The World is in crisis from the Middle-East to the Mexican border, but....

Funny how in a moment, your life can turn on a dime and go a different direction.  On May 20, 1991, when we received a phone call that my wife’s family had been hit head on by a drunk driver, killing 5 almost instantly and leaving her youngest sister’s life hanging in the balance - It was one of those kinds of days.  Everything that was important is suddenly forgotten.  You get tunnel vision, and you focus on the sole subject at hand.  Last Thursday night at Midnight was another one of those moments for us.  We received a call that our twenty year old daughter was in the Emergency Room at the Norman, Oklahoma Regional Hospital (about two hours from our house).  It was another potentially life-altering, pivotal moment for us.

A guy at work had asked her to take a ride on his Harley.  Neither wore a helmet.  I can’t blame them, since I don’t like to wear helmets either.  But on a rural highway just south of Norman, a farmer backed his trailer out onto the road without looking.  It was just after dark, and the trailer had no lights.  The Harley hit the trailer at 60 mph.  My little girl flew head over heels through the air 90 feet, landing on the center yellow line of the road.  Before the impact, she had her cell phone in one hand, her car keys in the other.  Someone had to find her tennis shoes which had come off her feet, but her phone and her keys were still clutched in her hands.  The Harley was destroyed.  Rescue workers loaded her into the ambulance and she was in the ER before we were contacted.  Our oldest daughter and her husband drove to the ER from nearby Oklahoma City to be with her.  The rest of us went down the next day and brought her home to Cleveland.  She spent the weekend with us and gave her testimony at Church on Sunday.  How could we bring her home after such a wreck?  How could she go to Church yesterday and give a testimony?  Here is the incredible “Rest of the Story” as Paul Harvey would say: 

She landed on the pavement on her right side.  Her right arm, hip, and ribs are sore.  She has some bruises and scrapes, but not even any significant road-rash, as most motorcycle accident victims endure.  She has No broken bones.  She has No head injury, because her head never hit the pavement.  No marks or bumps on her head at all.  Her neck is a little sore, but Not injured.  I don’t know how it is physically possible to go through that type of accident, and basically walk away.  She is back at work today.  The young man driving the Harley flew over the trailer also, and received the type of injuries more consistent with such a wreck, including head trauma, stitches, and an injured leg.   There is no earthly explanation for how things turned out.  But there is a Heavenly one. 

One of the scriptures we have prayed regularly over our children since they were small is from Psalm 91:  “Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.  For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.    They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.”  My only conclusion is that angels were protecting her that night, cushioning her head from hitting the hot pavement, softening her impact so that not one bone was broken.  God deserves all the glory through His son Jesus Christ.  Believe me, we have worshipped Him over the last few days!  We have 4 girls and 1 boy.  Our youngest daughter made a public commitment to Christ yesterday and was baptized to the cheers of our Church family.  Her arm was in a sling, but our 20 year old daughter was there to see her 8 year old sister give her life to Jesus.  My wife’s youngest sister?  The one whose life was in the balance back in 1991?  She was there too, along with her husband and two daughters, watching our youngest getting baptized in the swimming pool.

This could have been a much different weekend for our family.  A weekend of hospital rooms and funeral homes.  We’ve had those kinds of days before.  But we are rejoicing today, and sharing the testimony of God’s mercy and grace.  Grace.  That just happens to be our 20 year olds’ middle name.  God’s Grace will follow her all the days of her life.  Many have asked about Kendal, so I thought I’d put this on the web.  Thank you for your love and prayers for her.  We have learned to serve the Lord in times of mourning as well as in times of rejoicing.  We are so thankful that she is ok, but I want to make it clear that our love for Jesus Christ and our commitment to Him are not based upon the events of our daily lives – whether good or bad.  God loved us and sent His Son to the Cross for us.  That is enough.  In adversity or in prosperity, we worship the Lord.  As Job said: “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him”.  This is our life.