Thinking of the events of our life – I am in awe of God’s power and glory and perfect timing. He has revealed himself to us, our family, in an amazing way.
Being a Christian all my life we ask, in our prayers, that God would protect, guide, and keep us. When he does that in a way that we can’t mistake his presence and power, we feel very blessed and humble together.
We all know the story in Daniel in the Bible how God, in his power, shut the lions’ mouths to keep Daniel safe. It was not humanly possible for Daniel to be safe in the lions’ den, only God had the power to protect him from obvious carnage.
We, as a family in Queensland, have witnessed something very similar. As human beings we are frail and make errors. As humans we do things that get us into trouble and put us in harm’s way.
That happened on 7 September 2019, when my husband Neville was working looking after the cattle on our property, the Grange, west of Tara. It is a two-hour drive from where we live at Jondaryan.
Maintaining the feed troughs
We have had dry seasons here for a couple of years and, this year, we have drought that is worsening. As the drought bites hard and long Neville has had the capacity to work hard and long as well. Instead of spending the normal two to three days out there, he had spent a couple months staying five to six days, doing what was needed to keep the cattle alive.
In August, I had had the privilege of a holiday with my brothers and sister-in-law, and when I got home, I knew that Neville was tired, very tired, but you don’t say anything, because that is just the way it is.
On Saturday the 7th, Curley, his cousin who works with him, was coming in earlier and Neville was staying longer on his own to “finish off” feeding the last mob before he came in.
By the time Curley arrived at our home at Jondaryan, Andrew, our farming son had rung to say that Neville had had an accident and he had called the ambulance.
What transpired from that point was only God’s magnificent power and glory in a time of human weakness. In a situation that often means loss of life, Neville had huge protection. An angel wing over him.
He was about to load up a bale of hay and put it on the ute. When he started the tractor, it was in gear, and immediately the large back tyre ran over him.
In that split second he recalls thinking “this is it, the end”. Well it wasn’t the end and he was able to get to the ute close by, and drive to the house about 500 metres away and call Andrew.
The ambulance took only about 10 to 15 minutes to come and quickly realised that a helicopter was needed.
The LifeFlight helicopter normally comes from Toowoomba, a 45-minute flight away, but on this day, it was at Miles a 10-minute flight away.
Neville’s care was skilled and swift, and he was stabilised and on his way. The ambulance officer told me that he would go to Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane, so Andrew said to me “what do you want to do?” “Well, I want to go to Brisbane of course.” Before picking me up he rang his other siblings and found that our oldest son, Steven, who normally lives and works in Canberra, was in Brisbane at that time, so we met him halfway on the Warrego Highway and he took me the rest of the way.
When Steven and I arrived at the hospital we were told that Neville had been taken to Toowoomba as the helicopter needed to refuel, but we were to stay in Brisbane as he may still come. That was an anxious wait, but we could stay at our daughter’s home, as they were away for the weekend, and I could then sleep in their bed.
As Neville was stabilised in Toowoomba, he didn’t need to come to Brisbane, so Steven drove me back early next morning and had a precious hour with his father before going to other commitments. While Neville was in Toowoomba I could stay with our daughter and family who live close, so I didn’t have to travel each day.
It was like being part of an orchestra playing and every instrument stepped up in perfect precision and played the right note.
Thank you God for meeting and answering our needs in perfect timing.
The whole time I had a peace that wasn’t from within me, in amongst my anxiety, grief, numbness and feeling of remote control as I could only function on the barest minimum of thinking.
As Steven and I drove back to Toowoomba on the morning following the accident, a Sunday morning, I had the sudden realisation that many people were praying for us; for Neville and his injuries and for our family. It was a time when I couldn’t pray but felt carried by everyone else’s prayers. From family to church to friends and community, I knew in my heart that there were so many prayers. A day later I felt that there were thousands of prayers. In my heart I knew that whole churches were praying from the top of Queensland to the south of the country, and overseas where we have family in Germany.
It was uplifting and comforting that God was hearing and would answer. For years I have seen so many answers to prayer and I know God is answering now.
Neville doing his rehabilitation exercises for fine motor skills
Care in the Intensive Care Unit and surgical wards was just excellent and continuing care at home from carer, to physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy and registered nurse is slowly bringing him back to the best that he can be.
I often think; “Why did something so big happen in our lives and were we not refined enough before? Was the fruit not enough before? Does God want more fruit as we live in this world?”
I know for myself that my appreciation of the fragility of life has changed and that we are in God’s timing, not our own. I also have Galatians 5 in my head about the fruit of the spirit and to live a full life anchored in the Holy Spirit producing love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. As the pace of life zooms, as it did for us, we tend to push all these attributes to the side.
For me, I am thankful of the break in the busyness of life and have slowed down a lot as Neville needs company and attention at home. It has been two and a half months now and his recovery is slow and steady, but he is recovering.
Thinking about all his injuries and broken bones, 26 in all:
- he had a lacerated left ear, but his skull was intact;
- fractured cervical vertebrates in his neck, but his throat and glands remained fully functional;
- one broken collar bone, two broken shoulder blades, and many ribs both sides, but no injury to his vital organs, heart and liver;
- no injuries below his waist, so he was able to walk; he needed to get from the shed to the house to make a phone call;
- all broken bones were not displaced and did not require surgery.
That was truly amazing. Just a snippet of God’s power and glory! Am I thankful? Sure am!
Yes, God is with us every day in the big and small things putting our lives together in amongst weakness and sin and humanness. I am so thankful that I have seen with my own eyes God at work in a difficult time for us, showing his strength and mighty power that cannot be explained in human terms.
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