MOTF - "Weav"

Let me begin my saga, in the year of our Lord 2004. My mother, who had been stricken with Alzheimer's for a few years, had taken a turn for the worse. My sister and I were called to her bedside, with no re-assuring words of hope from the kind and loving staff at the Risen Son nursing home. As we watched and prayed over the small, frail, form of the little lady that we had always remembered as a bulwark in the ministry of Christ, a peace settled over us, just as the Word says it will, when you go through times such as this.

I watched intently as my mother raised her head from her pillow, and, wide eyed, looked around the room. Of course, we thought that she was making an awesome recovery, only, to hear her breath, her final breath. It was over! I closed her eyes, and whispered to God, "Alas, no more suffering for your servant."

Sad as that little story seems, that was just the tip of the iceberg for a scooter bum known as Weav. During the week of the funeral preparations, and all the way through to the end of my mothers wake, I had been suffering with kidney stones; that when they finally passed, were the size of a soybean. Needless to say, that was some intense pain, and according to my doctor, equal to childbirth. Believe me, I have a fresh perspective and respect for all mothers. Bless their hearts!

God really saw me through a bit of a rough time in 2004, but I believe now, that He was only preparing me for 2005.

Two months after my mother passed away, my dad too, went home to be with Jesus. Unlike my mothers demise, my dad had no signs of illness, other than that of aging. He slipped away in the middle of the night, and when I was called to the same facility that my mother had been in, when she had been called home, I had that same "peace that passes all understanding". I was even able to lovingly scold 'the old man’ for "slipping out in the middle of the night".

All the practical skills that I had learned in my lifetime, I attributed to my dad. Sometimes, when I still have questions about how to build or repair something, I long for dad's insight. I guess that the loss of my parents was just a stepping stone, and God knew that I would need to be strong, for what He knew was ahead.

It was a to be a beautiful fall day on November 2nd, 2005. My old Harley was runnin' just fine, and it was going to be a glorious ride home after work that afternoon ... That's all I remember of the month of November.

This is what I pieced together from doctors, police records, visits to the scene of the accident, friends, and family.

On my way to work, as I entered an intersection, headed North, an automobile going South, driven by a man with no drivers license, no insurance, and no green card, and no real reason to be behind the wheel of a car, turned left and smashed into the left side of my bike, nearly taking off my leg, and destroying my foot. Hurtling me through the air for some 50 feet, I landed face first in freshly trimmed shrubbery, with stubs the size of my thumb. I was spared, by a fraction of an inch, of losing an eye. I lost a lot of blood lying there on the sidewalk, and was pronounced dead at the scene, resuscitated, and died once again in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. I had no spiritual encounter, no light at the end of the tunnel, no recollection of anything.

When I arrived at the ER the doctors wanted to take my badly mangled leg off, but by’ Divine intervention'??? My family wouldn't let them. So, by God's grace, two of the most brilliant surgeons in Omaha, Nebraska, went to work to save my foot and leg. There were pieces of flesh and bone missing from the limb, but that didn't slow those doctors down one bit. After hours of operation, several skin grafts, and a rigging that looked much like a broadcasting tower lying on it's side and attached around my leg, several pints of blood, the aid of a wound vac, and prayers from around the world, God guided the hands and minds of those surgeons, and I, like the six million dollar man, I was rebuilt. Those surgeons were even given the insight to remove some of my stomach muscle, and graft it on to my 'de-gloved' foot. Even to this day, when I get hungry, I think I can hear my foot growl. A sprained wrist, broken thumb, lots of blood and bandages, they put me back together. I have titanium rods from my hip to my knee, from my knee to my foot, and a plate in my foot with too many screws to count. I can set off the alarm at the airport, all the way out by the street.

As I stated, I don't remember any of this, as I was unconscious, and then, put into a drug induced coma. I'm sure God wanted it that way, because living with the pain that I can remember, I'm not sure what the pain would have been like during that month of November.

I have been in the motorcycle ministry for over 25 years. President of the Messengers of the Faith Motorcycle Club for 10 years, and a licensed minister through the Pentecostal Church of God for 12. Our main mission is the marrying, burying, and ministry to bikers. God has really blessed our efforts. As brothers in Christ, our outreach doesn't start and stop with just the motorcycle community. We are truly all things to all people, and we believe God has honored that.

DO I BELIEVE THE ENEMY IS ANGRY?

YOU BET!!!, and praise God for it. I'm not yet sure why I went through all of those trials, but God will let me know in His time, and I'm sure it will be for His glory. I've already been able to share some of my story with those that God has sent me to, but that wasn't the end of that incredible journey, for when I was transferred to another hospital in December, for physical therapy, my wife of 34 years was admitted to the same hospital, just two floors below mine. I guess the stress of me being all messed up, was more than her little heart could bear. Late one night, I was awakened by the nursing staff with, "Weav, I think you had better come with us..." I was wheeled to the sixth floor, and it was there, December 11, 2005, in the intensive care unit, as I held her hand for the last time here on earth, that my bride left me for a better Man.

Like Job, God has helped me to endure all of this, so that I can say without hesitation, God is still on the throne.
It's been a couple years, God continues to bless, I have had a miraculous healing. The doctors said I wouldn't walk for a year, maybe two, but by the grace of God, I was up and around in six months. I graduated from a hospital bed to a wheelchair, from a wheel chair to a walker, from a walker to a cane. And, now I get around with no help at all..., unless she is really cute.

I have a slight limp, but I am still riding my ol' Harley. I preach every chance I get, to let everyone know what I've been through, and the love that God has shown. I'm still marrying and burying scooter trash (bikers), and ministering wherever He tells me to, and that is why I can still say: