near misses

A couple weeks ago as I was roaming the grocery store, I began to think about how, in a few distinct instances, my life (and Chase's life) would have changed forever had things kept going as they should have, or if the Lord Himself hadn't intervened in a specific moment. Almost like near misses. Like we can nearly miss the entire course of our lives changing in an instant.

The first and most striking instant in which God and His beautiful grace intervened for me was in high school. A month before my 17th birthday I was in a car accident that left a huge scar over my right eye. But the weird thing wasn't "just happening" to put on my seatbelt 30 seconds before the wreck even though we were only 2 miles from my house(I kid you not, the EXACT thought that casually went through my mind was 'well mom always says you never know what can happen'). No, the bigger miracle was the position of the cut on my forehead. It was very deep, through the fascia tissue, almost to the bone, and started above my right eye about my midforehead. The cut continued all the way down through my right eyebrow and even lower onto my eyelid. But then, it stopped! The cut stopped right before slicing my eyeball. That would be a miracle enough, but to even more astonishment, the cut picked up and continued exactly BELOW my right eye. Almost like the Lord's hand was covering my eyeball from harm. That cut should have sliced my eyeball, rendering my vision ineffective. I wouldn't have been able to play soccer anymore...just imagine me trying to save a shot with one eye...and therefore I wouldn't have been recruited to Ball State (for FOR SURE would not have gone there without soccer, only because at the time, it had a bad academic reputation, which is 100% completely false, I just went to a snobby school). Playing soccer at Ball state is how God drew me to the gospel of the Truth through the ministry of Athletes in Action. This truth of God's lavish grace and how he saved my sight (and used it to later save my soul) even when I wasn't a believer is enough to leave me speechless and in awe of His sovereignty over all things. To end the story I had like 50 small stitches, and then later had a reconstructive surgery perform in which they look a piece of skin from behind my ear and grafted it to my eyelid so it could function properly.


This photo was taken a few weeks after my reconstructive skin graft surgery in July of 2003 on vacation with my family. I couldn't ski, swim, tube, run, or workout of any kind. I read Harry Potter 5 all week. To the left side of the graft is the original scar. Below my eye is were the cut started back up again. It was smaller and only needed 6 stitches and by this time was almost fully healed. Today you can't even see the smaller scar below. My eyelid will always hang down a little, especially when I smile. Just look at our wedding pictures!

That was my best story of a near miss, I have a few more, but I thought Chase has a good one that directly affects my life too. It has to do with the reason we met. Chase was scheduled to go to the Athletes in Action Ultimate Training Camp (UTC) the 2nd week it was offered (I was going the first). This was because he was out in Seattle competing at the NCAA Regionals and was doing so well he was anticipating going to the NCAA national championships, which would have been the same week as UTC week one. Chase was leading his team at regionals and was about to qualify as an individual for nationals, when he saw one of his teammates on a hole he has already been on. He casually told his teammate to try hitting the ball to a certain side. His teammate told him to probably not say anything else because giving advice to a teammate is against the rules. Chase went to his coach and told him the story. His coach confirmed that it was indeed against the rules, but since Chase didn't know, he told Chase to just not do it again, but don't tell the officials. Chase considered what his coach said, but felt incredibly convicted by the Holy Spirit to tell the truth about his actions to the officials. The Predicament: Go to the NCAA National Championships, a feat that so few in the country ever achieve and ignore the Spirit? Or follow God and tell on yourself and lose your one shot in a lifetime at playing in the most prestigious college golf tournament? The officials awarded Chase's honestly with a 2 shot penalty, as the rules dictated.

Chase ended up missing the cut to compete at the NCAA National Championships as an individual by 2 shots. Had he not followed the Spirit, he would have been competing for a national championship. But since he was obedient, he was able to go to the first week of UTC and not only have one of the best weeks of his life, but one of the most life-changing weeks of his life as it was there at that camp that Chase was introduced to his future wife.

This photo was taken right after Chase introduced himself to me at camp. I only sat there because it was the only seat open near my friends. The photo was supposed to be of just me and my friends, but Angie felt bad and asked Chase to get in...I think he was delighted because he jumped right in! This picture makes me laugh because he literally just poked his head in.

God is just so good to us. He was good to me before I even knew Him or was obedient to Him. He was good to Chase by using His spirit to empower and direct Chase's steps in an incredibly difficult decision. This all comes down to His immeasurable love, and His infinite grace. How can we not praise and follow a Lord who is so good to us even when we can't see it just yet? He never had to prove Himself as good to us, it is in His very nature, but He loves us, and He wants to show us that love.