Life changes in instants and increments. That we will be impacted by change is non-negotiable. How we emerge from change determines the power we allow it to exercise over us. Everything changed on Tuesday August 12,  2008 for RD Reid, his wife, daughter and extended family.

RD and Jill had spent the last year in the Training School, and had come to grips (at least mostly) with what they needed to do - exchange their plans for God’s and pursue church planting. The changes they would experience fell literally a week after RD stood up in front of 1,000 people to confess he had been running from God’s call on his life: to plant a church. The timing of this “confession” and the events of August 12 were no coincidence.

RD was mowing grass for a commercial property management company (a job he had taken just 8 days prior). That day, as he mowed the top of a particularly steep ditch, something went wrong. Within a few chaotic moments, he found himself at the bottom of the ditch. He was lying under the weight of a mower he was in control of just a few moments prior and covered in the gasoline that was pouring from the engine. The gas ignited.

Silent moments of assessment following a tragedy - the time where denial and uncertainty must submit to fact - can be as life-altering as the events themselves. RD sustained third degree burns on 40% of his body and suffered a spinal cord injury that left him without the use of his legs. It also required that he spend the better part of a year in a hospital and rehabilitation center.

There were, and still are, lots of things to process and think through. One that may surprise you, though, was being put in a situation where they were “forced” to receive from God. Meals, babysitting, transportation and money to sustain day-to-day living were no longer things they could provide for themselves. Their 2-story house would need to re-learn how to be a refuge to one of its occupants and his new wheelchair.

God provided at nearly every turn, both through the Church and by prompting the hearts of other people. Donations to meet and address all of their specific needs were made by folks from both inside and outside of their church community. Their house has been almost completely remodeled and is now fully wheelchair-accessible. They experienced an extreme home makeover by the hands of their church and friends.

“Not only were things renovated, items donated, and meals brought, but the gifts were above and beyond even our wildest imagination. The Church provided in such a way that our blessings were overflowing. The house renovations were so thorough and high-quality. The Church made sure in all they gave that we were not just able to make it...but that we were able to live life to the fullest.”

Indeed, everything did change for the Reids in an instant. RD and Jill have been through the fire and their faith proven genuine. The process of emerging from these events has not been without times of anger, doubt and frustration. However, those feelings have shown themselves as the birth pains of a rich insight into the depths of God’s love for them. With much of the recovery behind them, the Reid’s are now reengaging in ministry and resuming their prayer and processing for church planting.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?...neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.