She is a beautiful young lady with a smile that could light up a room. And she is extremely talented. Emma Edwards’ drawings could rival some of the most well known, modern day artists and God is painting a beautiful picture with Emma’s life.
“She always had a mind of her own from the time she was born. She was into music and art in school,” said Jill Edwards, Emma’s mom.
Jill and Larry saw their daughter’s future having something to do with art. Besides art, she had even talked about serving the Lord through the legal system.
“I knew that art would be a part of her life forever. Emma wanted to be a lawyer, a Christian lawyer.”
But those plans would be put on hold and the Edwards’ faith would become the center point of everything they’d known and were about to know.
Jill recalls, “It was August 18th, 2001 and I had just talked to Emma on the phone. She was on her way home from Cresco and she didn’t show up after we waited and waited. It was storming and she’d been in a car accident. She’d rolled after losing control on a curve. There’s a farm house that sits just north of where the accident took place. The woman that lives there had told me that a chill woke her up just a few minutes before Emma’s accident. She told me that if that hadn’t happened she wouldn’t have heard (the accident) and they’re the ones that called 911. There happened to be two highway patrolmen that were within two minutes of her. One of the EMT’s told me that he was up and dressed before the call came in because it was storming so badly that he had a feeling that they were going to be called out. So, God was there.”
“I think the way God choreographed everything that evening kind of set the stage for us that He is in control and that He had plans for us and for Emma. This strengthened our faith for what was to come, all the many things that were to come and kept us grounded,” said Larry Edwards, Emma’s dad.
Jill and Larry had no idea if their 16-year-old daughter would survive, if she did, how would she pull through? There were many questions that COULD have been asked but that’s not what happened the night of the accident or the next couple of days that followed.
“We had a meeting with the doctors and they didn’t give us much hope. But the Lord protected my heart and it didn’t pierce my heart. I knew different. I knew, I KNEW we were going to get through this. He holds you. It’s like He takes you to a different level and He carries you there,” explained Jill.
“As I think back we were quite calm,” Larry remembers.
"I knew where we needed to go and that was to the Lord,” said Jill.
This is just the beginning of a long journey for Jill, Larry and their daughter Emma. God’s canvass is big and His picture of Emma’s life was just beginning to be painted.
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