Tuesday, June 17, 2008

That Still, Small Voice


I just read this story in a newsletter I get in my email each Tuesday::



We’d seen eight inches of rain fall in our hometown in a matter of hours, swelling the ditches and bayous and making lakes out of front yards. My friend was outside her house with her kids talking to another buddy on her cell when her children began asking if they could wade in the ditch. Vicki nodded, unwittingly setting in motion every parent’s nightmare. Within
seconds someone was yelling that nine year old Kenley had disappeared. She’d gotten too close to the culvert, and a current no one was aware of had pulled her under. Kenley was underwater, struggling unseen to hold onto the concrete sides of the pipe against the current trying to suck her on in. She was losing her grip when she heard these words, “Keep your arms stretched out above your head and you’ll come out the other side.” That’s exactly what she did. Kenley, seventeen inches in diameter, went through the eighteen inch pipe, face down, arms extended. Her frantic mother saw her pop out the other side. The seconds had felt like years. Her grateful family believes Jesus was with Kenley in that storm drain, telling her what to do; so do I.

I share their story as a reminder to parents of the very real dangers of an innocent looking ditch. But this story also holds a beautiful analogy for us all. Regardless of the trial you’re facing, going through face down with
outstretched arms will always be the best posture to bring you through and out the other side.

~Shellie Rushing Tomlinson~


Well, that IS an awesome thing to have happened. It reminded me that pretty much the same thing had happend to our son. He was a teenager, and a fairly new driver. He was driving our brand new car to pick up his paycheck from the Sears Outlet Store where he worked, about a mile away from our house.


He was on the access road of one of our Houston freeways - not quite as bad twenty years ago as it is now, but still. He overcompensated in steering, trying to avoid hitting a schoolbus that changed lanes in front of him and lost control of the car. He heard an audible voice saying, "Take off your seatbelt and lay down on the seat." He did. The car flipped totally over on its top side and actually slid up the on-ramp to the freeway.


The car was a total loss, the top of the car was flattened to the level of the seat tops, but our son had absolutely no injuries! Glory to God!


I don't know exactly how people get through this life without the guidance of the Holy Ghost, the third Person of the Trinity, but I am so glad and so thankful that He is there for us all the time, always warning us of things to come. All we have to do is listen and obey.


Have a wonderful day!


~Elaine~

1 comment:

Ginger said...

Ahh i love how you shared ,More need to stand up in these aweful days.Bless you for sharing with us all .Jesus is so wonderful!
Bless you!