This story begins last Tuesday night about 8:45 p.m....or does it?
We had a memorial service at our church that night and we were on our way home. I had driven there after work so my husband and I were in two separate vehicles. I was driving the car with Jac and Ethan and Lindy was behind me in the van with Gavin. We live in the city limits but just enough in the country that you have to pass cornfields and a sod farm to get to our house. The main road leading to our house turns from four-lane to two-lane and as I turned my head forward after looking over my left shoulder to see if I could merge a deer ran right across my lane. I had to swerve right and left to miss him. As Lindy was right behind me he also had to swerve and brake to miss him. I continued driving home but Lindy slowed down to see what would happen as the deer continued across the median and into the lanes going the other direction. He saw brake lights and then hazard lights and realized that someone going the other way had hit the deer. He turned around to go and see if he could help. It was merely a near miss on our part...or was it?
When he got there he realized that the guy inside the car was OK but his airbag had deployed and his car was totaled. The deer was alive but suffering greatly with numerous compound fractures. (This is according to Lindy's assessment and, frankly, I'm impressed that he can recognize a compound fracture). As he was talking to the other driver and asking if he was OK, the guy said, "You know, I was listening to music and the song that was playing as I hit the deer was, 'It Is Well With My Soul.'" Lindy said to him, "It is well with your soul, isn't it?" The guy agreed and told Lindy that he's a worship pastor at a local church. Lindy then told him that he was a senior pastor at a local church. That must have been a coincidence...or was it?
As the other driver was starting to call the police they were discussing how the deer was in agony. Lindy asked him if he thought he should go ahead and shoot him. The guy said, "If you have a gun go ahead." Lindy had his .40 with him so he took it out and shot the deer twice to put him out of his misery. While the shots were being fired the guy was on the phone with the police. When he got off the phone and Lindy prepared to head home he asked the guy if he would please not mention his name to the police if they asked why they could hear a firearm being discharged in the city limits. :) That's Lindy...always thinking.
When he and Gavin got home the first words out of Gavin's mouth were, "The deer went to deer heaven." That's all it took for me to know Lindy was going to have an amazing story to tell. So he relayed the story and told me he had already called one of his friends to tell him. He proceeded to call two more friends and his Dad to recount the story. To hear Lindy tell the story--and I heard it three times--it goes like this:
"You know, I'm going to be 41 years old next week and in all of my 41 years I've never shot a deer...until tonight. I shot it with my .40...and I did it while wearing a suit and tie."
Now in order for you to realize the full impact of the story you have to imagine his intonation and his pauses for effect. My true love is a one-of-a-kind guy, always impressing me yet never surprising me because I'm accustomed to his many talents and jack-of-all-trades ways. That's the totality of the story...or is it?
Actually this story began Sunday morning, two days before this incident. I was playing the keyboard at church, as usual, and we had prayer time in the middle of the service. The altar area was full of people and one of the ladies came up on the platform to pray for me. That rarely happens--the part about someone praying for me on the platform. She prayed for me and then told me that she felt strongly that there was going to be some sort of danger coming my way that week and she felt that it might have something to do with me traveling in my car. Now, you may not give any credence to God impressing upon someone to pray so specifically, but I totally believe it and was glad she had been obedient. I honestly didn't think much about it, and didn't even tell Lindy, until Wednesday morning. I was reading my "little book" that I read from every morning. There's nothing magical about it but it's full of Scriptures and statements that I speak out each morning. (There's a long story about the book itself, but this post is long enough already). I happened to be reading the following passage,
"No evil will befall me, neither shall any plague come near my dwelling. For You have given Your angels charge over me. They keep me in all my ways. In my pathway is life, healing, and health."
As I read that I immediately remembered what Sue had prayed over me Sunday morning and connected it to what happened the night before. There had also been a bad accident on the highway Tuesday morning which I avoided, but it took place where I should have been traveling that morning at that time. Surely it was a coincidence that God protected me twice in one day...or was it?
You see, I believe God's Word is alive and we can stand on His promises. I also believe that He uses ordinary people to intercede on our behalf and He sends His angels to protect us. Does that mean that we will never have anything bad happen to us or that calamity will never come our way? No, it doesn't. We live in a fallen world, but we still put our trust in God and know that nothing happens to us that isn't first filtered through Him. He knows the beginning and the ending. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. So, the real story here wasn't about my husband and his super cool, never-ending adventure he calls his normal life; it's really about being obedient to God and His never-ending love and protection.
