Fire + Strep + Surgery + Falling 70 Feet Off A Mountain= Blessings (huh?)

Lately I have been reminded how God works in mysterious ways. Not just in my own life, but in the lives of those around me. Let me fill you in on some of the things happening in my family and around our (normally) quiet neighborhood.
The girl who was having family problems and came to stay with us for a while was out at the pier near their house with her family and some friends when their house burned. They lost pretty much everything. There were a few things here and there that made it out unharmed, but not too much. OK, you might be asking how a blessing can come from something so horrible. This fire has caused the mom's boyfriend to get a job. This fire caused at least three churches and I do not know how many individuals to come together and help out. This family is seeing that there are people who care about them. Hopefully, the family is emerging stronger than before. The mom's parents have helped them by paying off the loan on their vehicle. They found a mobile home that is bigger than the one they had before, and nicer, and affordable. Someone is going to move it for them at a reduced rate. The mom and I were talking about how God causes all things to happen for the good of those who love Him. I told her that it is sometimes hard to see the good when you are going through the bad, but it is there. She even opened a bit and said that she felt like God knew the family needed help, and He really is showing Himself to them.
Benjamin: I should have seen the signs. Not only did he NOT protest against cleaning his room, he VOLUNTEERED to mop both the bathrooms, his bedroom, NATHANIEL'S bedroom, AND the living room. (he has never moped anything before in his life!!) The same day he told me his head hurt. Mom interprets this as "I have a headache" So I gave him Motrin. He stopped complaining. Til the next morning when he says, "Do I have something on my head?" I looked at eh back of his head and at first did not see anything through his thick, wavy hair. I touched his head, and there was a big knot. I asked if he had bumped his head. He could not remember bumping it, but he gets bruises frequently that he can't remember what happened. But after a few days, it was not going away, and some knots popped up on his neck. So we head off to the doctor. They ask his symptoms; "uhm, he has knots, maybe lymph nodes?" "Any fever?" "No" "Any sore throat, coughing or congestion?" "No" ANY SYMPTOMS AT ALL????? "No" So they decide to do a strep test, just as a precaution. It turned out that he DID have strep. So thankfully God sent us a doctor who actually did the strep test instead of saying, "oh it is probably viral, just come back in a few days if he is not any better".
Now on to Mark: Ever since I can remember he has had frequent sinus infections. And it really takes him some time to get over them. For at least the past year, however, he NEVER really seems to fully get over it. So his doctor did a CT scan after three weeks of heavy-duty antibiotics. WOW!!! Looking at the pictures from the scan we were able to see (with our untrained eyes) that there was a whole lot of "stuff" in there. So he had to have sinus surgery. So many people have shown that they care for us. We have had so many phone calls, e-mails, and people just coming up to us asking how he is, asking if we need anything, offering to do anything for us. Sometimes it easy to get in a "everybody hates me" kind of funk, but this has reminded that there are people who care.
Last but definitely not least: A lady from our church was going home after church last Sunday when her cell phone rang. She was going a bit too fast, on a curvy mountain road, but she took her off that curvy road just long enough to reach for the phone. That split second was all it took for her to lose control of the car. She started skidding off the side of the road and so she jerked the steering wheel. Jerking it overcompensated, so she went off the other side of the road. The side that goes down. 70 feet down, to be precise. As her car was air born and falling she said she gripped the wheel and prayed for God to save her. He saved her, alright!! Her car landed at the foot of the mountain. It is messed up. She could not get out, but she was not hurt. She called 911. They drove around trying to find her. She had to honk her horn to alert them as to where she was. There were so many trees at the foot of the mountain that they could not find her. They got her out of the car and had to lift it up on ropes. She then had to follow the rescue workers up the side of the mountain on foot. (Keep in mind, the rescue workers are dressed for rescue work, she is dressed for church) When she got to the top of the mountain and saw how far she had fallen, she realized it was only by the grace of God that she was alive. God is so good that not only did she not have a scratch or bruise on her body, but, her shoes and pantyhose even made it through!! It is amazing that God cares about people so much that He even takes care of the small things.