Praise the Lord for Protection

Another letter from dearest Katie:

"Hello Tersia,

I was so excited about date night! We were just going Christmas shopping, but this 7 months pregnant momma may have been going to see the queen, I was THAT excited to get out of the house and spend some quality time with my man. Our babysitter said she could come for 3 blessed hours, and I was thrilled!

We held hands as my husband drove and I talked his ear off about work, and church activities and the baby and my super secret Christmas list of ideas for the kids. We were halfway down the main avenue of town, two lanes on either side of a tree-lined divider when we heard a strange sound. I stopped mid-sentence and looked at my husband and then screamed as the windshield shattered and showered us both with glass. He slammed on the breaks and carefully pulled over to the next empty parking spot along the side of the street.

Only once we stopped did we realize that a tree branch was the culprit. Apparently the box truck ahead of us had been a bit too tall for that lane and had hit an overhanging tree branch. The noise we’d heard was the branch scraping along the top of the truck before it passed and the weight of the branch caused it to fully break and drop through our windshield.

We both got out of the car, visibly shaken but literally unscathed. We shook the glass shards off our clothing and held each other. So many what if’s flooded my mind as we waited for the traffic cops and insurance agents to arrive.

What if we’d been going faster? - had it penetrated 4 more inches it could have pierced my husband’s heart.
What if it had been on my side of the windshield? - it could have killed our unborn daughter.
What if it had been a motorcyclist behind that truck instead of us? - it would have killed him…
And then there was our date - now ruined - when I had been so looking forward to it (cops and insurance things do not happen fast in Mexico).
And the car - our only car - It would take 4-6 weeks to get the insurance to fix the windshield...
I started to get a little pouty, and then I realized that I was getting caught up in false anxiety, about things that did not happen or things that were uncertain, when what I needed to be thinking about was the fact that the Lord had so obviously protected us in this situation, and quite possibly protected others (a motorcyclist) by allowing it to happen to us.

In that moment, I had a choice. I could complain, or I could praise him

for preserving our lives
for protecting our car (only the windshield was damaged, no other dents or major dings amazingly)
and for giving us a chance to show Christ to the truck driver, officers, media and insurance agent.
Have you had a similar thing happen to you or a loved one? Or maybe you have been stuck in traffic, and late to an appointment because of an accident up ahead of you?

You too have a choice. You can complain about the inconvenience or praise the Lord for his protection, and seek for ways to pray for, witness to, or bless others because of the circumstance.

The Lord protects and preserves them— they are counted among the blessed in the land— he does not give them over to the desire of their foes. Psalm 31:2 (NIV)

Your attitude will greatly affect how those in your home view the situation as well. Set the example of praise and they will follow suit.

Does it come hard to you? Ask the Lord to give you the eyes to see his protection at work and a desire to praise him. Those are prayers he delights to answer!

Praising Him,

Katie"

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