John....
I feel compelled to share “my” story with you.
I strongly feel, sharing ones adversity, and obstacles, is the greatest tool in overcoming the pitfalls of life.
Please except what I share under that pretense.....
It all started out as a great opportunity.
I had been working very hard, had a small, VERY small, plumbing repair business, often I was a one man show.
My wife was on the verge of getting her masters in nursing.
We owned our own home, 4 children, friends, some savings, life was pretty darn good.
I had “finally” grown up, took me 40 plus years, to stop my selfish nature, which had been centered a lot around fun and drinking.
I was prolly about 5 years or so into sobriety.
We were on the right track.
My wife’s dad scored us some accommodations at a casino along the Colorado River in Neveda.
They offered to come to our house and watch the kids, while we went.
It would be the first vacation my wife and I had without kids, in prolly 5 years, or more.
We invited a close couple of ours along.
We left that Friday after work.
We were in great spirits, flush with our stakes that would surely break the casino
We never made it.
We were involved in a accident that shut the main interstate down for over 4 hours.
My buddy, who offered to drive, lost his wife in the crash.
My wife was extracted from the wreck using the jaws of life, and flown by a life-flight helicopter to a trauma center.
I will leave the telling of details at this point, as I have spent years trying to forget this stuff.
My wife and I were passengers of a car, involved in a accident, on no account of ours, other than being in the wrong place, at the wrong time.
My wife could not walk for years, I had to do it all, business, house stuff, patent....
The medical bills, in the millions.
I just barely held on to the house, but lost my sobriety.
The court systems are rigged.
Years later, I was able to get sober again.
After one year of sobriety, I decided we need to move away from everything we had known....
That was what brought us to the Pacific Northwest.
I felt like God told me to move away from the tethers that tangled and pulled me to my own destruction.
I listened to him.
From day one, folks we didn’t even know exsisted, took us into their lives.
The only viable explanation that exsist was a higher power designed it.
I can’t really explain all the joy we have experienced, if not for having been in that accident that greatly changed our lives.
We could have stayed in the loath and pity, victims of unjust, blaming life, others, and trapped in misery.
In effect John, we let go, and we let God take over....
I am such a better friend, dad, husband, than anything I could have ever been, lying to myself, with the delusion of booze, embracing the lie I am “entitled” to my behavior, because life ain’t fair...
Life is often a hard road, watching others with what seems a smoother ride, doesn’t help us to understand.
John, sometimes you just can’t understand until you go through it....
However, if your faith is invested in the only belief that can provide sustainable dividends, then you will....
I share to you as fact, God never abandoned me, even when I wasn’t happy with the results and called my faith in him, into question.
Keep your faith bro, leave the details to him, enjoy the moment...
It’s as good as it gets, until he calls us home for good
Blessings and prayers, Amen!