This past Sunday was not an unusual day. It all seemed pretty normal… until I arrived home at mid-afternoon and the message light on our phone was blinking. I took the phone and pushed the buttons and the voice on the answering service instantly transformed my relatively normal day into something that can only be called surreal.
“Steve, it’s Tanya. Chris was crushed by a front-end loader and it’s really bad and we’re in the ambulance right now heading for the QEII.”
Her voice was not quite hysterical but it was obvious that she was ‘scared to death’. Some of you know what it’s like to get a call like that. Chris is our youngest child. He has two older sisters and he’s really special to all of us. We love him dearly and hate the thought of having him endure anything like this, and the mere thought of being without him was, well, unthinkable.
His mom, with her sister Sandra, had left for Ontario for two weeks the day before to visit with some family there. For me, the 1 ½ hour drive to the QEII in Halifax that day was probably the longest drive I’ve ever taken, even though I’ve driven across the continent several times. The fact that I had to make the trip alone made it harder. I didn’t know really how bad ‘really bad’ was going to end up being, but it sure sounded really bad. That made it harder. And the fact that his mom was now hundreds of miles away and had no idea what was going on at home made it harder again. One of the many thoughts that kept trying to overwhelm my mind was this one – what kind of phone call am I going to have to make to his mom?
They say that even people who say they don’t really believe in God pray at times like that. Well, I do believe in God. Not only that, I’ve committed my life, not only to knowing Him personally, but making Him known to others, where I can. And so, yes, you bet I prayed. I prayed all the way there, all the time with prayers pushing and pushing and pushing thoughts and worries of what could be happening out of my mind, forcing myself to focus on God in His greatness, mercy and love. I prayed for Chris and for Tanya and for Florence and for our family. And lots of others prayed too, because I took a moment before leaving the house to place a quick call asking for the prayers of God’s people. I’m grateful for you.
Several hours later, the test results were finally in and, although he has massive bruising and five broken ribs, he is going to be ok. I prayed again, this time, giving thanks. Of course, I have also found myself wondering ‘what if’ too. Because it doesn’t always turn out this way does it. People endure great personal losses and injuries and sorrows and grief that is, well, unthinkable.
And sometimes it’s difficult to process all of this. What are the lessons? What are we supposed to think? I’m still thinking that through, but I have figured some things out. Life is precious, and at any moment of time (we never know) God reserves the right to remind us of just how precious it is. And life is fragile. We are not the masters of our own fate that we often tend to think we are. At any moment it can all be over. And life, in this world anyway, is temporary. Someday, we don’t know when, we will suddenly find ourselves standing before God, and on that day all of life as we know it in this world will be like a snapshot against the backdrop of eternity. And it will all be obvious, judged, as if in a moment, as to whether we really made it count for Him or not.
Chris, if you’re reading this, I love you son. We love you. And we are so glad you’re going to be ok. The Lord has been very good to us. He has been very good to you. Praise His Name.
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