Below are some Facebook statuses from the night of our accident that we have saved over the years.

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PLEASE pray for my brother and sister in law Lane and Emily. They were in a serious car accident tonight. Emily is ok, and my brother Lane is undergoing brain surgery right now. Please pray.

12/26/12 Graham Bargeron

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As I sit at my precious husband’s bedside with nurses/docs swarming about I am incredibly amazed at what God is doing and has already done through Lane and I’s traumatic accident yesterday. Lane is and will continue to be on major sedation following his surgery last night (to decrease brain swelling). We’ll find out the next several days once they wean him off the ventilator how well he’s able to breath himself at this point initially. I as Lane’s wife and best friend have never felt so vulnerable and helpless in my life. The doctors and nurses (and our parents) here have taken incredible care of both of us and see to it that all our needs are met though, for which I am eternally grateful. With only pain/anti nausea meds on board for me at this time (staples placed in my head/ scrapes & bruising all over), I am more grateful than ever to be here for my incredible husband at this time. Your prayers don’t go unheard, please continue in the days to come as Lane is here in the Hospital. Boldly approaching the throne of grace today,

Emily (for my incredible fighter Lane, too)

PS. We’re especially grateful for the Bruce’s that came and sat with us yesterday at the hospital in OH until our parents could come. It meant so much to have someone at my side that knew and loved us following the most frightening moment of my life.

12/27/12 Emily Bargeron

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Just sang several songs Lane loves and read scripture out loud to my precious husband. He remains in an induced coma of sorts, with vitals remaining stable..which will be important as he’s weaned off sedation tomorrow. Praising God for EVERY step. Thanks for your continued prayers, especially tomorrow. I’m feeling much better and will have my staples removed in 10 days. An example of my incredible husband’s creativity: We always place our car trip food/coolers in front of my feet on the passenger side. The person that removed me from the car said my legs could have been crushed were it not for everything between my feet and the front of the car. My husband is so smart. And God is SO good!

12/28/12 Emily Bargeron

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In a matter of minutes Lane’s sedation will begin to very slowly be turned down. We so desperately need your prayers. Praising God how far we’ve gotten thus far.

12/29/12 Emily Bargeron

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Third day prayer. Thanks Lord for everything you have done for Lane and Emily . I just pray tomorrow when the doctors wake him up we could be successful. And also dear Father I just pray that we can get a 100% Lane back. Also thanks Lord you let the whole family stay strong and support each other, especially Emily, never seen a lady would stay as strong as her after all these happened. I also pray that Lord you can give my parents and the Davis’ peace , and hopefully Lane could get better soon and stay out of the pain. Jesus name AMEN!

12/29/12 Jason (Bargeron) Xu

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Sitting here in the peace God has granted in Lane’s room. He has been breathing on his own for a short while with the help of CPAP. We have seen his hands and head move several times and are so grateful for every small movement. We will provide more updates later on – but for now we are encouraged that he will be waking up one day soon.

12/30/12 Gary Bargeron (Dad)

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Words cannot begin to express how grateful I am for all of your prayers tonight and in the days to come. My baby is sleeping well with no medicated sedation, just pain control (brain swelling and leftover meds in system=lots of sleepiness, which he needs at this point). Praying he’ll sleep well tonight so tomorrow we can see more movements (hands and legs moved today). Taking this journey one moment at a time, and finding God’s grace more sufficient than ever.

Standing forever proudly by my man until we leave this place together,

Emily

12/30/12 Emily Bargeron

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Fifth day prayer. Dear Father thank you so much you gave the whole family peace. Let the whole family get through the hard time. Thanks Lord you gave us a good year even though we got hard time but the reminds us to keep praying and serving you. Thanks Lord you let Lane and Emily to be strong and fight this. I just pray for the new year my brother could get better and better, and hopefully we can get a 100%Lane back. Lord I also pray for all the people who helped us just hope they can have a nice year and we really appreciate all your helping and prayers. I also pray for mom and dad, I pray they could have a good New Year Eve in Ohio and hopefully we could get some good news from them tonight! And Jesus name AMEN! Happy New Year We are good here with everyone’s help!