Summer 2012
Monday, August 30, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
The Untold Story of a Priceless Gift
We've been back from vacation for a week and I feel like most of my stories from my trip have already been shared. If you happen to be following me on this blog and you aren't my friend on Facebook then you have no idea that I'm referring to the Note I wrote on Facebook while we traveled to Yellowstone. If you fit in that category (and I don't think any of you do) and you have 47 minutes of free time to read my Note, then let me know and I'll forward it on to your e-mail. For the rest of you, I promise not to bore you with the re-telling of stories that have already been read.
It was such a long trip that it was hard to cover everything significant, so I saved one for you. One of the days of our trip we just hung out around West Yellowstone, MT and decided to be spontaneous and see what we could come up with to do. We drove up to the site of the 1959 earthquake which was just a dot on the atlas beckoning to us on a day we had nothing else scheduled. (You have to understand that our vacations are usually very tightly scheduled so that we can fit in as much excitement and adventure in each day as possible. Not necessarily my idea of a vacation but this is who I married). Lindy had plans to take the boys to the rodeo that night and I had plans to have a little quiet time in the pop-up by myself so we didn't want to venture out too far that day. In the afternoon, Lindy wanted to take the boys to a "Mountain Man Rendezvous" that just happened to be going on the same weekend we were in West Yellowstone. Coincidence?? I think not. I was completely fine with their little escapade because it meant I could stay in the van, soak up some sun, take a nap, and read a book. That's exactly what I did while they explored for close to two hours. It was blissful to me--the one who would prefer to just read a book on a beach for a whole week.
Anyway, when they returned each of the boys had a "treasure." Jac had a throwing knife which he informed me could not cut me but could stab me. In my nurse's brain it honestly doesn't matter. Both equate to severed arteries and not such a great vacation. I'm pleased to report that no unfortunate stabbings have occurred with the knife. Ethan had a walking stick that was taller than him and usually kept the van door from closing for the rest of the trip. He also already had a walking stick at home. Gavin came back with a whistle. A 4-year-old had a whistle to carry with him on the rest of our 3600 mile trip??? What was his father thinking? The last thing they came back with was a necklace that Gavin had brought for me. I immediately put it on and wore it for the rest of a trip. Here are a couple pictures with said necklace around my neck:
It's multi-colored with big beads and little beads and every day I joked with Lindy that it matched whatever I happened to put on for that day. He said if I had gone with them I could have picked out several necklaces. He kind of missed my point. It matched EVERYTHING. Who knew that I would only need one necklace in my jewelry wardrobe!!??
Here's the real point though. I have a lot of jewelry, both expensive and inexpensive, but there are some things you can't put a price on when your four-year-old brings it to you and says, "I brought this for you, Mama." So, even if the necklace cost a measly dollar (and that was the actual cost), nothing is as valuable as the priceless gift from a boy to his mother.
Lindy asked if he could get by with buying me jewelry that only cost a dollar. My response? Sorry, my friend. You'll have to keep the diamonds coming but I'll treasure the little beaded necklace as if it was worth a million bucks. Because--to a mother--nothing is more valued than the tender, sweet thoughtfulness of her child.
It was such a long trip that it was hard to cover everything significant, so I saved one for you. One of the days of our trip we just hung out around West Yellowstone, MT and decided to be spontaneous and see what we could come up with to do. We drove up to the site of the 1959 earthquake which was just a dot on the atlas beckoning to us on a day we had nothing else scheduled. (You have to understand that our vacations are usually very tightly scheduled so that we can fit in as much excitement and adventure in each day as possible. Not necessarily my idea of a vacation but this is who I married). Lindy had plans to take the boys to the rodeo that night and I had plans to have a little quiet time in the pop-up by myself so we didn't want to venture out too far that day. In the afternoon, Lindy wanted to take the boys to a "Mountain Man Rendezvous" that just happened to be going on the same weekend we were in West Yellowstone. Coincidence?? I think not. I was completely fine with their little escapade because it meant I could stay in the van, soak up some sun, take a nap, and read a book. That's exactly what I did while they explored for close to two hours. It was blissful to me--the one who would prefer to just read a book on a beach for a whole week.
