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Having Faith
God’s presence saves our lil’ sparrow
By: Dick Laughman
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Posted by admin
Tue Nov 30, 1999 00:00:00 PST
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My wife Beverly, our two girls Joy, 8, and Janie, 6, were excited about going on our camping vacation. El Capitan State Park near Santa Barbara is situated on a bluff overlooking a white stretch of Pacific Ocean Beach. As we drove through the park to find our assigned camp site I noticed that the bike/hiking path from the camping area toward the beach has a T intersection at the bluff, with the left branch leading to the Ranger’s check-in hut, and the right branch leading down a series of steps and landings toward the beach.
Bev and I found our site, unloaded our gear and set up camp. When our tent was up and our camp was ready, we set off with our two girls down the path to explore the rest of the camp. Big sister Joy went ahead on her bike, with Janie following close behind. As we walked along behind them, I realized that Joy was picking up speed on the gently sloping path. I began to run. Janie yelled out, “She can’t stop!”
As I ran past Janie, the last thing I saw of Joy was the back of her bike approaching the end of the path at the T, and she disappeared over the edge of the bluff. I had visions of mangled bicycle parts and my sweet, special firstborn sparrow laying all broken on the rocks below. My heart was in my throat as I came to the edge of the bluff. I could hardly bear to look to see how bad it was.
I know the Bible says God is with us every minute of every day. Well, He was really with us that day, because there was Joy, sprawled on a ledge covered with ice plant about 5 feet below the bluff crest. I rushed down the slope, and to my utter surprise, Joy was not hurt, only bruised here and there. I thanked God then, and every time I think about how we survived that ordeal.
Many times during our daily walk, we come face to face with potential serious injury and death situations, some of which don’t come out as well as this one did for us. Our little sparrow was spared that day.
So this is my closing thought, that each of us will have a wonderful and safe vacation this year. And maybe also it would be good to check out your kid’s bicycle brakes.
