It is between about 10:00 and 11:00 in the evening. A 19 year old young man is running to cross a busy south Texas highway between cars. He does not see the car coming from the right until he is at the edge of the road, and he is to the middle of the road before he can stop. Too late. As he spins through the air he thinks about his parents 1000 miles away and how they will react to the news of his death. Landing he notices the line in the road and thinks, "Hm-m-m, if I see the line I must still be here, and this is not the best place to be resting." Total physical damage: a triangular tear between thumb and first finger of his right hand and a spot of skin laid back on the inside of his left shoulder.

I didn't get much sleep that night. Physical damage may have been minor, but it made itself known by deep throbbing pain. As I laid there I began to wonder about the damage, and how my shoulder could have come in contact with the car while my head did not. I would have been leaning forward, and just ready to take a step backward when the impact occurred. I could only conclude that God had placed his hand between my head and the car. I said, "God, without your intervention I would be dead. I guess there is something you have for me to do, so the rest of my life is yours." At this point of the story you are probably expecting me to tell how my life was turned around - that's the way testimonies develop. I'm not going to tell you that, though, because it did not happen. You see, I was raised in a Christian family. I gave my life to Christ and was baptized at nine years old. As a biblical pacifist, I was spending two years of alternative service as a volunteer on a church mission farm in south Texas. Rather than a turning point, this experience was a point of rededicating my life.

I am also not going to tell you that my life since has been pure in dedication to God. I am more comfortable when I am in control. Thus, I am constantly trying to regain control of my life and do things my way. Every time, though, God seems to say, "uh-uh, you are mine, remember?" Literally from that day I have never held a job that I searched out; every job came to me in one way or another. For example, while I had a desire to attend college, I never expected to for financial reasons. Instead, I expected to spend my life as a farmer in Western Ohio. My father tried to rent a nearby farm for me, but someone else got there first. Instead, the first Sunday I was home a man at church offered me a job and I spent that winter and spring hauling fertilizer and lime. In early spring I saw a notice in the paper that freshman scholarship applications were available. I said, "OK God, I will apply. If I get the scholarship I will go to college." I didn't even bother filling out a college application. --- I got the scholarship - $200, which was enough to pay my first year tuition with some left over for books. (Hard to believe today!) Through another interesting set of circumstances I acquired a part time job before arriving on campus that fall. During my Junior year I discovered that the job was one of the two highest paying on the Ohio State campus. This is more or less the way it has gone throughout my career.

I am still not certain why God wanted me in New England. I also don't know whether I have accomplished his assigned tasks or whether some or all still lie in the future. (I guess I shouldn't worry about it, though. Moses waited 40 years in the desert, and I have only been in New Hampshire since 1969.) Perhaps some people know how they are being used when they are being used by God, but I do not - and that is probably just as well because pride of being used could creep in. God knows that.

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History repeats itself! Go here if you would like to know what happened to my son in Oct. 1997.

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