Anyway, when they returned each of the boys had a "treasure." Jac had a throwing knife which he informed me could not cut me but could stab me. In my nurse's brain it honestly doesn't matter. Both equate to severed arteries and not such a great vacation. I'm pleased to report that no unfortunate stabbings have occurred with the knife. Ethan had a walking stick that was taller than him and usually kept the van door from closing for the rest of the trip. He also already had a walking stick at home. Gavin came back with a whistle. A 4-year-old had a whistle to carry with him on the rest of our 3600 mile trip??? What was his father thinking? The last thing they came back with was a necklace that Gavin had brought for me. I immediately put it on and wore it for the rest of a trip. Here are a couple pictures with said necklace around my neck:
It's multi-colored with big beads and little beads and every day I joked with Lindy that it matched whatever I happened to put on for that day. He said if I had gone with them I could have picked out several necklaces. He kind of missed my point. It matched EVERYTHING. Who knew that I would only need one necklace in my jewelry wardrobe!!??
Here's the real point though. I have a lot of jewelry, both expensive and inexpensive, but there are some things you can't put a price on when your four-year-old brings it to you and says, "I brought this for you, Mama." So, even if the necklace cost a measly dollar (and that was the actual cost), nothing is as valuable as the priceless gift from a boy to his mother.
Lindy asked if he could get by with buying me jewelry that only cost a dollar. My response? Sorry, my friend. You'll have to keep the diamonds coming but I'll treasure the little beaded necklace as if it was worth a million bucks. Because--to a mother--nothing is more valued than the tender, sweet thoughtfulness of her child.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
He Didn't Even Wave Once
Yesterday was the first day of school for a lot of area school kids. I really felt for all my friends who are sending kindergarteners off for the first time. It can be traumatic--mainly for the parents. I sent one of mine off to middle school for the first time and another one off to 3rd grade. Jac has been riding the bus from home since the end of 1st grade when I was at home with Gavin on maternity leave. I can still see his little 1st grade legs running off to catch the bus and his big toothless grin--he was missing his front teeth for 3 years due to an untimely bike accident.
One thing that every walk to the bus stop always included was stopping to wave at his Mom or Dad. One of us was always there to watch him round the corner to where the bus would pick him up. Right away he developed a habit of waving from three pre-determined (by him) spots. This wasn't surprising to us about Jac because he is kind of regimented like that. He's a Bornert after all. It became comical to us and on the mornings when both Lindy and I happened to see him off to school we would laugh together at Jac's predictable nature of when and where he would wave. On cold mornings he would remind me to stick my arm out the door and wave so he could see me. (Sorry, I'm not that Mom who walks my kids to the bus stop or actually stands on the front steps when it's cold outside. If it's really that cold I'm just going to drive them to school).
Between 1st grade and 5th grade he gradually dropped two of his pre-determined waving spots but he never let go of the last one--the one where he was getting ready to be out of our sight and off to whatever adventure school held for him that day. He always waved...without fail...he never once missed waving. Get my point, here? I even had Lindy take a picture of Jac and Ethan on the very last day they would go to school together until they are in 12th and 9th grade. Here it is:
Yesterday morning after I prayed for my oldest child who now catches the bus at 6:53 a.m., I kissed him and hugged him and sent him out the door. I stood out on the front porch and watched my baby walk away to go to middle school. I watched and waited. He passed the first previously pre-determined spot. No wave. I thought, "Well, that's not unexpected because he gave up that spot a while ago. I watched and waited again. Nothing at the second spot. I continued to watch and wait. He rounded the corner and I lifted my hand knowing he was going to turn around and wave at his Mom like he has every time since March 17, 2006 when I first sent him off on the bus. No wave. Nothing. He just continued to walk away, right out of my sight. Right then and there, a little piece of my heart went walking around that corner with him.
When Lindy got home from his morning walk a little while later I said, "He didn't even wave once." He immediately knew what I was talking about and I could see in his eyes that he felt the same as me. Our little boy is not so little anymore.
This morning when I saw him off to school--now that he has to leave so early I get to do that every day--I told him that I was crushed when he didn't wave yesterday morning. He said, "I didn't?" and he sounded surprised. I think the surprise he managed to work into his voice was just for his pitiful Mom.
Today...he waved.
