You never know what tomorrow holds. As believers in Jesus Christ we pray we are prepared to face the future, no matter what it brings. Our faith was put to the test on Sunday, September 9, 2001.                        

It was a Sunday like other Sundays except our son, Joshua, was not with the rest of our family in church that day. We were listening to the sermon when an usher tapped me on the shoulder and said, “There are six young people at the front entrance that would like to speak to you.”

This was not uncommon since I was one of the Youth Pastors. When I walked through the door and saw who it was I knew something had happened to our son, Joshua. After hearing an account of the accident and the severity of the injuries he sustained, I remember walking back into the church, getting my wife and going up to the pulpit, interrupting our pastor’s sermon and asking him to please come into the hallway so I could talk to him. As we walked out of the sanctuary our pastor asked everyone to pray. In the hallway I explained what had happened to Joshua at about 8:15 that morning.

Joshua was at a friend’s house and had climbed into a tree about 30 feet from the ground, lost his footing and fell to the concrete. He had been rushed to the trauma emergency room at Shands Hospital with life-threatening closed head injuries. The paramedics had little hope he would make it to the hospital alive.

It was like a nightmare that I was unable to awaken from. Just the night before my wife, Debbie, and I had been at Bennigans eating dinner, where Joshua worked as a server. He had served us dinner with a joke and a smile. We laughed together and had a wonderful evening. We didn’t know our world, as we’d known it, was about to be changed forever.

Joshua, an all-star athlete in basketball, baseball, soccer and in-line skating, was now lying strapped to a table, connected to life-supporting machines, fighting for his life.

As we arrived at the trauma unit we asked to see our son. It seemed Joshua was carrying a fake I.D. and the staff at the hospital didn’t believe we were his parents. The doctors were just about to call someone else’s parents to inform them their son was dying, but we were able to convince them the I.D. was fake and we were his parents.

During the night they moved Joshua into the intensive care unit. He was still on life-support machines and had tubes coming from his head to drain the fluid and reduce the pressure that resulted from the swelling of his brain.

Word of the accident spread quickly and about 60 of Joshua's friends had gathered at the hospital. After a good deal of persuasion, we were permitted to take groups of ten at a time into the room to see Joshua. We felt it was vital that these young people witness, first-hand, the consequences of a decision to use drugs and alcohol.

That night many lives were changed. We explained to the group what to expect when they went into the room, but seeing their friend laying lifeless, as machines pumped air into his lungs, a tube drew blood out of his injured head, monitors of every kind connected to his body, and blood and medication being administered through IV’s impacted them all in a deep and sobering way.

After each of them had an opportunity to go into Joshua's room, we gathered together and prayed for him, and for each of them that they would learn a valuable lesson about the consequences of each and every decision they would make from that moment forward.

Joshua remained in a lifeless coma for the next three months and his prognosis for recovery was very grim. But as a family of faith, we knew that even in his unconscious state Joshua was aware the battle he was fighting was not just physical, but was spiritual as well.

As a young child it had been prophesied that Jpshua would be a mighty man of God and share the Lord’s love with many people. His mother and I knew that part of his life had not been fulfilled, and that even in the a state of unconsciousness, we were seeing that prophesy being realized.

As Joshua's friends came to the hospital to visit, many of their lives were radically changed by what they saw. His best friends, Nick and D.J., would never be the same and both rededicated their lives to the work of the Lord in a real and powerful way. Many of the staff that cared for Joshua saw the love of God in the family and friends that stayed at the hospital 24/7, those who prayed for our family and came to pray with and for Joshua.

On our wedding anniversary Joshua stirred from the coma and squeeze Debbie’s hand. It was the beginning of a long road to recovery, with many more months of hospitalization, a brief stay in a nursing home, several months of in-patient rehabilitation at Brooks Hospital before finally coming home in August of 2002.

While Joshua was in rehabilitation at Brooks he learned to sign the alphabet, which became his primary means of communication, as it is today.

Before we could bring Joshua home, our house had to undergo a significant ‘face-lift.’ Doors had to be widened, the bathroom had to be refitted and made wheelchair accessible, carpeting had to be replaced with laminate flooring and a ramp was built to the front door.

During this time we were introduced to Jerry Dennis, the Director of the Brain & Spinal Institute in Jacksonville, Florida. Jerry and his staff helped our family manage the overwhelming task of rearranging our lives in order to become the full-time caretakers for Joshua. Jerry and Joshua's case worker, Prudence Williams, are still helping us on a regular basis.

Joshua was released from rehab 11 months after the accident. He was still unable to speak, eat, drink or stand, and just barely able to move. We quickly learned care giving skills from the nurses that were sent to our home — how to feed Joshua through the tube in his stomach, how to monitor and administer over 37 medications, how to suction his airway and keep his body clean and dry.

The next two years were filled with “911" calls and many visits to the emergency room, each time with a dismal prognosis from the doctors. Most of these visits were triggered by pneumonia which was the result of Joshua vomiting and then sucking some of that fluid back into his lungs. Our lives seemed to be one long, unending hospital visit until an angel, dressed as a nurse, suggested we use a soy-based food supplement instead of the milk-based one we were using. It was a miracle! After two years of near-fatal emergencies, we had found that Joshua had developed an intolerance for milk. Our emergency room visits ended in November of 2004 and our family finally found a new rhythm to walk by.

We often think the decisions we make only affect us and unwise choices will only hurt us. Joshua's  story disproves that theory. His decision and the consequences of it affected all our lives — mine, his mothers, his two sisters, his grandparents, his other family members, his friends, and perfect strangers.

Joshua's  sisters, Kaitlyn and Gabrielle, were 14 and 10 at the time of the accident. Kaitlyn had to assume new responsibilities at home and Gabrielle was filled with a constant fear that her brother would die. Both girls lost several years of their lives in the consumption of their mother’s and my time in Joshua's care. But through it all, they have come through this tragedy demonstrating incredible strength of character.

Many have expressed surprise that Debbie and I have been able to pull together in the midst of this tragedy. Many marriages and families crumble under the weight. Our faith in a good and gracious God has given us the strength to pull together and to continue to give Him glory in the process. There have been many tears shed, many fearful moments, anger that had to be worked through, but our love for each other and our trust in the good character of our God had been the solid ground we walked on each and every day.

Joshua's recovery is still a work in progress. He has gained weight and now has limited movement in his extremities which allow him to walk with the help of a special device. He is trying to speak and is able to eat some solid foods. We have a gym set-up in our garage and Joshua works out everyday, strengthening his muscles. But his biggest joy is sharing his testimony and the Good News of the redemption and restoration he’s found in Jesus Christ with thousands of young people.

Several years ago, Joshua's best friend, Nick Haralambou invited Harold and Joshua to speak at an event sponsored by S.O.S., Strengthening Our Students, founded by Pam Mullarkey in Jacksonville, Florida. Nick, and other young adults who have made unwise choices of sex, drugs and alcohol, speak to middle and high school students about their personal experiences and encourage the students to make different, wiser decisions. Joshua's involvement impacted the young people in such a powerful way, that Thru The Roof has an open invitation to speak at any S.O.S. function that fits into Harold and Joshua's schedule.

In September of 2004 God gave Joshua and me a vision of a ministry called Thru The Roof, taken from Mark 2:1-5, where the paraplegic was lowered to Jesus by his friends through the roof of the house.

Even though Joshua can’t walk or speak, God has anointed him with a great desire to share the Gospel with young and old alike.