Life! Will We Live It?...

Today was one of those days for me. Joyful on one hand and then before you know it SNATCH...the joy is gone.

Today was my daughter Meske's 15th birthday. We decided to surprise Meske and the other kids with taking them to an Ethiopian restaurant for lunch after church. Lately, I have been feeling filled to overflowing. Just that full feeling inside where we just know God is in control, and you just feel the natural joy that comes from knowing Jesus. Today was one of those days.

We drove to Tempe to eat at a wonderful restaurant called Lalibella's Cafe. We had Meske and Eyob help with ordering and we got served the most wonderful dishes of Ethiopian food. We were all hungry and it didn't take any time at all to down the wonderful foods. The children were so Happy to be eating familiar foods. The restaurant owners seemed just as happy. It was so fun to watch our kids interact with the other Ethiopian people. It brought me great joy.

We got out to the parking lot and Bryan had to change our tire. Our new Ethiopian friends followed us out to the parking lot where we continued conversation. We learned that our kids were from one of the same villages as some of them were. The kids had great talk in their own language. We learned of an Ethiopian church near by where the whole family attends. We found that we were believer's and that we shared other similarities, like one of the ladies actually attend a college class with my mother in law this last semester. All in all, the Lord blessed us with great conversation and a friendship worth pursuing.

The guys went inside to clean up and we were saying our goodbyes and promising to come back again soon, when the rug got pulled out from under us. One of the boys of the family at the restaurant decided to come running outside for his dad. We were all standing on the far side of the parking lot. The boy was in between two parked cars and was heading straight across the parking lot when he got hit by an oncoming car! We all saw it coming, but no one could stop it! The driver hit the young boy (3 years old) in the side. His head hit the car and then the pavement.

For those of you who follow our blog, you will know that this is twice in less than a year that we have been involved in an accident involving a car and a young boy. Our driver hit a boy while we were in Africa getting our 3 newest children. The accident was life altering. (To read about that story and Gods goodness click here). My two oldest were with us when it happened in Africa, and now they were with us again along with 7 other of my kids.

At first, it was terrifying. I even thought for a brief moment about how I was going to get away. After I got all my kids in our van, hoping that they didn't see any of it and really worried about Cade and Coral, I realized that I needed to check on the boy. There was loud waling and crying going on. The boys dad was out of control and wouldn't calm down. The boy was crying and looked considerably good for just getting hit. His head was swollen and his back and side several bruised. We called 911 quickly and tried to settle the crowd.

I really can't tell you what I was thinking at that moment, but I am going to try. First, I thought "Why God?" Why would we have to do this again. Like it was about me, it wasn't, it was all about the boy and his family. But why must we endure this again. I was worried about my children having to witness such a tragedy, again. I was worried about the little ones, who wouldn't understand, "Why?"

Secondly, I was thinking, "There is no way, I can help this kid." My stomach was instantly sick and I couldn't get in right frame of mind. If I could have, I would have just disappeared.

Thirdly, I thought, "How will we cope and deal with this? What if the boy is badly hurt or maybe dead, what will we do? These people are always going to equate this horrible tragedy with our coming to their restaurant, how will God be glorified?"

Once I got a grip, I determined that God is good, and I will do what I can to check the boy and his family. God gave me the strength to pull it together so I could assess the boy. The words from my sweet African brother, Pastor Cyrus, rung in my head, "Mom, we pray and then let God work." This time was different. I knew God was in control, we have done this once before and I was going to trust this time.

Now it is easy on the other side of the story to trust when you know all is well. It is a different story to trust when you are questioning what will be. The ambulance arrived and took the boy by stretcher to the nearest ER. We had the opportunity to pray with the dad of the boy and the mom. We prayed with the driver of the car and friends of the family of the boy. My kids were in the car crying out to Jesus, and shouting his name! We were asking God for a miracle, his healing hand.

After the police questioned us all and were wrapping up, I shakily crawled into a bus of crying children. My poor kids. Eyob almost passed out, Cade and Coral were so shook up and the rest of them were so worried for the boy. I got in the front seat of the car and this is what the Lord impressed on my spirit.

James 14:13 -14
Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit" - yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is you life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes."

I felt as if Christ had spoken right to me. "This is life! Life is just a mist, it is hear and then it is gone. It is not weather this boy lives or dies, we will all die one day. The real question is if he knows Jesus Christ." I understood. Our lives are hear today and gone tomorrow! Life is given and life is taken, it is short. All over the planet, people suffer these kinds of tragedies, and they die and go to hell! We don't have time to waste, because this is life! I felt as if the Lord was showing the Thiele's, that we have no time. I felt as if the Lord was saying, "Life! Are you going to live it?"

Although we didn't now if the boy was going to be okay or not, the picture became suddenly clear. We say we need to live our lives as if this was our last day, but how many of us do that? We need to live for Christ on purpose. We need to live as if we cared that there is a dying world going to hell. This accident showed me, that life is but a breath. We spend so much time wasting time, and now we were all crying over this boy wondering if he were going to live or die. The truth of the matter is, if we cared so much about him, then we would care about his eternal life, not the physical one. Granted this boy was just 3, but the overall message was one that rings clear.

Lets starting living the life we were given to glorify the Lord! Stop wasting time on self and other idolistic things and start doing what glorifies the Lord, LIVING our lives committed to serving Him. There are people dying today of starvation. There are people dying of disease today. Ther are people dying by their own hands to false Gods today. If we love Jesus, we can't wait until tomorrow!

I have called to check on the boy, he is doing fine. A full CT scan and x-rays, there is nothing wrong with him at all! We witnessed another miracle today. God is good! Our children are claiming the goodness of God! And the glory of the Lord was shown in Tempe TODAY!

I pray I do not soon forget. I pray that the Lord keeps it fresh on our minds that life is but a mist, here today and gone tomorrow. Are we willing to risk everything for the sake of the gospel to a lost and dying world? What will we do with life, will we live it?