Praise Report. . .

What a crazy 24 hours. Yesterday morning we were all having a great time at the Pinecrest Mom's Group. . .fast forward 12 hours and I am sitting with my dear friend at Denver Children's Hospital waiting for her daughter to come out of surgery. About 2 p.m. yesterday, Corina had a terrible car accident with 2 of her 4 children. These 2 girls are Gracie's best friends, Trinity and Amber. Amber was taken by Flight for Life to DCH, while Corina and Trin were rushed to a local hospital. I received the phone call yesterday while Gracie was napping. As she came down the stairs she obviously overheard my conversation with a friend that was also with us earlier in the morning. The crazy part is she had taken her girls to her brothers house (which happens to be in Corina's neighborhood). He is a volunteer paramedic in Elizabeth and a fireman in a nearby town. He was not on duty but had his radio on and was able to be on the site in 2 minutes. I firmly believe God had him ready and waiting, as Amber had sustained severe cuts and trauma to her head. After the call he went home very disturbed. He felt like he knew them but could not figure out why. When he said her name to my friend she almost passed out. The paramedic's daughter and Amber are good friends and they had ALL been at the same BBQ the weekend before. After the call Gracie began to ask questions and I tried my best to explain in a simple way that they had an accident but they were going to be o.k. Her face was full of fear and the tears welled up in her eyes (and mine, too). We cried and we prayed and we trusted God. Oh, how thankful I am for that time with her. It still makes me sick to my stomach thinking of an alternative conversation. She is doing o.k. now, but pray for her to be able to be a good friend when she sees Amber. Pray that she will be able to handle the wounds and not be afraid. Pray that I will know how to prepare her for the reunion. I could go on and on about the number of times God orchestrated people being in the right place at the right time but the post would probably be denied for being to large. It was an amazing day. One of the gals that helped her at the hospital was talking with her son last night before bed. They were discussing how many people were at the hospital with them. . .our pastor, an elder, friends, family. . .and then James replied "and God was there, too". He said it so matter of fact that it took her breath away. She said "what?" and he said "God was in the room with us. . .I couldn't see Him but I could feel Him." Mind you, this boy is 6. I have always believed that children's innocence allow them to experience things we are too cynical to see. So, after a helicopter ride and many hours of surgery to remove glass and repair lacerations on Amber, a night in the ER observation for Trinity and a horrific time for two parents and two older siblings, I am so thankful to report everyone is a home together, safe and sound. I know they have a lot of healing to do ~ more mental than physical, but I pray that God's goodness and glory will be able to shine through this experience. I don't know what He'll do, but I do know that I will not let it pass in vain. Instead of being fearful, I will be grateful. I will use this as an opportunity to stop taking the little things for granted and I will remember the fear in my friend's eyes each time I start to snap at Gracie or over-react to a situation. I pray that these words will touch you and that you, too, will find some way to glorify God through this. Is there someone you need to call? A behavior you need to abandon? Do you need to spend more time with God? Whatever it may be, please do it. Do it for these girls that God choose to spare. Do it to honor Him. . .especially considering He loved us enough to NOT be spared. Thank you, Father!