Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress.  Psalm 107:19 (NIV)

Story of my life! 

I started getting into 'trouble' shortly after getting saved, back in 1987.  I was a new Christian and very excited about the Lord, my new life, and life everlasting.  So when two friends from Campus Crusade for Christ came one sunny spring day and asked me how I'd like to go sightseeing at a local waterfall (Douglass Houghton Falls in Michigan's Upper Peninsula), I said "Of course!"

Now DH Falls is not a 'rapids'- it's a straight up and down, very tall waterfall.  We had to climb down into a deep ravine to get to the river below so we could view the falls up close from the bottom.  At the side of the falls was a rock wall with a neat little cave.  Of course, instead of exploring the cave, I decide to climb the rocks and perch myself ABOVE the cave.  Once at the top of the cave, my friends started yelling 'come down- you're going to FALL!'  Being the eternal rebel, I laughed and climbed higher....until my foot slipped.  I still remember that exact feeling- where I put my left foot I felt gravel rather than solid rock, and my foot slid a bit, then even more.  And then suddenly I was tumbling, bouncing off the rocks, grabbing at anything I could grab at, and then plunging over the edge into the icy, churning water below.  I do remember thinking "I'm going to die," but not having any fear. 

As I pondered the fact that I was still alive, I didn't have much time to rejoice, as the rushing waters ruthlessly washed me down stream.  I grabbed at rocks and tree limbs, but everything seemed to slip away.  Just as I was giving up and thinking I was going to float downstream forever and eventually die, I washed up on to a large rock.  It was as though by giving up on trying to do it myself, I was able to let God work a miracle and save my life.   And that He did!  I had just fallen approximately 60 feet, tumbled down a rock wall into the base of a vicious waterfall, been washed downstream with a severely broken arm and leg, very nearly drowned, and yet survived.  That, my friends is God responding to His own when they call out for help!

So as the emergency crews hauled me up from the ravine in what looked like a toboggan, I sang praises to God.  I felt nothing but joy.  Sure I may have been in shock and a bit delirious, but I was praising God just the same!  (As a matter of fact, my college roommate knew one of the guys who helped rescue me that day and the rescuers apparently had assumed I was on drugs because I was so happy rather than what you'd normally 'expect' from someone in an accident like that.)   Nevertheless, I sang and praised God as loudly as I could all the way to Marquette General Hospital, where begins the next phase of my story....

But that's for another day.  :)


((As a side note:  After my fall, my parents remembered something that was said during my college orientation regarding being careful around the local waterfalls.  The comment was made that one student each year usually falls and dies.  As of right now, this particular Falls is now closed off to the public and has been for many years because of so many deaths...even since it's been closed, there have been deaths.  I'm proud to say that because of God's Hand, I may have been that one that fell, but my name has not been entered into the statistic books as one who died.))