God Is Watching Over You

This weekend I was given the opportunity to go camping with the boy scouts again.  I love to camp and love to help these boys. They really are amazing young men with great potential.  This camp out was unique in a number of ways.  We were going to the Bentonville Battle Ground and we were going to do flag retirements.  To say I was excited was an understatement. 

It became more unique as we drove to the campground.  We were about 20 minutes away when the pickup that we were behind started to drift to the right.  It was foggy so I couldn't tell if it was a curve in the road, but I got the feeling that I needed to slow down.  I slowed down to 35 mph and then I saw the pickup flip end over end.  I pulled over immediately and told the boys that were with me to stay in the car.  I didn't want them to be scarred, and told one of them to call 911.  I ran out.  The cab of the pickup was crushed and the gentleman was trapped in his upside down vehicle.  I pried the door open and helped him get out.  Thankfully, as I looked over him, I couldn't see any injuries other than two small cuts on his arm and leg.  The ambulance was there within 5 minutes of the accident and we were on our way after 45 minutes.  How that man was not severely injured or killed I have no idea, but I am grateful that I was there to help.

We drove the rest of the way to the campsite on curvy roads in the fog.  As we turned in the sandy driveway to the campground I felt the bump bump of an extremely flat tire.  My tire must have been punctured at the accident.  We decided to change it the following morning.  The thought ran through my head, "One more crazy thing to add to the list!"  Thankfully we made it to camp without incident.

It then started to rain, but we had a large shelter so everyone had a pretty good dinner and evening.  At 10 pm we started the flag retirement.  What a special experience for me and for the boys who were able to participate.  The flag of the United States of America is a sacred symbol of our freedom and all the men and women who have given their lives in defense of our freedom.  To be able to retire 9 of these symbols of our freedom on ground that has been hallowed with the blood of thousands of men who died or were wounded at the Battle of Bentonville was an honor.  The spirit of reverence and solemnity could be felt through the ceremony and everyone was touched who was there.

At 11:30 it really started to rain.  I think a deluge would be an appropriate description for how hard it was raining.  Who would have known, but our campsite was a main path for all of the run off.  All the tents were affected.  Some of the boys moved their tents under the shelter, but soon after the water came into the shelter as well.  We were all wet.  We finely were given a break when it stopped raining at 1 in the morning.  We all got into our wet tents and wet sleeping bags and went to sleep.  Thankfully, it was a very warm night.  When I woke up at 5 it was still 63 degrees.  Earlier in the week North Carolina had record low temps.  Those boys should have frozen, but we went camping the one night it didn't get cold.

The following morning we changed my tire.  To say it was flat would be an understatement.  The entire sidewall had been shredded.  I can't imagine what would have happened to us if this would have happened on the curvy road before we got to the camp.  I had a spare tire and we were all safe and were able to finish the campout and visit the rest of the battle field.

With everything that happened I found it extremely hard to sleep that night.  I got up at 5:00 am and walked to the lake.  As I walked, pondering all that had happened, this thought came into my head.  "God is watching over you."  As I continued my walk the impressions continued to come.  "God has a purpose for you. These experience happened to help you fulfill and remember that purpose."  "God will never leave you alone just like that gentleman wasn't alone." 

As I walked back to camp a couple of hours later, this thought came to me.  "God watches everyone!"  He was watching out for the gentleman.  He was watching over everyone in my car.  He was watching over a group of scouts in the rain.  He was even watching over you!  Wherever you are.  God loves you and wants you to be happy.  Yes, there can be and will be hardships in our lives.  We may even feel alone.  But look around, a stranger may be coming your way or the Savior may be reaching out to you in another way.  Just remember, "God is watching out for you."