Dedication

This website is first and foremost dedicated to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He saved my soul when I called upon Him at age seven and then saved my very life on August 30th, 2002 when I cried out to Him. Psalm 50:15 says,
"Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me." In Jeremiah 33:3 God tells us to,
"Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know."

Although the past few years have proved difficult and painful, God has proven himself faithful and blessed me beyond belief. He lived up to His part of the bargain. He heard my cry and immediately answered me by saving me from a burning wrecked aircraft. He brought me through fourteen hours of emergency surgery, numerous complications and grueling rehabilitation. Therefore, I plan to spend the rest of my life glorifying Him, my all in all.

Secondly, I dedicate this website to my precious family, without which I could never have made it. My wonderful husband of twenty-three years, Ed Burgess, remains the love of my life. He lived out his wedding vows in view of everyone by remaining with me through sickness and health, for better or worse. God truly blessed me with an amazing, loving, meek yet extremely strong man. Many described him as a rock or pillar of strength throughout our entire ordeal. He held me when I cried, encouraged me when I was down and pushed me through each phase of my recovery.

The greatest treasures of my life, my son Chad and daughter Mallory held firm to their faith and helped sustain me with their constant love, endless encouragement and unconditional acceptance. I praise God for them and marvel at all the special and unique gifts He created in them. I remain humbled and extremely grateful to have such extraordinary children. I am thankful that God brought Brittany, my future daughter-in-law into my son's life just when he and we needed her most.

Next, I want to dedicate this site to the rest of my family. To my mother and father for raising me in a loving home where God's principles were patterned for me. They continue to shower me with love and praise and continue to be my greatest cheerleaders. My sister Debbie stayed by my bedside soothing me when I needed it most by reading from the Holy Word of God. My sweet nephew Robert and adorable Niece Marjorie spent endless hours in the waiting room just to be near me.

My brother Ron and Sister-in-Law, Lisa, drove fifteen hours to transport my kids to be near me at the University of Kentucky in Lexington. My brother Steve also flew up to see me while I remained in intensive care and then visited often along with my sister-in-law, Dianne, once I returned to a local hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida. I appreciate my mother-in-law, Helen, and sister-in-law, Bobbi, for staying with us and helping in so many ways after we got home.

I owe a deep debt of gratitude to my dear friends Linda Turner, Linda Martens, Michael Lynn Carmody, and Dr. Mike Mazzaferro for leaving their jobs and families to come up to Kentucky, help care for me, and then finally fly me home. I want to thank Ken Harper, my buddy, for accompanying my husband to Kentucky immediately after hearing of the plane crash. I also appreciate all of my coworkers and friends from Care Flight for all they did for my family and me.

A most special dedication goes out to my co-pilot, fellow survivor and dear friend, Jim Hensel. Left paralyzed with a broken neck and back after the crash, he worked hard and clung to his faith throughout his long and painful recovery. Miraculously, he now walks with the assistance of a cane. We leaned on each other a lot through the tough times and rejoiced with each other after each small victory. I know God plans to use Jim in a mighty way and I thank God for him.

My undying gratefulness goes out to my church family from Northside Baptist Church and my dear friend, Dr. Scott Boggs, for flying up to be by my side providing comfort along with God's assurance and perfect peace to my extremely frightened family. I want to dedicate this ministry to all the amazing family members, friends and even strangers who helped us make it through by providing meals, massages, house cleaning, chiropractic care, medical care, personal care, fund raising dinners and most of all love and support.

I especially want to thank Nick Reale who so graciously offered to set up and maintain my website in order to launch this ministry.

My heart's desire is to glorify God by sharing the amazing story of my miracle. I pray that as you read about my surviving a plane crash and God's protection and provision in my life that you will be drawn ever closer to Him. May He richly bless you and prove Himself faithful as you call out to Him. I have found that it is not about religion but instead a personal relationship with the one true God who created the universe. It is a free gift from God through faith and acceptance in His one and only son, Jesus Christ.