Schreiners display strong faith amid tragedy (Baptist Press)

The Baptist Press recently released a brief article about Tom Schreiner and his wife Diane. The article covers Diane’s serious accident and her recent recovery. Here is the start of it:

Tom Schreiner received news that his wife Diane was involved in a severe bicycle accident, leaving her unconscious with several broken bones and fractures and — of most urgent concern — bruising to her brain.

On that August day, the Schreiner family knew few details about the accident, and they knew even less about its effect on Diane’s future.

In the days that followed, Schreiner, a New Testament professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., kept an online CaringBridge journal to update friends and family about his wife’s condition. The journal became a window into the spiritual and emotional state of Schreiner and his family.

“We don’t know for sure, and in one sense it doesn’t matter,” he wrote in his first entry. “God reigns over all things, and now we deal with the situation he has placed us in.”

Five days later, on Aug. 22, Schreiner wrote: “Diane woke up and was conscious. She responded to questions, squeezed my hand, gave us the peace sign when we asked, etc. We cried with joy. We know that we have a long journey, but what an astounding answer to the prayers of so many.”

Later, he wrote that Diane had the text of Isaiah 41:10 posted to a window sill. The verse reads, “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will hold on to you with my righteous right hand.”

Schreiner’s response to the crisis demonstrated that he and his family believed the promise in Isaiah. The process of Diane’s healing brought many unknowns, but Schreiner consistently pointed to the Gospel through all the questions.

In a post Sept. 2, Schreiner wrote, “If sparrows don’t fall to the ground apart from the Father, neither do bicycle riders. Not even the tiniest thing can happen to us apart from the Father’s will. He didn’t cease being her Father when she fell…. Why did it happen? The scriptures are clear: to bring glory to God…. He planned it for our good, so that we would become more like Christ and trust our Father even more.”

Read the rest here.