Who Protected Josh?

Today was a national holiday. It was the ending of Ramazan (or Ramadan as we say in English). That meant that I did not have language class and I did not have to teach (Hoo-rah). So....Jeremy, Tracie, Michelle and I took a road trip two hours north of where we live to visit what was probably one of the coolest historical places I've ever been to. We had to go 4WD and hike a kilometer to get to the ruins of a 1600 year old castle. The name for the castle translates into English as Lamp Castle. If you saw Lord of the Rings and recall when the beacon fires were lit you will understand the function of this castle. It sits on a hill 1200meters above sea level (4000 feet) and was used to signal and warn of approaching enemy armies. I sat on the wall and looked out toward the sea amazed at the history and beginning to understand the deeper meaning of the Lord being my fortress, my strong tower, my place of refuge, my protector. Words can not do justice and sometimes even an image can not do justice, I did not know that minutes later I would experience firsthand the Lord being my protector.

Being my adventurous self and being in a Big kids playground. (Unlike America where a castle would be roped off and you would only be close enough to it to take pictures. Here there wasn't a soul around and you could do whatever you wanted.) I went off exploring the ruins and climbing around. The castle sits way up on top of a giant rock that is on top of a mountain. What that means is that there are a lot of places to climb. (You can see where this is going). Right when we decided to leave I thought I'd climb completely around the castle. I came to a steep part where I had to climb down using the rocks on the castle wall. I grabbed onto a large rock in the wall (don't trust 1600year old rocks), one that looked sturdy and swung my legs down to begin to climb down. When I did that the rock gave way and I fell. I hit the ground about eight feet below and began to slide down the rocks. It seemed that eveything was going in slow motion. As I was sliding the rock that had fallen out of the wall, a 60 pound rock that was about the size of a computer monitor (not a flat screen, but the old 17 inch ones) came down behind me and smashed off my arm as it continued its ever increasing dash down the mountain. I came to a stop at the edge of a forty foot cliff. My arm was cut up and bruised but it should have been broken. I should have been hurt more than I was...but I wasn't. I sat there, shaking, for a few minutes and praised God for protecting me. I believe and know that it was God that saved me. God was my protector today. He is and will continue to be my strong tower and my fortress for as long as I shall live. That is my proclamation of faith!