touching story.

I just finished watching last night's Dateline NBC's story about Laura Van Ryn and Whitney Cerak. You might remember the story - after a van and semi accident in April 2006 involving several Taylor University students and employees, five people were killed instantly, and Laura Van Ryn was airlifted to the nearest trauma center in a coma with a serious brain injury. After five weeks, just as she started to come out of the coma, her family discovered that it wasn't Laura after all who had survived, it was Whitney Cerak.

I graduated from Taylor, and still keep in touch with many of the friends I made there (one of them, Trish, lives nearby in Virginia Beach and attends the Bridge Church with me). Lisa, Laura Van Ryn's sister, and I graduated the same year and lived in the same dorm, though I didn't know her well.

The story of the van crash made national news, and started a blog about her sister's progress. I followed it, and still remember the shock when I read the entry with the news of the mistaken identity. I didn't post about it at the time, because I had no idea what to say.

The Dateline story was incredible moving, and often had me in tears. But what impressed me most was the story the two families had to tell, of trust in God's sovereignty in the midst of horrible circumstances. Over and over, their words and actions, both now and during that time, testify to a deep faith in God, and their story is powerful. Really, really powerful.