Scripture Reading:
JONAH 1–2
If the LORD had not been on our side… the flood would have engulfed us, the torrent would have swept over us, the raging waters would have swept us away.
PSALM 124:1–5
IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL EASTER SUNDAY and Lola Randall was full of thanks. Most people were still trapped in the throes of the Great Depression, but Lola’s husband, Jeffrey, had a job in Phoenix and his income provided a small home and plenty of food for their young family.
As they arrived at the home of Jeffrey’s parents and settled into the family room, Lola glanced around to where two-and-a-half-year-old Bonnie was playing with building blocks. Lola and Jeffrey had not been able to afford a home when they first married, so this had been the child’s first home and she was still comfortable in it. Bonnie had golden-red hair, green eyes, and fair skin.
Most of Lola’s memories of the house were happy ones. But one memory always sent chills down her spine. When Bonnie was just three weeks old, a curtain rod had accidentally slipped and shot down into Bonnie’s crib, grazing the unformed soft area of her skull.
The doctor had examined the injury and shook his head. “If it had hit a fraction of an inch in either direction, it would have pierced her head and she’d be dead. But she’s fine. The good Lord must be looking out for your little one.”
That Easter Sunday, the family eventually wandered into the front yard to enjoy the last bit of afternoon sunshine. The senior Randalls’ backyard contained a man-made fishpond that was five feet by eight feet in diameter and four feet deep. A flagstone walkway surrounded the pond, which had rounded, sloping edges and contained several brightly colored goldfish. Bonnie loved the pond but she was not allowed to play in the backyard around it. There was no way for a child Bonnie’s age to climb out of the pond if she fell in.
The adults had been in the front yard briefly when Lola scanned the yard. “Where’s Bonnie?” she asked. At that moment there was a shrill scream from the backyard. Racing toward the sound, Lola tore around the house with the others close behind her.
“Bonnie!” Lola screamed. The child was standing in the middle of the stone walkway, dripping wet and crying hysterically. “Oh, dear God,” Lola said as she pulled her little daughter close.
Jeffrey stood nearby, gazing down at the stone walkway. “Look. The sidewalk is dry. I can’t believe it.”
The walkway was completely dry except for small pools of water that had collected underneath Bonnie. There were no footprints or drips of water leading from the pond to where Bonnie now stood.
Lola’s eyes narrowed as she studied the walkway that circled the pond. “Do you think the sun dried it up?”
“No. Bonnie just got out of the water. And she could never climb out by herself. Whatever just happened was some kind of miracle. Remember how the doctor said God is looking out for our little Bonnie?”
Lola nodded. “It’s true.”
Throughout the evening, the Randalls tried to get their daughter to discuss the incident. But Bonnie would only cry fiercely. Over time the couple gave up. Years passed and Bonnie grew. She had no memory of the incident but she carried a desperate fear of water. Eventually she married and moved onto the U.S. Army base where her husband was stationed. During that time she decided she had to do something about her fear, so she asked the chaplain if he could help her.
The chaplain gazed thoughtfully at the young woman now seated across from him. “Did you ever have an accident involving water?”
Bonnie thought back. “Yes. I was nearly three years old and my parents say I fell into my grandparents’ fishpond. I don’t remember it.”
“Bonnie,” he said, “if you can remember what happened, we might understand your fear.”
Over a series of counseling appointments, the chaplain helped Bonnie to eventually recall the scene.
“I was in the backyard,” she said, her eyes glazed over in concentration. “I can see a fishpond and I walked toward it. Inside were the biggest goldfish I’d ever seen. I wasn’t supposed to touch them. But I wanted so badly to pet them just once. So I leaned over and suddenly I fell into the water.” Bonnie screamed and covered her eyes. “I couldn’t get out. I was thrashing about and swallowing water. My head was submerged and I was drowning.” Suddenly Bonnie gasped. “That’s what happened! I remember everything now.”
The chaplain leaned forward in his chair. “Go on, Bonnie. What happened then?”
“I was sinking. Then suddenly there was a man above me dressed all in white. He reached into the water and lifted me up and set me down on the walkway.”
“Where did he go then?” the chaplain asked.
Bonnie paused a moment, searching the long-ago scene that was unfolding before her eyes. “He just set me down and disappeared.” Bonnie’s eyes came back into focus. “That’s impossible, isn’t it, Pastor?”
“What do your parents say about the event?”
“Well, they say there were no wet footprints or water drips leading from the pond to where I was standing when they found me. The only water was beneath me. But how could the man in white get me there without a trace of water? You don’t think…?”
The chaplain smiled kindly. “I can’t explain it fully, Bonnie, but in my opinion God saved your life. And a certain guardian angel may have returned to heaven with wings wet from the water of a goldfish pond.”
“Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.”
PSALM 91:14