Data Point: Alex's Story- Part 2 of 3

In one crazy week God demonstrated His faithfulness over and over again.

Hi friends! Today is part 2 of Alex’s story. I love how her story is yet another “data point” for how God moves in our lives. I know I left it as a cliffhanger last week so without further ado here we go. Enjoy!

Note: This story is written and edited (as minimally as possible) by me following an interview with Alex. A big thank you to Alex for being courageous and willing to share her story with me and with all of you.

It all happened so fast.  I was sprinting.  The big F150 truck hauling a trailer of concrete braked just in time and stopped feet away from my daughter.  The front of his truck was even with the bumper of my car.  There were other cars behind him, and they all managed to stop.  Maddie was laughing once she hit the road.  She didn’t stop, she just started sprinting down the street.  As I tried to catch her, I was thanking God.  It was a miracle that the man was able to stop since I knew he didn’t see her.  I was so grateful that it was him instead of some of the other neighbors who would be texting and not paying attention as they flew down the road. 

When I caught Maddie and picked her up, I had never been so relieved and happy but also angry that she refused to listen.  I was trying to show her grace even though she disobeyed me and then I paused and thought, “Well geez, this is probably what God feels like with me sometimes.”  He is probably like, “What are you doing Alex?  You’re not listening to me and continuing to go your own way.”  I got inside and I talked to Maddie again about everything that happened. Then I called Austin and said, “You aren’t going to believe this.”  For three days we wouldn’t let her go anywhere.  We had to try to explain everything to her repeatedly. Thankfully, I think we are to that point where she understands the dangers now.

On Thursday of that same week, a few days after everything happened with Maddie, it was Cinco de Mayo.  There was a huge women’s ministry event at church that started around dinner time.  They were having fun things for the kids, like churros and punch, in addition to worship and service.   I brought my four daughters and one of my daughter’s friends with me to the event.

During the entire service I kept getting an overwhelming feeling to pray protection over my dad.  He was not sick, so it seemed weird to have this urge.  A lot of fear emerged.  My mind raced as I thought, “Oh no, why am I feeling like I need to pray protection over him?  What is happening to him?”  In the back of my mind, I wondered if this fear about something happening to dad was because my uncle had passed away last year.  I pushed back against my anxious thoughts.  I remembered that dad was God’s.  That was something I had to come to an understanding about with my kids.  I would worry about them, but I had to realize they’re not mine, they’re His.  That really applies to every single person on this earth.  I love my husband a whole lot, but I know that God knitted him together in his mother’s womb and knew him before the foundations of the earth.  He is His.  The same goes for my dad.  

As I was trying to listen to this amazing sermon, the call to pray for dad remained.  It was extremely distracting.  I finally said a prayer, but I kept getting that feeling.  I decided to stand against the apprehension and thought, “No, you know what?  I said my prayer to God and I’m going to trust Him that whatever may or may not be happening, He’s got this.  He loves my dad way more than I ever could.”

It was almost 9 o’clock when I was gathering all the girls and trying to get them to the car.  It was like herding cats.  They were everywhere!  My dad had called me, which was odd.  He usually doesn’t call me at night.  I thought, “That’s weird. I was just praying for you and now you’re calling me.”  I decided to call him back in a minute.  I finished getting the girls into the car, dropped my daughter’s friend off, and then picked up the phone. 

When I got a hold of my dad he asked, “Is Austin working tonight?”  I said, “Well yeah. Why?”  He responded, “I didn’t want you guys to be alarmed, but I was in an accident earlier.”  Dad didn’t want Austin to see his name as being involved in an incident and scare him and then scare me.

It had happened at about 7PM, right before sunset.  It was around that exact time when the Spirit began asking me to pray protection over him.  Dad had a big zero turn mower, one of the big commercial ones, and he was buckled in as usual.  He mowed around this pond every week.  He had done it a thousand times.  For some reason, on that particular night, the bank gave out and his mower flipped over.  As he was flipping, instead of curling inward dad had the instinct to put his hand up.  The tractor hit the pond and he was under water.  Because he had his seat belt on, he couldn’t get out.  Since he had pulled his arm out as he was rolling, his body was repositioned just enough to keep his nose and mouth out of the water.  Had he not put his arm out, his face would have been completely submerged and he would have drowned.

Dad was able to get a knife out of his pocket with his other hand, but it wouldn’t cut his seat belt.  He started yelling, “Help!” The neighbor’s dog heard him and started going crazy!  His neighbor went outside to see what her dog was barking at when she heard my dad’s call for help.  She and another person, I don’t know if it was her husband or another neighbor, called 911.  Meanwhile, they brought dad different knives, but no knife was working.  Finally, she went and found a steak knife that was serrated and he was able to cut himself free.  By that time the police and fire rescue had arrived and helped dad out of the water.  They checked him out and his blood pressure was through the roof, but he declined treatment.  He reasoned, “I am sure it’s just because I almost died!”

After I heard my dad say that I thought to the Spirit, “Oh my gosh, that’s why you were having me pray and the urge to pray wasn’t going away. Thank you Holy Spirit.  Thank you for the opportunity to pray and war for him.”  I realized if it wasn’t for the Holy Spirit, I would never have known that anything was happening in that moment.  I think it’s really cool that while God is sovereign, He also gives us a part in it.  He does this even though He knows everything that is going to happen before it ever happens.  He already knows the outcome because He’s already there on the other side of it.  He could be like me when the kids are trying to help with dinner and say, “No children, I don’t need your help,” but He allows us to partner with Him. 

Seeing how God made all of it come together reminded me of how He works everything together for our good.  From prompting my dad to put his hand up in that moment the tractor was flipping, which was what saved his life, right down to the neighbor who would come outside to see what her dog was barking about and bring a serrated steak knife.  I just remember sitting in awe of God and the way He worked through that entire accident.

Dad ended up being okay.  He had to replace his lawn mower, but physically he was fine.  Since my uncle had passed, my dad had been very sad because he was his very best friend.  I think dad’s accident served so many purposes not only for my family but for him as well.  Being saved from drowning gave him the realization that, “Wait, I’m still here.”  It was like God was saying, “You still have purpose here and I am keeping you alive for a reason.  You know I am still God.”  I think dad needed that reminder too.

My story did not end there though.  The week was not yet over.

The next morning, on Friday, I missed a couple calls from my mom.  I didn’t hear my phone but when I saw the missed calls, I picked up the phone and called her back.  She said, “I have a question for you.  My face was really numb last night, and my heart was pounding really badly.  I didn’t want to bother you.  I figured it would go away but now this morning my face is still kind of numb and it’s not moving.”

I told her, “You need to go to the hospital now.”  She had signs of a stroke.