12/31/12 Jason (Bargeron) Xu

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Lane did so great today. Was off sedation from morning on throughout the whole day. He is fighting hard. He has pneumonia that they are treating but its causing some trouble with the ventilator and all. It’s so difficult to watch him try to cough up all the gunk in his lungs with the ventilator down his throat, but he’s been doing so wonderfully. Emily has been beside him to wipe every tear and to wipe away every bead of sweat. It’s beautiful to see. He has not been able to completely wake up yet, but we are definitely getting closer. He tried so hard today but just couldn’t quite make it. No big deal. We will all be there tomorrow to root him on again. Once he is fully awake all the tubes and wires are going to be really bugging him so it’s probably good he’s not fully awake yet.

12/31/12 Beth Bargeron (Mom)

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I’ve continuously been reminded of the NTBI Waukesha’s Presidents chapel the past couple days. He shared that the ONLY thing that went through his mind as his family was torn apart in their accident was Isaiah 43: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine! When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overflow you. …When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, Nor will the flame burn you. “For I am the Lord your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior.” Praising God for the truth of his word today. And recognizing more with each day as I sit beside my Lane the vitality of FILLING my mind with scripture. SO looking forward to another day beside my man.

1/2/13 Emily Bargeron

To our dear Friends and Family–

It is our desire to keep you updated as we continue on with training at New Tribes, which is why we are starting this blog. We greatly appreciate and covet your prayers as we continue to learn, grow, and seek our Savior’s direction in this journey!

In nearly 3 weeks we will be married 6 months. This hardly seems possible!  About halfway into the Fall semester here at NTBI, Lane continues to work diligently in the kitchen as an intern while I finish my final year as a student and work per diem at a nearby hospital. It really is a blessing having a husband that enjoys cooking:) We have a blast trying out new recipes together and are grateful for our perfect-sized apartment kitchen.

To give you a better glimpse into our lives at this point,  a typical week for us would be class/work in the mornings, studying/work in the afternoons, and more studying/classes or fellowship time with other students in the evenings.  Lane is currently taking Perspectives on the World Christian Movement on Tuesday evenings, which we are both soaking up. So neat to see God’s heart for missions unfold throughout Scripture as the different speakers present each week. We HIGHLY recommend taking this course whether you are considering missions or not.  This semester we also started helping with the Sunday morning kids ministry at Rives, the church we’re attending right now.  Nothing like seeing children learn, memorize, and grow in God’s word. We love it and are learning so much from them!

It’s time to hit the books again, but Lane and I want to let you know that we are extremely grateful for your place in our lives and desire to keep in touch as we finish NTBI and prayerfully take the next steps in the training process . We’ll try to update this blog periodically so you know where we are at and how you can specifically pray. We’d love to know how we can be praying for you too. Hope to write more soon.

Gratefully,

Lane and Emily Bargeron

Wisdom is generally associated with the elderly, the ones who fought the wars that weren’t ours and farmed the fields that no longer exist.  Or Hindu priests meditating on mountaintops.  Either way it’s not something we generally gravitate towards as young people.  Why?  I don’t know why.  Because we’re not expected to at our age I guess.  Most likely it’s because we are way more comfortable being fools

Before I start rambling I ought to explain what I’m talking about.  Here’s Webster’s definition of wisdom: 

1. accumulated philosophic or scientific learning : Knowledge
2. ability to discern inner qualities and relationships : Insight
3. good sense : Judgment

So wisdom is an accumulation of knowledge, ability to discern or just good sense.  Pretty straightforward really, and it seems like something everybody should have.  Actually it sounds a lot like God’s description of wisdom.  Webster was close, but the big difference between worldly wisdom and biblical wisdom is that biblical wisdom begins with the fear of God.  Proverbs 1:7 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”  You can gain as much knowledge and life experience as you want to, but it’s totally wasted if it doesn’t begin with God. 

