Through The Grace of God

Our family had quite the scare today to say the least. It is only through the hand of God that we are all safe and sound tonight.
It is Nov. 1 and in the 70's so we decided to go on a hike. Gorgeous day!!! It started out great. We went with some fun friends and had a good time. They had to turn around at a point in order to get back for something, and we continued on.
It was approx. an 8 mile hike. We were about 3 miles into it when we got to the top of a ridge out in a clearing. The path forked so we were stopped trying to figure out which way to go.
There is a shooting range less than a mile from the hike, and we could hear the guns the whole time. No big deal, they shoot in the other direction and there were a lot of people on the trail. Nothing new.
As Ben was checking out one trail, I was looking at the other. Sam was on my back in the pack and I was holding Mary's hand. I had the feeling to move in closer to Ben. I didn't really listen. Then the feeling came again. I figured it was because I was in the sun and Ben was in the shade. Maybe I just needed some shade.
I took a few steps closer to Ben just as a bullet shot right past our heads, coming from the direction I had been standing only seconds earlier. It was so close to our heads that we could hear the bullet whistle as it went past our ears. Not kidding.
Had the bullet hit any of us in the head, it would have killed us instantly. Not a chance of survival. And we had been standing right there out in the open...easy targets.
We hit the ground and crept out to where we knew we were safe. It REALLY shook us up. Our lives could have been taken at that very moment, when we were least expecting it. As soon as we knew we were safe, and a little more calm, we immediately prayed. We thanked the Lord for literally guiding us out of harms way and for protecting and preserving our little family. We also thanked Him that our friends had turned back and were not present at that time. With more people there, it would have been an even bigger chance that someone could have been hit. We know that it was only through the grace of God that one of us wasn't killed in that spot today.
Needless to say, we hiked right back to the car and came home. Our hiking excitement was gone. We were totally shocked and so grateful that we were taken care of today.