Peggy Schulke
As I reflect on
special, personal times in my life when God has been there for me, three
occurrences come to mind right away.
Times when there was just no doubt in my mind of God’s presence. I just knew!
The first occurrence took place when I
was vacationing with a friend on a small island in the Virgin Islands. Across from the small town where we
stayed (Georgetown) was a smaller, uninhabited island, accessible only by boat. My friend suggested we go scuba
diving. I had only done that once
before. However, in all bravado, I
said O.K., and that I knew what to do.
We suited up and
started out. We came upon a large group of fish that looked like a huge
boulder. When it quickly moved, it
startled me. I gasped in surprise
and dropped my mouthpiece. I knew
enough to grab the mouthpiece, blow out, and I’d be able to breath again. But in my panic, all I could think to
do was get to the surface for air.
I was frantically
struggling… each breath of air I got from the tank would roll me over and under
the water again. I truly was
thinking, “This is it…I’m drowning.” Just then a man took my backpack
harness, lifted me out of the water, and sat me down on the beach. All he said was, “You’ll be O.K. now,”
and walked away.
All I remember was
that he was tall, blonde, and quite good-looking. (What a thought as he had just saved me from drowning!) I looked and looked for this person throughout
the rest of our vacation time there, and never saw him again. I have to believe he was my guardian
angel. God is SO good!
The
second occurrence was when my husband, three children and I were sailing from
St. Petersburg, Florida to New Zealand in our 44-foot sailboat. We were tied up in to the pier in Tahiti
with several other sailboats. My
husband had to return to Florida to take care of business; the children and I lived
on the boat. The only way to get
from our boat to the pier was a plank about 10 to12 feet long.
Our youngest child
Carolyn (nine at the time) got sick and was running a dangerously high
temperature. Having heard awful
reports about how inadequate the hospital was there, I was at a loss as to what
to do. I knew a woman about three
boats away was a nurse. It was
late evening and Carolyn was asleep so I quickly went to the other boat for
help.
As we started back
to our boat, I saw Carolyn on the pier!
I couldn’t believe she had managed to walk across that narrow plank! If she had fallen off, I don’t know whether
we would have found her. In my
heart I know that God’s hand got her
across that plank safely. Carolyn’s
fever broke later that night. A few days she was feeling better--thanks be to
God!
The
third occurrence was one morning when I had just gotten up and was making my
coffee. My chest felt heavy, it
was difficult to get a breath, and I felt light-headed like I might faint. It was such a scary feeling! I sat down,
thinking it would get better,
but it didn’t. Then I began thinking, “Is this a heart attack? Should I call 911? What
to do?”. I had the presence of
mind to unlock the front door (just in case) and took an aspirin. When I sat down again, I was gasping
for breath …terrified. My thinking
now was, “Oh Lord, I’m so scared! I don’t
know what to do. Should I call 911? Help me!”
Without a thought
of my own, I reached for the phone and dialed 911. God is so good!
In a very short time the paramedics arrived, tried to calm me, and got
me ready to transport to the hospital. After a few tests, they found I had
several blood clots affecting both lungs, and started treatment. Over and over I was told “It’s a good
thing you called 911 – this could have been fatal.” So…to God the glory!
I’m so glad I asked for help and am in awe, realizing He was there for
me.
“Thank you, God!” seems such a small
thing to say for these three miracles in my life!
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