When you see only one set of footprints my child, it is then that I carried you.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 New International Version (NIV)

9But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ's sake I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak then I am strong.

Hi All,
I figured it was about time I got down to the business of writing a new post :D.

I have given up on trying to get these out regularly and close together, I figure if I aim for once a month there is a small chance that I might occasionally hit the target :D.

So last time we "talked" I was a little on the mopey and depressing side (sorry about that), not going to lie, after my last post things got "worse". But on the plus side, they also got much better, thanks to some very timely clarity and finally remembering to seek straight from someone infinitely stronger than myself.

In the interest on not dwelling on the past I am going to skip almost everything that happened except the moment that I finally saw clearly.

I know it might seem odd but the thing that really brought me back so to speak was actually getting hit by a van. Pausing here to say that I am well and truly ok, there was some minor bruising and some painful joints in my hips and lower back from the impact but after some rest and a massage (or 3) everything is healing well :D. In the interest of saving time I am going to copy and past the story from a note I posted in Facebook.

         I was on my way to work riding along at 60km/hr on a straight stretch of road with limited traffic. As I rode I felt as tho I was being told to pray, not knowing what to pray for I decided that since I was on the bike and I live in Thailand it was fairly pertinent to pray for safety. 1-2km later I was still praying when a van that had been parked on the side of the road swung out across my entire lane to attempt a u-turn. Right in front of me, no indicator, no warning and a car coming the other direction. I did the best I could and tried to swerve around the front of the van (there was no room behind) with out hitting the car coming the other way. The van clipped me in the left leg with the front right fender. As the bike veered out of control all I did was pray and try and keep it up right. The bike stayed on both wheels and I know that had nothing to do with my 'level of skill' the van drove off. After I stopped I assessed the damage, the bike is perfect not even a scratch, my leg is a little tender and will probably bruise from my knee to my hip and I have a bit of a sore back and neck from the jolt.

The only important detail I forgot when typing this the day I got hit was that the road that I travel to work would normally be heavily covered in cars, which would have meant the knock from the van would normally have sent me into the path of more than one car, that day it wasn't.

Why, you may well ask, why was getting hit by a van a good thing? I don't know, I guess I'm a little weird :D.

Ok in all seriousness it was 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 brought to life for me thanks to the grace and wisdom of God. It was at that moment, when I got hit by a van while I was praying to God for safety that it finally hit me (Pun intended :D), I was doing things all wrong. I was taking everything that had happened over the last month or more and becoming miserable and bitter. I was so weak and so low that morning when I woke up, I didn't want to go to work, I didn't want to try and speak Thai, I didn't want to see the kids or try and teach,  I didn't even want to get out of bed. All of those things I saw as weakness and became more unhappy knowing how weak I was. Getting hit by the van was the straw that broke the camels back, I became so miserable in that moment of pain and fear that I finally realised what I should have been doing all along, I should have been crying out for Jesus, lifting my face to him and praying that his strength save me. I had no business trying to get through that month or any month without making sure that my focus was firmly directed to him.

How is it that it took getting hit by a van to realise that? My only real excuse as it were is that I am human and I make mistakes all the time, this is a mistake I will try desperately not to make again but I know that if I do, God in his infinite grace and mercy will be waiting for me on the right path with open arms and nothing but love.

As I am running low on time and should fit in some study before my next Thai lesson I will leave you here, I hope to do another update in a few days with what I have been up to, but who knows :D.

Until then it's bye bye for now, may God bless you all and keep you safe and well ooo xxx.

After the storm it seems the sun is always at its brightest :D.