John 16:33 I've told you all this so that trusting me, you will be unshakable and assured, deeply at peace. In this godly world you will continue to experience difficulties. But take heart! I've conquered the world. (The Message)
I want to share on incident that happened to my daughter on a trip overseas to a country that has numerous problems with violence.
In 1998, Laura traveled to Northern Ireland to visit Caoimnhe, the daughter of my pen pal of 30 years. She was to stay with the family in their flat right in downtown Londonderry. The north has bombings, the British Military roam the streets with M16s and tanks and you can't tell who the IRA people are from anyone else. Each time you leave the north for the south, you have to go through checkpoints where they ask you where you are going, where you have been and if they want, they can search you and/or your vehicle.
On Sunday, August 16, 1998, the family was traveling to Omagh, No. Ireland to visit a castle (Laura loves castles) and had to make a decision where to have lunch-at the castle or in town at a local café about 1 mile away. They chose to eat at the castle, picnic style. Meanwhile, in the middle of town, the worst paramilitary bombing in 30 years happened. 28 people were killed
and 220 people injured when a 500 pound car bomb went off in the area of the café and the IRA was being blamed for carrying out the attack. Had Laura been eating at the cafe, she could have very well been one of the 28 killed.
Laura adds: "The family was to meet Caoimnhe's friends in town soon after lunch, right in the middle of where the rubble was. Her friend that arrived first ended up loosing at least one leg while she was there..there was talk that she may lose her other leg too. Laura and Caoimnhe went to visit her in the hospital in Dublin just days after the attack."
That night, I got a phone call from my friend, Philomena and the first thing said was, 'don't worry, Laura is ok, she isn't hurt'. Panic set in-what had happened? I hadn't seen the news yet. As Philomena told me the story, I remember the sense of peace come over me and I knew God would take care of her and keep her safe. I wanted to be there for Laura, but I had to put my
trust in God and let him take charge.
I'll never forget that day, but I'll also never forget that warm feeling of peace as it came over me. I was crying, but there I had no fear inside, I didn't need to rush overseas, I knew she was in good hands. What a feeling it was to go from the fear that my daughter could have died to the feeling of knowing things would be ok.
God was with me and God was with her and the Grant family that day. Peace is difficult to explain, but awesome to experience.
Nancy
