We should all consider how precious life is. Life is a delicate gift that is often taken for granted. Journey with me as we discover how delicate life is and how little control we actual have.

It was around 7:00 am on an average morning just like this one. My brother and I were riding together on our way to work. Going the toll road has become a ritualistic motion of life Jamie and I do without thinking.

This morning would be different. As we started down the hill after paying the toll a car looked as if it was about to pull out from a side road. I remember thinking “There is no way that car will…” CRASH! The two cars lifted off the ground, one spun to the right… One car landed to the left. Something flew out of the windshield…

We were only feet away when it happened; Jamie pulled to the side. I said “Oh God”. We both ran to the cars, Jamie went to the first and I the second. As I approached the car I saw the lady. When I opened to door I noticed several people running towards the 3 year old baby that had been thrown though the windshield. As I reached in to help the lady I saw the little one year old in the floor. I know not to move an accident victim but the baby was not breathing… I gently but quickly picked the baby up from it’s distorted position, went out to the street close to where the other baby was lying and put my ear to his mouth… nothing, I checked for a pulse… nothing. I thought to my self… Oh dear God, I don’t know how to do CPR on a baby, what if I break him? I gently compressed his little chest only a few times and… breath but only for a moment! Before I could attempt to breathe air into this baby knowing full well I was not trained or prepared to do so a woman dressed in BDU’s rushed in a said “I am a nurse”. She threw her hat to the side and began to work on this little baby… Another man, dressed in a T-Shirt and shorts came running up and said “I am a paramedic” as he knelt down and assisted the Air Force nurse.

After seeing that both babies were being attended I went back to the car. I now had a second to realize what just happened. I reached into the car and tried to get the lady to speak to me. She was un-conscious but her breathing was good and the only injury I could see was a cut above her left eye. I thought to myself “She is fine, just shook up”. I stood for a moment and asked myself what can I do now? I looked over at my brother with blood on his hands from working with the other car and that baby was crying and the man seemed ok… I started praying.

My attention was brought back to the lady in the car. She was now moving and turned around in the seat… Now I could see she was pregnant. I asked her was she pregnant and she said yes. By now an army of emergency personal showed up, followed by a helicopter…

I learned several things from this tragedy. Most importantly is the fragile nature of life. Sometimes we get so caught up in the busyness of life that we never stop to smell the proverbial roses. The 22 year young lady who I thought was fine died along with her unborn child. Is there anyone in particular on your mind right now? Go to them: talk or even embrace them, you never know if tomorrow will come until it has past… by then it may be too late

• Do you need to make up with a relative?
• That BIG fight with the spouse or the kids on your mind?
• Do you know anyone who you may think is a Christian but you aren’t really sure?
• Life is so fragile! Make your peace, make your mark, MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

If only I would have took the time in my past to learn infant CPR. That type of preparation could have been a life saver. Are you prepared to save lives? What about souls? God gives us the tools to learn to witness to the lost. We have the Holy Spirit, the bible and other family in Christ who will prepare us for witnessing to the spiritually dying… God saw you and I fit to die for, we should be prepared to share our gift.

Please help me to reach the lost. I think a major reason we don’t share is because we don’t have enough in us to go around. We are satisfied with knowing just enough about our Father to get us in the pearly gates and we become content with accepting the mundane.

Below is a brief little message for the unbeliever you can print (copy and paste into notepad) and carry with you or memorize (tough one for me) and carry in your heart. I can assure you that someday whether you want it or not you will have an opportunity to share Christ because someone comes to you and asks.

You may not have another opportunity. You don’t need to preach to them or convince them. Tell them how Jesus has worked in your life and leave the rest up to God. You can plant the seed, God assures us that that seed will be watered, nurtured and given every opportunity to grow into a beautiful flower of Christianity.

Little witness note:

Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

Luke 13:3 “I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Prayer:

Dear Jesus,
I know that I have sinned. I believe that you died and rose for my sins to be washed away. I need you and want you to come into my life. Thank you Jesus for forgiving me and coming into my life forever. Please help me to learn more about you and live how you want me to.

Amen.

Let’s all learn to share the Gospel with the lost and make sure the ones we think are found truly are.

