IT was a close friend who sent me this wonderful story, and I thank him for doing so: ‘A few years ago in downtown Denver, my friend, Scott, and I saw something tiny and insignificant that changed our world.
We decided to walk the ten blocks to an outdoor restaurant rather than take the shuttle bus. The restaurant was called The Blake Street Baseball Club. The tables were set appropriately on the grass infield. Many colourful pennants and flags hung limply overhead.
As we sat outside, the sun continued to beat down on us and it became increasingly hot. There wasn’t a hint of a breeze, and heat radiated up from the tabletop. Nothing moved, except the waiters, of course. And they didn’t move very fast either. After lunch, Scott and I started to walk back up the mall. We both noticed a mother and her young daughter walking out of a card shop toward the street. She was holding her daughter by the hand while reading a greeting card. It was immediately apparent to us that she was so engrossed in the card that she did not notice a shuttle bus moving toward her at a good clip.
She and her daughter were one step away from disaster when Scott started to yell. He hadn’t even gotten a word out when a breeze blew the card out of her hand and over her shoulder. She spun around and grabbed at the card, nearly knocking her daughter over. By the time she picked up the card from the ground and turned back around to cross the street, the shuttle bus had whizzed by her. She never even knew what almost happened.
To this day, two things continue to perplex me about this event: Where did that spurt of wind come from to blow the card out of that young mother’s hand? There had not been a whisper of wind at lunch or during our long walk. Secondly, if Scott had been able to get his words out, the young mother might have looked up at us as they continued to walk into the bus.
It was the wind that made her turn back to the card in the one direction that saved her life and that of her daughter. The passing bus did not create the wind. On the contrary, the wind came from the opposite direction. I have no doubt it was a breath from God protecting them both.
But the awesomeness of this miracle is that she never knew. As we continued back to work, I wondered how God often acts in our lives without our being aware. The difference between life and death can very well be a little thing. Can we continue praising God for all the times He’s been there for us without we ever knowing?’
