40 years ago.......

I woke up very early this morning because I needed to be at church to sing for the worship team. When I woke up I was NOT thinking about what day it was , as far as the date......I was just looking forward to getting ready to sing and focused on waking up on time......I was in the shower and suddenly a thought randomly went through my mind ....it was something like, 40 years has to pass or has past......just hard to explain... but the impression of 40 years going by seemed to be the direction my thought was going... I then wondered what that meant........I pondered a moment and tried to think about what the date was today....August 2........WOW... I was a little bit stunned -OK I was totally blown away......as I began to understand what it was that my thought had brought me to recognize....but I thought to myself...Has it been 40 years ago..??? OH WOW ! Exactly to the day!

On August 2, 1969(40 years ago today) the world as the Johnson family knew it was changed forever. My Dads parents Jim and Dorthy Johnson along with my Dads sister Betty ,her husband Ance, and their 6 year old son Donald were on their way to a family get together when a drunk driver ran the stop sign ......my Grandpa Jim barely survived and Donald wasn't hurt (Physically) .....but the others all died. Donald, my brother (cousin at the time), lost his parents and grandmother that day. My dad lost his Mom, Sister and Brother in law. My Mom lost her Mother in law ,Sister in law and Brother in law. My Grandpa Jim lost his Wife , Daughter and Son in law and also was physically injured....he died a few years later when I was 10 years old.....(However he came to know the Lord after this accident happened and that is One VERY Valuable thing that was gained through this)... I was 2 years old and my brother Robert was just about 7 months old when this happened....so all we really remember - other than what we have been told , is Donald being in our family as our older Brother.....as he came to live with us after the accident. My Mom and Dad had their hands full.....I just can't even imagine the grief and pain that everyone was going through. A very awful time to say the least........Only God could have brought us through that......and He did.......I am so thankful that the only one that was an unbeliever(my Grandpa Jim) was spared so that he could come to believe ...you see the others were believers, so they were safe in the arms of the Lord, the minute they died......and My Grandpa is with them now.....he just needed a little more time......and by the grace of God he got it.
Why, would I want to remember all of this?.....What could possible be the reason that God called my attention to this today? What was a normal joyful morning turned into a sob fest........I soon had to pull myself together and continue getting ready to go to church. I had to try to put it out of my mind so that I could move forward. .......The Lord spoke to me during the course of the rest of the morning ......He reminded me that He never forgets us.......He wants us to know that He is sovereign.....even through the worst of storms, He is still strong. All through the Bible God instructs us to remember the things that He has done......just like after God parted the sea for the Israelites He instructed them to set up the stones so that the generations to come would remember what happened there and how God made a way even where there was no way. And as communion was served in church this morning .....I thought of why we take communion....as a remembrance of how Jesus suffered and died for us.......when He died that was not the end, He came through it and rose again and the glory that is to come because of His suffering FAR outweighs the pain.........This Morning Pastor Bob was speaking about going through suffering and how it will be temporary and light compared to the lasting Glory that is to come.....so true! ( I realized that the Lord was trying to get this message to me this morning......how the suffering of my family will be temporary compared to eternity. And My grandpa might never have come to know the Lord any other way.......and if that were the only way....with an eternal perspective it was worth the suffering......We should dwell on the good things, but never forget the power that God has shown even through the worst situations.
Later today I called my brother Donald and talked to him......I shared my morning experience with him.....I shared the thoughts of how Grandpa Jim had come to know the Lord after this had happened and probably as a result of this accident .....Donald said that he never thought of it like that.....Donald said that he has prayed many times and asked God why? Why He had taken his parents away........Donald told me he now had an answer.....after 40 years.......Donald said that God must have brought this truth to my attention today to answer his prayers......and he thanked me for sharing it with him, and I could hear tears in his voice.......I know we can never understand all the whys in life, but if we have an eternal perspective, we will see the eternal ramifications......and both Donald and I agreed God doesn't cause the bad things.....but sometimes He intervenes and sometimes He does not.....Only He can answer as to why? Donald was also was thankful that he was spared so that he too could come to grow up and know the Lord.......I also pointed out to him that his children and grandchildren where also a reason why he was spared..........Thank you so much Heavenly Father for yet again blowing my mind with your Awesome Love!