Early the next morning we got the news that the Hopkins' eldest daughter, Karla, had been in a 4-wheeler accident and was in critical condition at hospital in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Hopkins had gotten the news at 3:00 in the morning and headed up there immediately. Although the rest of the Convention was good, I honestly can't remember much about it. You could sense that everybody was really feeling and carrying a heaviness over the Hopkins and their daughter. I can't even remember how many times we stopped to pray for her throughout the day. Karla is not saved and although there were definite prayers for God to touch and heal her and spare her life, the greatest agony was over her soul. More on that in a minute...
The ladies had prepared a meal to raise money for October World Missions, so we enjoyed chili dogs (three pots of homemade chili) and all the fixin's, along with a plethora of desserts--most of which, I learned, were made by one lady there in Bessemer. Amazing. It was a nice relaxing meal with good food and fellowship.
After the meal some folks headed home while the ministers and state leaders gathered for the final session. Katie, Joe, and Sam enjoyed playing with the kids they had met and made instant friends with. They had been a little bit nervous about making new friends, but they had no trouble at all--even Sam. He's the one that usually gets all shy and awkward, then acts up and turns creepy when he feels uncomfortable or out of place. I was AMAZED at how at ease and outgoing he was, with kids and adults alike. All three kids will miss the Clarkson bunch (they were SO happy to see each other at church last night!), but they are thrilled to have some new friends waiting on them in Alabama. I don't know how I managed this, but the ONLY pictures I took (other than hundreds of pictures of houses) on this trip was the one of the church sign and this one of Katie and Katie... Wish I would have got one with Madison, too, but I think she was already gone. I think the three girls will be great friends. Makes me very happy, but not nearly as happy as it makes Kate!
When the Convention ended on Saturday afternoon, we packed up some clothes and followed Mom and Dad back to their house. That hadn't been part of the initial plan for this trip. We had intended to stay in Bessemer the whole time, attend church on Sunday, then spend a few days looking at houses in the area. But we wanted to go be with the Hopkins in the hospital in Knoxville and Cleveland was on the way. We left Mom and the kids there and Dad and James & I drove on up to the hospital that night. I think we got there at about 10:00 or 10:30 that night. The Hopkins were so broken and already so exhausted--but so full of faith and hope. The doctor had not given them any hope at all that Karla would pull through. He just kept telling Brother Hopkins that he was sorry--so, so sorry. He asked if Brother Hopkins knew anybody who knew how to pray and said if he did, it was time to be calling them (of course, there were already people praying all over the country) because there was simply nothing else the doctors could do for Karla. The had no expectation that she would live even 12 hours. Throughout the night different groups of people would go into Karla's room with Brother Hopkins and pray and pray and pray again. The Powells and the Ridlespurges had also made the trip from Bessemer (4 or 5 hours, I think) to come be with them, as well as Shawn (Sean?) Womack from Virginia. We stood in the hallway and prayed and talked and prayed some more. Kristal was there (the youngest of the Hopkins kids and the only one we knew) as well as another sister, Gina, and a brother, Steve--both unsaved. While we were singing Reach Out and Touch the Lord in the hall that night Gina prayed and repented and gave her heart back to the Lord. Praise God for that! God has so much more in mind than just the circumstances themselves, you know? And I so admire Brother Hopkins for his priorities in all of this. He loves his kids so much, but he makes no compromises for them--tells them with such love and concern and authority exactly what God requires of us all. He was so broken and so devastated, but so full of faith at the same time. The tears would just pour down his face and he would sob and cry out to God not just for Karla's life, but for her soul. He said he could release her to heaven if he had to, but he just couldn't release her to hell. He prayed some of the most beautiful prayers I've ever heard, begging and pleading with God for her soul. He just wanted her to wake up so he could talk to her one more time about her soul. Nobody knew her true condition (she was heavily sedated and in a coma), but he would talk to her and tell her to talk to Jesus, to cry out to God, to give her heart to Him. Over the next few days there were lots of ups and downs, but when there would be definite improvement (obviously in answer to prayer--there was no other explanation) the tears would just pour down Brother Hopkins' face again and he would beg God to please, please accept his thanks for all that God and all of heaven had done. It was just so precious and so beautiful. His prayers, though distraught, were so full of faith and hope--I feel like I learned so much from him and was sooooo blessed by his response to this agonizing situation. And here I'd been nervous about what my new pastor would be like. Shame on me. I already love him dearly and have such respect and appreciation for him. It was one of those situations when you go and try to be a blessing to somebody else, but in the end you come away being the one who was blessed.
We spent a few hours in the room and the hallway, then a few more down in the lobby area visiting with the Powells and the Ridlespurges and Kristal, while the Hopkins tried to sleep a little bit. We finally left at about 4:30, I think, and made it back to Mom & Dad's house at about 6:00am. I laid in bed wide awake until about 6:30 (what's that all about?!), but was able to get a couple hours of sleep before getting up and heading to church at Zion Hill. We enjoyed a good service that morning, followed by lunch and a much needed Sunday afternoon nap, and then another good service that night--really enjoyed Brother Anders' message on feeding the spiritual man as well as we feed the physical. Good stuff.
Monday morning we headed back up to Knoxville to go to the hospital again. Karla had taken a definite turn for the better and for the first time the doctors began to give some hope that she might live. There is no doubt that God had moved in answer to prayer. Like I said, there have been a lot of ups and downs since then--which is so, so, so exhausting on the family. The Hopkins are totally exhausted physically, emotionally, and spiritually. It just drains you completely. Please, please, please keep Karla in your prayers. She is still in the coma and has lots of fluid they're trying to get rid of now, as well as some other issues. If you're interested, you can check her progress at: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/karlahopkinstrammell Pray for her body, pray for her soul, and pray for her family--they all need strength and grace from God.
Look for post #3 shortly... :-)
1 comment:
I have immense respect and high regard for our Pastor and His wife. They are righteous people of God. I cannot tell you how much he loves the Lord, his family and flock. Thanks for sharing this.
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