Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Now, more than ever, I feel like I have so so so much to be thankful for. I am thankful for Jesus, and His love. I am thankful for this trip, and that He is allowing me to see so much of the world that He has created. I am thankful for my community, who loves me so well, both here and at home. I am thankful for my cats. And right now I think I’m most thankful just to be alive.
Y’all, not too long ago I wrote a blog about miracles. This week I experienced one first hand.
A few days ago, I was in a motorbike accident. I wasn’t wearing a helmet, and I flew off the back of the motorbike head-first, but get this: I didn’t hit my head. I didn’t have to go to the hospital, I didn’t need stitches, I didn’t break any bones. I scraped my knee- that was it. I landed on pavement without getting any road rash, despite the fact that I was only wearing a t-shirt. I can’t tell you how- all I can tell you is that I’m ok. My Vietnamese friend who was driving ended up going to the hospital just to get checked out, but she is doing well too.
Right after the accident, while I was standing on the side of the road checking on my friend, and it just hit me: I didn’t deserve to be ok- I really shouldn’t have been ok. There is no explanation other than Jesus. All I remember was seeing a guy on a bike flying at us and then being airborne. Then I hit the ground. I broke the WR rules (as well as Vietnamese law- shhh don’t say anything) and got on that bike without a helmet. I knew I shouldn’t have, I questioned my decision as I was making it and I felt guilty about it the second I got on the bike, but I still got on.
Big side note: I think I need to explain a little here, before y’all start thinking that I’m some reckless daredevil for getting on a motorbike here in the first place. Here in Da Nang, probably around 80+% of people get around using motorbikes or scooters. Cars on the road here are almost exclusively taxis and are outnumbered by bikes probably 8-to-1 at least. Often times we get the equivalent of Uber motorbikes to stay in budget, so it’s common for us to get around the city this way. Also part of our goal being here is to meet people, get to know them, and just develop friendships. This isn’t a story of an adventure day gone wrong, this is part of the risk that I accepted when I decided to come here and love the people here.
I don’t know why I get to be ok. I don’t think I’ll ever get to know the answer to that question. All I know is that I am so loved by the Father and that He reached out His hand and protected me and my friend. I’ve been thinking a lot this week about how my life could have just ended, or how my life could have seriously changed in that one moment- but it didn’t and that is a miracle.
Life feels really sweet right now. Mornings feel like blessings, rain and sunshine and other people, they all feel like gifts right now. I feel like I’ve been stopped in my tracks and I’m finally seeing everything around me. Guys, life is so beautiful and there is so much to be thankful for, even in the bad times or when bad things happen.
But through all of this, I’ve started just really thinking about the sobering reality that we are all going to die and that life isn’t promised. Then I thought about Jesus, and how He changes our story and makes it into something beautiful, when we let Him. He is the only salvation we have, in this world and the next. All of this led me to this realization: Some people are going to die without knowing Jesus because I thought I had more time. Because I was too scared to offend people, or too embarrassed to bring up something too personal.
With all that being said, I know that God is all powerful. I know that He does not need me, and that His glory will be made known even if I remain silent. Maybe He will send someone else, or maybe He will reveal Himself through a dream, or a situation, or a song, but wow, He wants me. He doesn’t need me but He wants me. He wants me to partner with Him and He wants me to share in the work with Him. Recently a friend showed me a quote that I think sums up this idea beautifully:
“Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which He looks compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which He walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which He blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are His body. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.”
-Teresa of Avila
A lot of people around the world, and in our own backyards don’t have a savior- yet. Jesus is my savior, now and forever, and this week He showed me a miracle and He showed me how much He loves me and I want other people to have that too.
I’m still processing what happened, I might not understand it right now, I may never understand it, but I know God never wastes a hurt. Maybe this accident will open up a door for conversation about Jesus. I don’t know- but I hope it will.
So those are my thoughts- I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I want everyone to know that I really am being safe here. It probably doesn’t sound like it, but I am. This country is amazing and I am so excited and thankful to be here. I can’t wait to tell y’all more about what I’m doing- but that’s another blog for another day. I love you guys and I hope that this encourages you to seek out someone who needs a savior. We don’t always have as much time as we think, so lets not waste what we got.
I would like to take this time to also make a public service announcement: PLEASE ALWAYS WEAR A HELMET NO EXCUSES. Please learn from my mistake. It only takes not wearing it one time for something bad to happen and to end up seriously hurt.
So as not to end on a super serious note, here is a picture of me and my friend Regan wearing some T-shirts that we bought during our lay-over in Moscow. If you can’t tell- it’s Putin riding a bear. How freaking funny is that?! (No one else thought it was as funny as we did… their loss)
Much Love,
Morgan
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