It was my turn to share a testimony this morning of God’s grace in my life. I chose to tell this story:
When I was 10, we moved to western Oregon. When I said that this morning, I think I said eastern, which is wrong. Anyway, we moved to Portland, which put us within driving distance of the ocean and Mount Hood, which is where my story took place.
I was 12 by this time, and I had finally become a member of the junior high youth group. There was an activity planned for late winter on Mount Hood, and I was so excited! Sledding, tobogganing, ice skating, and skiing were all available. It was a perfect day. Not terribly cold, and for this Minnesota girl it seemed more like spring.
I had already been on a toboggan that carried several of us, and I decided to try one that was perfect for just one person. It was just a bit longer than I was tall, so I stretched out on my stomach and got a push-off from someone. I went flying down the slope, loving every minute–until I stopped. Suddenly, and with no warning, my toboggan wasn’t moving. I could see that the snow in which the front of my toboggan was stuck was partially thawed, soft and mushy.
I will always remember turning my head to look down to my left, then to my right. There was nothing at all underneath me. Just a lot of black. By God’s grace, the back end of my sled was also in the slushy snow. My toboggan lay directly over what I now know was a fumarole:
Fumaroles don’t always vent hot steam, depending on how deep and active the magma chamber is. If I had know then what I know now, I probably would have been screaming at the top of my lungs!
Again, by God’s grace, there were several ski-patrol teams who were watching the area, and suddenly I was surrounded by people yelling at me, “Don’t move! Don’t move!” Believe, me, I wasn’t tempted to move!
My memory goes blank at this point. I don’t know how they moved me off that hole. What I do remember is that they offered me a stretcher, but I wasn’t hurt at all. Just scared. They walked me up to the chalet, and someone brought me a hot chocolate. They gave me a big puffy chair and a blanket, and I was treated like a queen until it was time to go back home.
I didn’t know the danger I was in, but God did. He had people right there who knew how to rescue me. He had me in the palm of His hand the whole time, and He knew exactly what I would need. If my toboggan had been even an inch or two shorter, it could slid backward right into that hole. I don’t know how deep the hole was. I don’t know if there was a ledge that would have caught me. But the Lord knew every detail, and He had me.
It is by God’s grace that I’m alive today to tell about that long-ago event. There have very likely been other times in the course of my life when my guardian angels were working overtime, but this incident is still vivid in my mind after 64 years.
Linda's Bible Study 