"The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms" (Deut. 33:27).
One day I was standing on the next to-the-top step of an eight-foot ladder when the ladder started to buckle. I attempted to grab some wooden latticework to steady myself, but this only momentarily delayed the fall. It also caused me to twist my body, so that when I fell it was with my face to the sky. I impacted heavily, striking a basketball-sized boulder flush in the small of my back. The force of the fall arched my back over the boulder, and I was knocked unconscious.
My son was with me at the time, and he ran inside the house to get help. When I regained consciousness some minutes later I saw my wife, son, and daughter close at hand. Unfortunately, I felt so engulfed in pain that at first their efforts to comfort me with statements of spiritual truth seemed ineffective.
