In July, several of the people to whom we ministered were driving home late at night.  It was too dark to see the hole in the bridge, and the sticks the locals had put in to warn people of the danger had fallen.  The van flipped and the mother of two of the little girls I taught as well as one of the children I taught were killed.  Others to whom we ministered were seriously injured, including one lady left in a coma.  I have found it difficult to write my blog since then since I have always tried to write with humor.
Today, I would like to share an excerpt from a devotional I am writing.  I hope it encourages you to remember the providence of God, and hope you will bear with me in both my delay in writing and not having a humorous article this week.

Romans 8:28

A fallen tree was nothing to be thankful for. 

While living in Brazil, it was a forty-five minute trip to the nearest town over bumpy roads, interspersed with gates that had to be open and shut.  If it had rained, the trip took a lot longer and each gate added additional weight of mud to the bottom of my shoes.

And then there was the frustration of finding fallen trees across the road.  Although, we carried a machete in the car, sometimes the tree was big enough around that it required a chainsaw.  Oftentimes, the tree was covered in thorns, vines, and or fire ants.  I can honestly say I never came across a fallen tree and shouted praises to the Lord.

Until the day it saved a life.

We had gotten up early and needed to take a trip to town in spite of the fact that the roads were still muddy from the night before.  After a long trip slogging through the mud we came to a tree that had fallen across the road.  Too thick to get through with a machete it meant a long trip back to the house to get the chainsaw we’d forgotten.

By the time we got home it was close to twelve and we decided to eat lunch before we set out again.  While we were eating two boys from one of our meetings showed up and asked for a ride to the doctor.  Their sister had a bad pain in her side.  They, like most of the people to whom we ministered, had no car and we were their only ride.

Concerned we rushed out and with their help managed to clear the road and pick up their sister.  She’d been carried between two family members to the top of a hill too dangerous to descend while wet. 

We rushed into town and took her to the hospital where she was taken immediately in for an emergency appendectomy.  We were told that she was within minutes of it bursting and taking her life.

If that tree hadn’t been in the road and delayed our departure into town in our only vehicle, Raine would have died.

It’s always easier to see the hand of God in the big changes in life.  It’s harder when it’s lost keys, a bad cold, or a flat tire.

I try to remember the lesson of the fallen tree and wonder if my lost keys might mean I avoid a wreck, or that bad cold might mean a worse health problem is discovered in time.

The Providence of God is not only in the big things, but the insignificant, the mundane.

Things as small as fallen trees.