Hi! We are Carly and David Bowers, and we are so glad you’ve found yourself here on this blog. We believe that every person has a story, and it’s after a long time of wrestling with this belief that has pushed us to start this blog.
Our family’s story does involve tragedy; I don’t want to deny that. But we don’t think tragedy is the theme our story is centered around. We believe it is one of victory and of finding hope after tragedy.
Instead of talking more about our story, how about we just tell it to you? 🙂
Here’s our crazy, fun-loving family!
We were married on July 2, 1994 in Minnesota. Two weeks later we returned home from our Lake Superior honeymoon, loaded our daughter and all of our belongings into a moving truck, and headed off for a new adventure in New York State. David is an engineer and he had taken a job promotion in Tonawanda, NY.
A couple years later, David’s job took us across the country again; this time we were headed to the warmer climate of Southeast Texas. We were told we’d only be there for 2-4 years since it was a training position. Our family grew while we were there- Nathan was born in March 1997. David has always been a Texas wannabee, strutting his stuff in jeans and cowboy boots, so now we finally had a true Texan in our midst.
On August 20, 1999, our lives were forever changed. David was in an oxygen flash fire at the industrial gas plant he worked in. Everything but his feet was burned. We spent 4 months separated from our children in a burn unit in Galveston, which was 3 hours away from our home.
While others cared for our children, we remained at the hospital and David fought a daily battle for his life. It was during this time that we began to learn about the power of prayer. David was transferred to a rehab hospital closer to our community where he stayed for two additional months before moving back into our home.
Even though we were reunited with our family, we had to get reacquainted with one another. Life had changed dramatically for each of us. Through the years we have all struggled with our own battles. Depression. Anxiety. Flashbacks. Being stared at. Loss of jobs. Questioning God. Learning new ways to do things. Frustration. Realizing life would never be the same. The list goes on…
The healing process for our family has been an ongoing battle, but through it all we have grown closer to God and to each other. Even in our darkest moments, we’ve been blessed with reminders that God has a plan, a purpose, and hope for our pain.
These days, we are so honored to have the opportunity to encourage others who are facing hardship. We believe God can use our story to serve others, and I pray that you are encouraged here.
We believe in laughter, we believe in hope, and we believe in a God who brings light even into the darkest of places.