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Let's find out what God does
for those who stand up for the meek
"When a wife beating murderer tried to kill me
with a big knife!"
"Blessed is he who has regard for the
weak; the Lord delivers him in times of trouble. The Lord will
protect him and preserve his life; he will bless him in the land and
not surrender him to the desires of his foes. Psalm 41:1-2
One summer evening my wife was away, and I
was frolicking on the floor, playing with my two year old
daughter. Suddenly we
heard an unusual series of banging thuds. We looked at each other
somewhat puzzled.
Curious, I stood up and looked outside our window. What I saw made a strange
sight. A Columbian man
was ramming his small blue Ford pickup truck into the giant shade
tree outside our apartment.
I watched him repeatedly smash the base of the gnarly old
oak, and then back the truck up and strike it again.
I told
myself that the exasperated driver must be just having a bad day,
and expected him to eventually stop. But as I time went on I
realized he planned to continue this nonsense. I asked God to protect me
and my wide-eyed little girl, and told her that daddy had to go
outside for a moment.
An eerie feeling bubbled up in my chest that I could not
explain.
With a prayer on my breath, I stepped
outside and walked over to the driver's side window, which was
closed. In the shadows,
I could not see for sure who the driver was, but watched as he
backed his truck into the carport and turned the engine off. He parked very close to my
front door, so I stepped closer, with my back close to the carport
wall, to investigate.
The driver paused inside the truck, and I realized it
was the father of the children next door, whom I had met a few days
earlier. He had come by
to visit his kids and had a big argument their mother. He had gotten violent. We heard crashing and
yelling, and the plates on our adjoining wall fell off the
display. I knew he had
hurt his children's mother before, and several times had
disconnected her phone so she could not call the police. Soon the ruckus got so out
of hand that my wife had me go over to
intervene.
I found the man outside, flustered, and
getting ready to leave in his car. The apartment door was
closed, and things inside were suspiciously quiet. When I asked if the children
and their mother were alright, the man mouthed off and would not
give me a straight answer.
In the argument that ensued, I told him what a piece of crap
he was for beating on his lady, and ordered him to never throw her
against the wall again.
When he left I thought the domestic quarrel was over. I hoped that he had learned
his lesson. Little did
I know that he held a grudge, and would return to retaliate.
Now, as I looked through his truck window, I noticed one of
the biggest knives that I have ever seen, so shiny and new-looking,
just laying there on the pickup's front seat. I thought nothing of it,
because it appeared to be a saber, a collector's item. At this point the driver
seemed so calm and peaceful that I expected we would smooth things
over.
Then, without warning, it happened. Snarling, he swung open the
door. A swift, powerful
stroke with the truck door pinned me against the carport wall. I could not move anything
except my strong left arm.
Using leverage, the enraged fiend pressed the truck door
tightly against my body.
I looked into the slits that were his eyes. An expression of hate
emanated from his very being.
Reaching behind him, he grabbed the saber
and raised it high above his head. His face contorted into an
expression of evil.
With a deft stroke, he plunged the razor-sharp blade towards
my heart. Time
stopped. Things
happened in slow motion.
Strange thoughts flew quickly through my mind, as I realized
that I might soon be dead.
My heart missed a beat as I worried about my
little daughter. With
only a split second to defend myself, I reached up with my free arm,
and with perfect timing, blocked the oncoming knife. Fortunately only the flat
side of the blade struck me.
God guided my arm and gave me strength. The man was so surprised
that he let loose of the truck door, unpinning my body.
Once
free, I ran gasping back to our apartment, to where I could hear my
little girl crying.
Opening the door, I stretched out my arms and picked her
up. The joy on her
innocent face contrasted sharply with the darkness I had fled. Slamming the door, I wiped
away her tears, and mine as well. Involuntary sobs burst forth
out of my soul. I was
so thankful to be alive, and she was so happy to see me. Tears of frustration and joy
rolled down our cheeks.
I was glad the whole ordeal was over, and that I had been
given a second chance to live.
Suddenly, the infuriated man appeared again,
this time at our front door.
His screams and curses struck our ears. My daughter shuddered with
fear, and I was forced to place her behind me for protection. With all his might the
embittered thug raised the huge weapon above his head and repeatedly
stabbed the screen door.
Each brutal blow ripped through the steel mesh with a
crushing sound, as he violently sought entry. We were shaken to the
core. I paced about,
trying to figure out what to do. To my horror, I could not
remember if I had locked the door. I had to trust God to help
me make the right decisions.
To make a long story short, I was forced to
hold a gun on the deranged intruder until the police arrived. Hearing sirens, he took off
on foot, and after a chase, police caught him hiding at the local
Carls Jr. hamburger stand.
Afterwards, a detective informed me that the man is a career
criminal. He was
arrested and locked up in prison for murdering another victim. I am so thankful that God
spared our lives.
Later still, police recovered the deadly
saber from where it was hidden at my next door neighbor’s home. And when a police
photographer took a picture of my injury, it showed the tip of the
big knife imprinted as a huge red welt across the entire inside of
my forearm.
"Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good?" 1
Peter 3:13
(Here's me and my little angel shortly after the attack, she
is now going to college)
Remember, if God did allow this man to take my life, that
would not mean that He had forsaken me or that He had left me. I
believe when God does allow a life to be taken from us, it's part of
His divine plan even though we do not understand why. God's Word
teaches us that when we get to Heaven and God explains to us why
things have happened to us or our loves ones that we will have a new
mind and understanding and we will say that He is a just and good
God. God promises us that our time away from our loved ones will be
but a puff of smoke compared to our time with them in eternity. Keep
the faith and always give God the glory and He will bless you for
it.
(The true
story above of Reverend Michael Cartwright was edited by former
classmate Attorney Timothy L. Knudtson of South Dakota. I believe
God has shaped Timothy's heart to be so passionate in
helping so many others is because he understands their grief and
suffering, because he himself has been falsely accused and
arrested.)
(picture of Tim and me right before we went hiking in
Southern California Jan 2008)
Why do bad
things happen?
"God Believes in You"
Reverend Michael
Cartwright
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"God
will never leave you or forsake you!"
"I will never leave you or forsake you."
Hebrews 13:5
A Few Blessings that I Glorify God
For
Oh, how great is your goodness to those who publicly
declare that you will rescue them. For you have stored up great
blessings for those who trust and reverence you." Psalms
31:19
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