My cordless phone battery keeps going dead. I have one of those manual labor phones. I don’t know if everyone has seen them. You know that one that you must stand up to answer the phone. That may be why the cordless phone keeps going dead; I am too lazy to put it on the base…

After digging out that old manual labor phone that I need a crash course on using and coming to the understanding that I can’t just leave it off the hook sitting next to my recliner or it will start barking something really loud until you put it back on it’s base… Wow I am being trained to put a phone back up! Maybe next I will take the trash out!

Any who.. I figured what I need is one of those phone splitter thingies that let you plug two phones into one jack that way I can have a sort of lazy phone redundancy.

I am a little on the tight end of the spectrum. You know, squeeze a dollar out of a dime! I know I have one of those phone splitters somewhere and where is the first place you look? Right; that junk drawer in the kitchen! Yep, the one that you have to slam a few times and break a few pencils and wedge something in on top that makes it so hard to open again.

I opened that drawer up finally and what I realized was that I got lured into checking out all that stuff, you know the junk. I scattered it all out on the counter top. I was amazed I still had all those dead AA batteries! You better believe those went in the freezer! Ok, maybe not he-he. Anyway, back on track. After rummaging through all this junk I realized something. I forgot what I was looking for. I got so involved in “What’s in my junk drawer” that I even forgot about the phone all together.

I want to share something with you that is not that easy for me to share. I am one of those that grew up without a lot of hugs from my Daddy. I was instilled to believe that showing emotion at all was a sign of weakness.

I have had a few of those “this is life” bombs dropped on me. You know, I thought I really had it together. I thought that I was putting all my hope and trust in God’s hands but in all honesty I was too proud of a manly man to realize that I have no control over my life or of the lives around me. It was not until I lost ALL control that I could truly give the Lord my trust and devotion. Finally after 35 years of being in the swine business I came back home to my father’s open arms. Read this to see what I mean: Luke 15: 11-32

I was hurting really badly after one of those life bombs hit me. I went to my heavenly father for comfort and of course I received it. But it took yet one more of those life bombs to make me truly understand how to receive his tender touch and loving arms around me.

After getting yet another call with the worst news could I get by telephone; I broke down. Finally after all these years I broke! Me the man who does not cry, me the man who breaks his foot and can’t remember how! Me the man who (thinks) is in control of his life and the lives of his family… I broke.

The first feeling I had was to find someone to comfort me. I was crying in the pharmacy while paying for my medicine and almost talked to the girl taking my money. I thought to myself; if only she will ask me if I am ok. I ran umm… I mean I hobbled out to the car and no sooner than I sat down I explode into a fit of tears. I could not breathe, I could not see. I thought I was going to die. I finally got enough composure to drive away from the person sitting next to me whom I thought; I kind of wish they would ask me am I ok.

I drove to my pastor’s house and he was not home. So I thought; he is a preacher, he must be at church. So I got it together again and drove to the church. No one was there, I thought if only someone would drive up and ask me if I am ok. So then I called his cell and guess what? He was not there. So, after hanging up and crying some more I called again and left him a message. I don’t think it was very understandable. I bet my pastor was really worried about me when he got out of his meeting and listened to or umm tried to decipher my message.

Upon leaving this message I hung up the phone and finally; I was a broken child who only needed a father’s arms around me. So I dialed the prayer phone to God. You know what? I got through with out any effort. Just as I can hear any of your voices He told me. “Come to me first my child” as I poured out my heart to Him and begged Him to take away this pain I heard again “A little while longer my child”. Then I don’t know how to put it to words but I felt Him hold me. I cried my heart out to Him and he ran down the street to meet me! Luke 15: 11-32

After pulling all that junk out of the junk drawer I realized something that is life changing that I had heard before from Dr. Stanley.

• 1. Tell God what your burden is.
• 2. Give your burden to him.
• 3. Move your focus from your burden to the burden bearer. Matthew 11:28-30

It is so easy to loose focus of the burden bearer and be consumed with the junk in the drawer. It is not until we put ALL our focus, ALL our love, ALL our illusion of control into his hands that we can truly know what our father can and will freely give to anyone who asks and believes in the Son and savior Jesus the Christ.

If I could do anything to prevent anyone from going through the pain I have went through in order for your eyes to be opened I would, but I know that some of you may be doing step 1. and 2. but maybe too preoccupied with what’s in your junk drawer to really focus on step 3. It is my prayer that if you are one of those like me that you would close that drawer and answer the phone. Our Father is waiting by it with an open ear and then with open arms.