :-D

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  4. Kasie,
    Dont' you think they are all just a tad embarassing.... :)
    Stay tuned in a day or so :o
    Blessings,
    Cheri

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  5. Very cool! And very ironic that you weren't the one being interviewed on adversity!

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  6. Oh Andrea, if they only knew :)
    Cheri

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  7. Sounds like an amazing story I will have to read. Oh I can't wait to order the herb course. HughesNet has been acting up so we were losing it on and off so it seems to work now. Blessings.

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  8. Wow, and you didn't even tell us ahead of time about the interview! Would they let you tape it and then place it on You Tube for us without TV's?

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  9. wow... God's protection is incredible, I am looking forward to seeing the video and interview! As bad as I thought my own injuries were in my accident... I knew it could have been so much worse. Its amazing to see how strong a person can be when they are determined and God is on their side. :)

    By the way, I had a great time over Thanksgiving! I'm back to working 2 jobs and have been terribly busy, especially with Christmas coming up too. Hope to see y'all again soon!

    much love!

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  10. Wow, that's an incredible story. What a testimony! I'd love to see the interview...

    ...and the Tacky pictures! :o) I've got a few myself! :o)

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