Blessing Upon Blessing

I watched my son gracefully fly through the air, doing consecutive 360 degree spins off three jumps at the Canyons Resort in Park City, Utah. It was hard to believe a year ago he was wheelchair-bound after a skiing accident in Minnesota. My thoughts drifted back to the day of the accident.

The x-ray confirmed the ski patrol’s assumption, a spiral facture to the tibia and fibula. The image of my son’s right leg resembled two angled tuning forks.

“Sit down, breath, and pray,” I thought to myself.

Not life threatening, but definitely life changing for an active high school student. The treatment plan included a rod and pins as well as a lengthy recovery time. For a kid who is typically cautious, who has never even had stiches this was a traumatic event…and a painful one too.

God, of course, had everything under control. During the entire ordeal, faithful family and friends covered my son with prayer. Blessings…from his little brother who could answer all the ski patrol and EMT’s questions, the ski school director who never left his side until he was loaded into the ambulance, to Pastor Rich who came to the ER to pray, he was blanketed with prayers for healing, protection, and peace.

The surgery took place the following morning, Sunday. Our church has a tradition of written prayer requests. The petitions are read during the service and  prayed over during the week. My son was prayed for by name during his surgery at both services that morning, lifted by those who love him and those who don’t even know him.

Prayer provides peace for the people of God, providing a sanctuary in moments of fear, doubt, and crisis. Prayer also gives us the power to go on. The psalmist wrote, “The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace (Psalm 29:11 NIV). Peace is exactly what our family needed at that moment, peace through prayer. What a blessing from our mighty God.

What situation have you found yourself in lately that has made you depend upon God, his blessings and provisions?