God Holds Our Lives In His Hands

We know this to be true.  But sometimes it is merely mental agreement, we don't know this through experience.

We all jump in our cars every day, drive around, comment on bad drivers, impatient people etc, but how often do we really consider God's hand on us?

Yesterday there were two car accidents close to where we live.  The first one, was up at the corner of our side street.  Right outside Nate and Kay's house.  She heard it and called 911.  There were five cars involved and someone was trapped in their car.

You can read about it here.

Rachel and I were out running errands when it happened, but we had just left Nate and Kay's house 10 minutes before this happened.
After we got back, I was mowing the property and we got word that at nearly the same time as this first accident, a head on collision took place on another road near us that we travel frequently.

Our friends at Hospitality Lane have been celebrating the engagement of their daughter Chelsea to her beloved Chadd.  In fact, Chelsea blogged their engagement story yesterday.  In the afternoon Chelsea's dad got a call from their friend who was with the local fire company telling him that Chadd had been in this accident.  

Word went out to pray, they had to life flight him to the hospital, he had a severed artery in his leg.  We didn't know if he'd lose his leg or not.  So many things happened yesterday that showed God's hand on Chadd, even though He allowed this accident to happen. Two quick things - there was a nurse midwife who stopped to help, and she was able to apply pressure on Chadd's leg, and the life flight helicopter had been called in for the other accident and was en route, but they determined that Chadd's injuries were more serious and they diverted the flight for him.  The accidents were maybe 3 miles apart.  Both of these things helped keep Chadd alive, as time was so critical for him.  Minutes made the difference. The doctors were able to save his leg!

You can read more at Hospitality Lane.

Yesterday was a powerful reminder that God holds us in His hands, and even when bad things happen, He is working His plan for our lives, for our ultimate good.  He wants us to know Him in all situations.

Please pray for Chadd and Chelsea.  This is one of those "for better or for worse" moments.  They are trusting God and thankful for all the prayer and support they received yesterday.

UPDATE - Chadd is headed to surgery this morning so they can find the source of extra fluid in his pelvic area.  This is causing his heart rate to be high.

Such A Good Day

We had such a good day...


Tim and Nate went to run errands and have breakfast together for Nate's birthday.  Rachel and Sarah had a sleepover with Grandma and then went bowling and for pizza to celebrate Rachel's birthday next week.


Emily and I went to lunch before evaluations, Kyle came along, too.  He is so fun and dear.  He had fun doing his word search and watching the tv show about volcanoes!


Emily had her evaluation first and did very well.  Tracy, our beloved evaluator, said she loves to evaluate Emily.  "She sees what I am looking at in her portfolio and starts talking about what she learned or liked.  I don't even have to ask any questions."  She has been our evaluator for 7 years - that means Emily was 10 the first year she did our evaluations!


Rachel and Sarah also had evaluations and Sarah had achievement testing, as well.  They both did very well.  So this year is finished and now we just have graduation on Thursday evening!  


When we got home we had a message on our answering machine that made us all very excited!  Did I tell you that on Saturday Lindsay left her purse in a Chick-fil-A in Georgia?  And that she didn't even realize it until we were 5 1/2 hours down the road?  Sigh...we called the Chick-fil-A and were told no one had found it or turned it in.  We left our number and said to please call if it was found.  She quickly inventoried what was in there - made a fast call to the credit union to cancel her debit card - and was so sad that she had lost the memory card with all of the photos of Grammy on it!  Ugh!


Guess what?  This afternoon a sweet woman from that Chick-fil-A called and said they "had something that belonged to Lindsay" and could she please give her a call?  Her purse will be in the mail tomorrow!  Praise the Lord!  Answered prayer, indeed!  I asked Lindsay if everything was still in it and she said, "I didn't even think to ask!  I was so excited!"


We also had dinner with Nate and Kay and a couple that are friends with them.  We have known Tyler since he and Nate were 5.  They both are the oldest of 6 siblings and both have 4 sisters in the middle and the youngest sibling is a brother!  All nearly the same ages as well!


What a good day it has been.  I am thankful that the Lord is with us in these good days, as well as the bad days....

Starting Off The New Year...

 These photos have nothing to do with the post but I like them so I put them on!


I am already behind and I haven't even started yet!  The plan is to get back at school this week - but I started to run a low grade fever last evening and am stuffed up, so we will see how it goes today.  


Saturday had all the makings of a frustrating day - Lindsay didn't feel well and that threw a wrench into all MY plans.  How inconsiderate of her, eh?  Poor girl, she is feeling better now.  We did get the bathroom walls and ceiling scrubbed but that had to wait until Tim got home, as I just couldn't quite reach well enough.  sigh.


My flesh wanted to have a hissy fit.  Things were not going how I had planned!  But due to the Lord's mercy in my life to continue to help me grow into His image - He is not known for His hissy fits - I managed to remember to leave the outworking of the day to Him.  He knew/knows just what is needed for each day.

 And it was a good day...peace reigned in our home, Emily made double chocolate cookies - so good - she drove to the store 2 times for things we needed, the younger girls cleaned their room and played together...

 It snowed all day, the pretty, big flake kind of snow, Kyle had so much fun playing in it, when he wasn't riding shotgun in the van with Emily!

Today, I am going to 'rest' in what the Lord has for me.  It may not be what 'I' had planned but He knows what we need.  Last night as I laid in bed feeling under the weather, He sent Kyle to lay with me, and to tell me over and over that he loves me and that I am the best mom.  It was precious to me to savor that time with him.  He told me that he will never forget me, or grandma, or Emmy, or his whole family!  He then skip counted by 5's for me, to 100!  The Lord was so good to send me a physical comforter...

So...I will take today as it comes, and cherish every opportunity to build love, affection, and fun with my family, whether 'my' plans are accomplished or not!