Near Death Again...

I'm 31. But I think about death a lot. I am not morbid; what I mean is that I often think about the fact that every hour, every minute that goes by brings me a moment closer to my physical death. And I think things like, "Lord, what kind of life have I lived, and won't you live through me that I might make an eternal difference in this world? I am but dust, a passing breeze that does not return." I thought about death again Saturday night 8/15/09. Shawn and Iliana stayed home that night, because Shawn was preparing for a trip to Europe.

It had been a very full two weeks, as it is every year in preparation for students. I packed in four weeks of work into two weeks. On my way back from church on Rte. 72 a white chevy pickup truck stopped in front of me to turn left. As I waited for it to turn, I looked in my review mirror and realized that the old blue Suburban behind me, filled with four young people (in their late teens or early twenties that I had passed on a two-way earlier) didn't realize I stopped. I thought, "I'm a goner. I'll be smashed to a pulp into the rear end of that pickup." I estimated that they were traveling about 65mph. When they saw me and the truck in front of me, they swerved right to avoid me and oncoming traffic. They careened into the cornfield going very, very fast. As soon as the pickup swerved into the cornfield, I found a good spot and pulled over. I started to dial 911 and then heard the engine reving. Before I hit 'send' on my cell phone they backed out. I asked them if they were okay and they gave me a thumbs up sign. They drove away. Shawn and I drove by later on and he noticed that they barely missed being wrapped around the telephone pole. God spared my life and he spared theirs. I don't know anything about them. But I prayed for them. That Christ would be made real in them if they don't know him. And I thought about how God protected me again. It wasn't my moment to die. May Christ live his life through me, may his streams of living water flow through me into the lives of others. And I pray the same for you. We know not when we'll breathe our last. Amen.