God's Sovereign Protection

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." Psalm 91:11-12

This afternoon, Richard and I (along with Brian, Amy, and our 4 GRANDkids, returned home from a travel-trailer trip to Louisiana. We left on Friday evening and 44 hours later we were back home. We were a day late in returning due to circumstances beyond our control, but enjoyed our get-away so very much. We didn't see any accidents in all of the 700 miles we covered in less than 48 hours.

Richard and I were getting ready for evening church late this afternoon when our phone rang. It was my dear friend, Ann P, telling me that her daughter, Julie, had just been in a car wreck while on her way to attend a Sunday School teacher's meeting. James and Ann were on their way to the hospital as Julie was being transported by ambulance. Richard and I immediately changed out plans and headed off to the hospital to be with James and Ann.

We spent two hours in the ER room with the family as Julie laid on her gurney. She was taken out several times to have an x-ray, cat scan, and other tests made. We were there when the Highway Patrolman who "worked the wreck" came in to talk to Julie and her parents about who hit her ~~ causing the accident. He was a young man (22 years old). He did not have a valid driver's license. He was driving under the influence. He jumped out of the car and fled the scene of the accident. In all there were ten charges against him after he was apprehended, handcuffed, and taken to jail.

As we stood there in that little room inside the ER chatting with James and Ann and encouraging Julie during the trying hours following the accident, I was so very much reminded of the brevity of life. James and Ann testified after seeing Julie's car that God had truly preserved Julie's life. She is a beautiful 23-year-old ~~ a dedicated Christian ~~ a girl who would never hurt anyone. And there she lay in a neck brace and feeling the bumps and bruising taking place on the outside and not yet knowing what has happening on the inside. I am blessed to report that Julie checked out okay and was later discharged from the ER to go home and recover from the frightening event. She will have to shop for a new car, but she is okay. PTL!!!

And then there is the young man ~~ perhaps an illegal who declared that he doesn't speak English ~~ drunk on a Sunday afternoon, driving illegally without a license while under the influence, who wrecks not only his car, but his life. He is the real loser in Sunday afternoon's accident. He is now behind bars with 10 charges against him. He is probably feeling very helpless and hopeless. He most likely does not know Christ as His Savior. Who will share Christ with him? Without Christ, what kind of future does he have? A very bleak one at the moment for sure. He is just one of the millions who are searching and need to be told of our Savior's love and of His free gift of salvation so that their lives can be changed. Who will tell them??