Anyway, all that is to say that wisdom is practical, desirable and totally accessible.  The real point of this post comes from Proverbs.  Before you go on, read it here: Proverbs 1:20-33

When I read this yesterday I was struck with a truth that I never noticed before: God does not give us spontaneous wisdom. 

Picture this: a Christian sits around all day playing games, staring at the wall, talking mindless jargon with friends.  He isn’t reading the Word, he isn’t learning from other believers, he isn’t seeking truth or wisdom at all.  Essentially he never tries to become wise; it’s not even on his mind.  Then something happens… a family member dies or he has to make a big decision he isn’t prepared for.  What’s one of the first things he does?  He prays, “God please give me wisdom.”  Do you think God will give it to him? 

Check out verses 27-32 of that passage again.  According to Proverbs God will do the very opposite.  This believer has been living a lifestyle of folly and done everything but seek after wisdom, so in his time of need things will be no different.  You reap what you sow.  You live as a fool, you make decisions accordingly. 

“But he prayed to God for wisdom,” you may say.  “Doesn’t God want wisdom for him?”  Of course He does!  God says we can ask for wisdom and He will give it to us liberally and without reproach (James 1:5).  He wants what’s best for us and is excited to give it to us if we will just ask (James 4:2-3, Matt. 7:7-11).  But think: He offers us wisdom continually.  It’s there all the time, and not any more so in our time of need. 

Let’s say wisdom is a warm fireplace on a cold winter day ready and waiting for you to come inside and sit by.  You’re cold and shivering outside and need to take advantage of it, but you’re having so much fun in the snow you can’t even think about the fire right now.  Suddenly the temperature drops 40 degrees and you’re pummeled with shards of ice and gusts of wind.  You remember the fire and run inside to sit by it.  Warmth is all you want right now and you expect that as soon as you sit by the fire you’ll thaw.  But it doesn’t happen.  You take off your gloves and hold your fingers to the flames only to discover a nasty case of frostbite.  In a similar way, God wants wisdom for us and He always offers it to us.  But He will allow us to face up to the consequences of not seeking it if He needs to. 

We must come to terms with the fact that God wants us to do things His way.  As sinful people we want to live for pleasure and get instant spiritual growth when we ask for it.  But God in His infinite wisdom and love does not want that for us.  He wants us to grow, but it takes time.  That’s how He works.  Look at everything else He’s created: plants, animals, human bodies – they all take time to grow.  And so do we.  We cannot live like fools and expect to handle difficult situations as sages.  But we can take the time to seek out God’s wisdom – which He offers freely – and prepare ourselves for those hard times.  Not to mention experience the abundant spiritual riches God has to give us!

So we can’t become wise spontaneously and God offers us wisdom freely and continually.  Where does that leave us?  How do we access that wisdom, where can we find it?  I would suggest three places.  

First, His Word.  The Bible is everything God wants to communicate to us while we are here on the earth.  Yes He communicates through creation and believers, but Scripture is, quite literally, the written words of the living God.  Why do we not yearn to read it?  This is perhaps the most important of the three.  There has been a large and unnerving lack of emphasis on the objective truth and limitless wisdom of the Word of God in our generation.  Don’t fall for it.  Read His Word.  If you want wisdom when times are tough, read His Word when times are good.  Read it, study it, apply it and live it.  Proverbs is a great place to start.

Second, other believers.  God is growing all believers and making them more like Him (Rom. 8:29).  So thank God for them and go learn from them.  God has blessed us with the Body of Christ, the universal network of all believers.  Take advantage of it.

Third, prayer.  God does indeed want to give us wisdom, and if we approach Him with that desire, He is faithful and anxious to give it to us!

God does things His way.  There is nothing for us but to follow.  Seek wisdom now, every day.  Better to be a fool in the world’s eyes than a fool in God’s.