Sorry for my late arrival to SJT on Saturday afternoon. When Bob offered us the topic of miracles for our April reflection, I admit to feeling challenged. I didn't think I had any personal miracles to share and struggled to find a way into this month's topic.
I planned to write this post yesterday, but I was involved in an accident while taking my grandson to pre-K (He's no longer in preschool, according to him.). Someone was waiting at a stop sign to make a left turn onto a busy street. Suddenly a large SUV was coming at me. I was in the second lane. I swerved and he hit the back panels of my car, just past my grandson's car seat. Praise God, everyone was okay. The driver said the other lane had stopped and motioned for him to go on. (The insurance claims person said this happens all the time.) I'm grateful for the turn lane in the center of the busy street so that I was able to swerve and resist a full-side impact. Some may say I was lucky, but I'm grateful for the impulse I had to swerve and credit it to a prompting I received from the Spirit.
And then this morning, I remembered an experience I had as a teenager with my father. He was adding a spacious family room onto our home. This had been a dream of his for many years. On this unforgettable day, the pre-assembled rafters had finally arrived. My dad should probably have waited for another adult to help him with this project. But ever the eager beaver, he figured out a way for me to push the rafter from the new room to him on the roof of house. The way was via a nail in the rafter. I had a plank of wood and would raise the triangular shaped rafter to him via the nail. And wouldn't you know? The plank slipped and the rafter came barreling down. I ducked my head. When I saw the whack in the siding, I knew I had angels watching over me that day. If I had it to do over again, I would have lain flat on the flooring as the rafter swung down toward me. But I never got the chance to do it again. My mom insisted that my dad recruit a man to help him with the remaining rafters.
I like this explanation of miracles that I found in a March 2019 article, "Finding Miracles in Everyday Life," in The New Era, our church's youth magazine:
"According to the Bible Dictionary, miracles are “manifestations of divine or spiritual power.” With that definition, let’s open our eyes to the many miracles that surround us—miracles that we might not even recognize.
We
definitely see God’s hand in the lives of His people through the
miracles in the scriptures. But we can also see His spiritual power when
we receive an answer to a prayer, strengthen our testimonies, or have a
change of heart.
Still,
there are other miracles that we tend to forget: The sun rises and sets
each day; small seeds grow into mighty trees; the many components of
our body work together, enabling us to breathe, run, dream, and eat.
Inspired advances in medicine and technology are happening every day,
and we can now communicate with almost anyone anywhere. God’s power can
be seen in every detail of our lives."
We have three grandsons who joined our family through the miracle of IVF. We are grateful for each of them every day. I was part of the army of believers who fasted and prayed for our scientific community as they worked to create the COVID-19 vaccine. How remarkable that it was produced and ready to be administered in such a short time. A modern-day miracle!
I Face Timed with my son last night. He and his wife are visiting London. I get daily updates and pictures of their adventure. I don't understand how the technology works, but I'm thrilled to live during a time when inventions allow us to connect instantaneously, even when separated by the Atlantic Ocean.
I returned from my Seattle trip to beautiful blossoms and the unfurling of green leaves everywhere, my first spring in North Carolina. I'm glad for the rebirth of nature each spring, another miracle and manifestation of God's love. Here are a few pics I snapped on a return drive from my daughter's home this morning. I revel in the colors of spring: beautiful light green leaves, pink blossoms, and the blue skies.
From the article I cited earlier: "The Lord performs both seemingly ordinary and extraordinary miracles in
our day. . . However, we
should not overlook the everyday events that act as reminders of God’s
hand in our lives. Sometimes we just have to recognize them!" Thanks, Bob, for this April invitation to look for the miracles in our lives.
It's Spiritual Journey Thursday, an open gathering for bloggers
who write monthly about our spiritual journeys.
asked us to consider this question:
What are the everyday miracles in your life?
Click on Bob's name to read responses from other SJT friends.
