Someone once told Amy Carmichael, “You should tell it!” They were referring to the growing number of children she was able to save from the temple service in India. Time and again they prayed, acted and saw God do amazing things.

As I think back on this year there are things I need to tell. When God works in those we love we need to tell it. And so I begin.

I have a nephew who was traveling in a foreign country with a friend. They were taking a tour on motorcycles. As his friend came around the corner on a mountain road she encountered someone in her lane going the wrong way. She laid her bike down to avoid hitting them and slid under the guard rail that keeps people from falling down the mountain. Miraculously, she barely fit under the railing and just as miraculously she didn’t go flying off the mountain to certain death. They had some tense days as they tried finding competent medical care for her broken bones, but eventually they made it home to America where surgery was done. She is expected to make a full recovery. The only explanation was that God protected her. God spared her for a reason.

I have another nephew who was on his way to work in the wee hours of the morning. Going 70 mph or better on the interstate he came up to an unmoving deer in his headlights. He swerved. His car spun, hit the guard rail on one side, spun again, and hit the other side of the road. When he came to a stop he was facing the right way with no other cars in sight. The only explanation was that God protected him. God spared him for a reason.

I have an uncle who is 89 who lives in a small town in North Dakota. Just before Christmas he was changing the tire on his truck. While putting his jack away in the back he fell while getting out of the truck bed hitting his head on the trailer hitch. They rushed him to the hospital, not knowing if he would make the trip. He suffered two brain bleeds. There was surgery to repair what they could and they patched him together with 45 staples. We all prayed as his brain swelled and it looked hopeless. After spending some weeks in the hospital he recently came home and is gradually improving. The only explanation is that God protected him.  God spared him for a reason.

In October of this year a girl named Jamie was kidnapped from her home after both of her parents were shot and killed. Many people around our state, Wisconsin, prayed. Most of us had given up hope. Then miracle of miracles she escaped and made her way down the country road to someone who could help her. She had been missing for almost 3 months. We continue to pray for the difficulties she has ahead of her, but are praising God that he delivered her from her captivity. God spared her for a reason.

While talking to a friend about the miracle of it all, I mentioned that her kidnapper had put her in a trunk and she could hear the police sirens as he drove her away from her family’s home.

My friend quietly said, “I was in a trunk”. All I could say was “I’m sorry”. I remembered her story includes being kidnapped when she was a teenager and held by an evil man. Miracle of miracles she survived while others didn’t.  I thank God that she survived and that I can call her my friend. God spared her for a reason.

There are other stories.

Today is a good day to remember what God has done and thank him for each breath.

Feel free to leave a comment below. What has God done in your life this past year? You should tell it!

 “… And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.” Luke 8:39 (NASB)