Brief Moment in Time

It was a balmy late spring Sunday afternoon. Our family had been to church, eaten our mid-day meal, and then decided that we’d go for a bike ride together to grandma and grandpa’s house for dessert. They lived about four miles away.

Off we went down the road. Seven-year-old Erika

My cute seven year old.

in front, her daddy right behind her, me next, and then eleven-year-old son Todd. Part of our journey took us on a busy road, but we confidently rode on the wide shoulder. I still recall looking at Erika’s blond hair, pulled into two pigtails blowing in the wind. Then I saw her take one hand off the handlebars and very quickly things changed. All of a sudden the bike started wobbling back and forth and bam! She crashed. It happened so quickly. Erika’s face took most of the impact. Scraped and bleeding, her arms scratched, her daddy helped her up, checked her over and asked her to get back on the bike and ride it to the side street. We all got on our bikes and followed. I can still hear her crying as she bravely rode her bike to the safe street.

This was the eighties. No one wore helmets. We rode on a busy arterial road. Instead of falling into the traffic, she fell onto the shoulder of the road. Erika was all right. But her face bore the signs of her fall. Bruised. A black eye. Scraped face. All took place in a brief moment of time. Beautiful sunny day. Breeze blowing across our faces. Happy family.

For months, I couldn’t get the vision of that fall out of my mind. I kept thinking, what if she’d fallen the other way into the traffic? A nightmare.

Last night, we celebrated the launch of my newest book, Remembering Hannah. It’s a story about another family in another decade who experienced a nightmare no parent wants to face. The accidental death of a child. Seven-year-old Hannah, eager to deliver homemade Christmas cookies, runs into the alley and is fatally struck by a recycling truck. I know Hannah’s mother, Mari, carries that vision of her shattered daughter. Yet in spite of the nightmare, there is an inexplicable joy in her face. Mari and Gary’s unshakeable belief in God’s plan helped and continues to help them navigate the pain of loss.

Both of these incidents took place in a brief moment of time. Totally unexpected and unwanted.

Sometimes these unwanted stark moments take place in a doctor’s office where you are told you have an incurable condition that will only get worse. Or it could happen while driving to the store for an item you need for dinner, you look away for a moment and then you realize the car in front of you is stopped-an accident you didn’t want. It could be your boss calls you into his office and you are told this is your last day of work. Worse yet, a knock on your door, a policeman there, telling you there’s been an accident.

I could go on, but I’m sure each of you can think of a time where once you were enjoying a sun dappled morning, to some kind of bad news.

Like Mari and Gary, Hannah’s parents, I have faith in a God who knows my every step. He knows my days. I won’t quote all of the following passage but I encourage you to read the whole chapter.

You saw me before I was born.
Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
before a single day had passed (Psalm 139:16 NLT).

None of us know the future. But if we know Jesus, we can rest that He knows our future and will be with us.

This fall in the early morning, Jim and I were enjoying coffee in our chairs, looking out into our back yard. For a brief moment, the sun shone brightly on a vase of flowers. It was beautiful, but only for a moment. I captured the image–a brief moment in time.

We can’t stop the clock. We can’t control the future. But we can lean on and trust the One who holds the future. He knows us. Knows our days. Most of all, loves us and wants a relationship with us.

I suggest today, you go to that passage in Psalms 139 and read it slowly. Trust in the God who “saw you before you were born. Every day of your life recorded. Every moment laid out…”

Enjoy one of my favorite blog songs below.