One thing that every walk to the bus stop always included was stopping to wave at his Mom or Dad. One of us was always there to watch him round the corner to where the bus would pick him up. Right away he developed a habit of waving from three pre-determined (by him) spots. This wasn't surprising to us about Jac because he is kind of regimented like that. He's a Bornert after all. It became comical to us and on the mornings when both Lindy and I happened to see him off to school we would laugh together at Jac's predictable nature of when and where he would wave. On cold mornings he would remind me to stick my arm out the door and wave so he could see me. (Sorry, I'm not that Mom who walks my kids to the bus stop or actually stands on the front steps when it's cold outside. If it's really that cold I'm just going to drive them to school).
Between 1st grade and 5th grade he gradually dropped two of his pre-determined waving spots but he never let go of the last one--the one where he was getting ready to be out of our sight and off to whatever adventure school held for him that day. He always waved...without fail...he never once missed waving. Get my point, here? I even had Lindy take a picture of Jac and Ethan on the very last day they would go to school together until they are in 12th and 9th grade. Here it is:
Yesterday morning after I prayed for my oldest child who now catches the bus at 6:53 a.m., I kissed him and hugged him and sent him out the door. I stood out on the front porch and watched my baby walk away to go to middle school. I watched and waited. He passed the first previously pre-determined spot. No wave. I thought, "Well, that's not unexpected because he gave up that spot a while ago. I watched and waited again. Nothing at the second spot. I continued to watch and wait. He rounded the corner and I lifted my hand knowing he was going to turn around and wave at his Mom like he has every time since March 17, 2006 when I first sent him off on the bus. No wave. Nothing. He just continued to walk away, right out of my sight. Right then and there, a little piece of my heart went walking around that corner with him.
When Lindy got home from his morning walk a little while later I said, "He didn't even wave once." He immediately knew what I was talking about and I could see in his eyes that he felt the same as me. Our little boy is not so little anymore.
This morning when I saw him off to school--now that he has to leave so early I get to do that every day--I told him that I was crushed when he didn't wave yesterday morning. He said, "I didn't?" and he sounded surprised. I think the surprise he managed to work into his voice was just for his pitiful Mom.
Today...he waved.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
New Beginning to a New Blog
You might wonder why I would choose to start a blog. After all they are pretty much a dime a dozen these days. I have to be honest and say I don't have a clear idea about what I will write about but I know that it's something I'm supposed to do. I read a book about nine months ago titled, "Three Feet From Gold." I love to read, both fiction and non-fiction, and I highly, highly recommend this book. After I read the book and did some exercises that the book encouraged I came to the conclusion that I was supposed to start a blog. If you're not someone that prays a lot you might not understand or agree with this part, but I felt like the blog was something God was leading me to do to be an encouragement, or at least comic relief, to those around me. I have written some Facebook "notes" about trips I've taken and found that I really loved writing.
Obviously this is my first post and that was nine months ago, so what happened? I really made one excuse after another; mainly being busy, distracted with my ear and equilibrium issues, telling myself that I really don't have anything to say that would be interesting...the list goes on. Then, we were at the end of our Yellowstone vacation a few days ago and I told my husband, Lindy--the pastor, that I was really feeling again that I was supposed to start a blog. I believe he was the only one I told and last November he started helping me set up a blog but I basically just ditched the idea and avoided it before it went anywhere. Well, Lindy is pretty black and white when it comes to God and he said, "If God told you to do it, then I would say you have to do it." Thanks, honey. Hopefully you and my mother won't be the only ones reading it.
I don't know how often I will post, what I will post about, who will read it, when I will have time to post; but I know that when God speaks, you listen. That's what I plan to do.
Obviously this is my first post and that was nine months ago, so what happened? I really made one excuse after another; mainly being busy, distracted with my ear and equilibrium issues, telling myself that I really don't have anything to say that would be interesting...the list goes on. Then, we were at the end of our Yellowstone vacation a few days ago and I told my husband, Lindy--the pastor, that I was really feeling again that I was supposed to start a blog. I believe he was the only one I told and last November he started helping me set up a blog but I basically just ditched the idea and avoided it before it went anywhere. Well, Lindy is pretty black and white when it comes to God and he said, "If God told you to do it, then I would say you have to do it." Thanks, honey. Hopefully you and my mother won't be the only ones reading it.
I don't know how often I will post, what I will post about, who will read it, when I will have time to post; but I know that when God speaks, you listen. That's what I plan to do.
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