Thankfulness

Today I am filled with great thankfulness for those brief seconds in my life when I was so frightened I thought I was actually going to die.  There have only been a few, thank goodness, but they certainly put my outlook on life into a whole new prospective.

My worst was in February 1971.  I was still living in California.  It was 6 AM.  I had just stepped out of the shower and had not even had the opportunity to dry off yet when my apartment building began to shake, the roar was indescribable, my heart was pounding out of control, and my one and only thought was to get to my daughter still sleeping soundly in her bed.

I raced, naked as a jay-bird across the hall and threw myself on top of her little body.  I guess I must have thought I could some how save her, if the building crumbled, the debris would hit me and some how my body would make a cave of sorts to save her rather than me.  I could hear the building creaking, eerie sounds, like a haunted house.  Time was standing still...please God let this shaking stop.

Off in the distance I could hear things breaking, and I knew my precious, beautiful Blue Willow china was crashing to the kitchen floor.  I had been collecting the set a bit at a time when I had a little extra money, and had finally had a complete four piece set.  I loved that china pattern, still do today...but in that moment my only thought was that my daughter and I survive this awful trembling.

I thought we were going to die.

When the shaking finally stopped I sat up...Bonnie groggily, opened her eyes, I thanked God she had slept through the whole ordeal.  Now, I had to regain my own composure, so that she wouldn't know how frightened I had actually been. Eventually my breathing returned to normal, and my heart stopped racing.

Time to inspect the damage.  I checked the apartment starting with the bathroom.  Everything was in order, the medicine cabinet door had not even flung open.  The bedroom and living room seemed to be intact as well.  But, oh, the kitchen was a terrible mess.  The cupboard doors were all open, packaged things were on the counters and floor, and ooooh, my precious Blue Willow china had been smashed to bits.  One dinner plate precariously sat balanced at the edge of the shelf it was sitting on.

I wanted to be sad, it had taken quite a few years for this single, working mother to collect this set, and in less than a minute it was gone.  But, I was so thankful that Bonnie and I had survive my china no longer seemed to be important anymore.

And, my big question at the moment was do I clean up the mess, or continue to get ready for work...I realized in that brief second, the world still keeps spinning and life goes on.  I glance at the Coo-Coo Clock
and discovered it had not missed a second, the tick-tock the only sound in the place.

I  don't remember if I cleaned up the mess, or went straight to work, didn't matter then, and does not matter now whether I did or not.  The only thing that mattered was the fact Bonnie and I had survived. And, all of this event happened so quickly I don't even remember if my life passed before my eyes because my only thought was to make sure my daughter somehow survived, even if it meant I was going to die.

And so today, my thankfulness is that those brief, very brief seconds that I thought I was going to die, they changed me and put my future life into a whole new prospective.  I learned that I should not covet earthly possessions (I lost my most precious china)...that no amount of money will save your life it is your 'time to go'...and that you have to appreciate every beat of your heart and every breath you breathe.

I do still have the one Blue Willow plate that survived the quake, and I know the fact it did was a sign from God, a humbling blessing I needed to learn that my life was good, I had much to live for, and that He would always, always do what was best for me.

I think everybody should have those brief, terrifying, soul jarring seconds that you think you are going to die.

They will fill you with thankfulness that you survived.