A fallen tree and a risen awareness

So today I found out that a tree fell on the house of some of my best friends back home in Atlanta yesterday. It was about 6:30 in the morning. My friend Andrew was getting ready for work when he heard a what sounded like "a train hitting the house". The tree, a sixty year old pine, fell onto the next room over. The room belonged to another good friend of mine, Andy Rocker. The tree, about two feet in diameter, stopped about a foot and a half above Andy's legs. A little bit further and Andy would be in a wheelchair for life.....at best. I get a little choked up just thinking about what could have been.

I can't help but see the hand of the Lord in such events. As I wrote about in my last post, God uses "bad" events in our lives all the time to purify us and to bring us closer to Him. He also uses these events to keep us on our feet! We never know what's coming next in life.

James puts it this way:

"Now listen, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.' Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, 'If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that.'" -James 4:13-15 (NIV)

Now, the context of the verse is referring to the way in which people were boasting about what they would do next. But it still stands that, "you do not even know what will happen tomorrow." You don't have to tell Andrew and Andy that twice.

You can read Andrew's account by clicking here. He has a link to some pictures of their house in his blog.

And here is Andy's account with some more pictures.

I'm so thankful that God saw fit to spare my friend Andy. I'm even thankful that God chooses to keep us on our feet--to keep us aware of our daily dependance on Him.