My accident...a very different Christmas

I planned on my first Christmas away from home being very different but I had know idea that it would be this different. In the season leading up to the holiday I anticipated missing home. And I expected that it wouldn't really feel like Christmas because it isn't a holiday widely celebrated in Buddhist countries. But what I didn't plan on was spending the holiday on the couch, in pain but learning so much from God.

Two days before Christmas my teammate Michelle and I were in a minor accident on our moter bike coming home from ministry. This sounds awful but God's hand of protection was completely on us. Neither of us were injured severely and the bike only had a loose mirror. Michelle had a broken toe that ended up needing surgery and she pulled a ligament in her knee. But God healed the ligament as someone prayed for it a couple days after the accident. My foot was scrapped pretty badly, enough that I had to see a Doctor and have my life shut down for a week and a half.
I know it sounds like a terrible thing and it definitely was the worst experience of my time in Thailand so far. But it changed my life.
My first reaction to the accident was

WHY???

Why did you let this happen God? Why didn't you protect us? Why did you let us get hurt? Why before Christmas? Why, why, why?? I felt like God had abandoned me. Like He had taken away His hand of protection. Maybe I was doing something wrong and He was trying to get my attention. Maybe this, maybe that... I wasn't angry with the Lord, I just didn't understand. I wasn't sure I could continue trusting Him.
But I started talking about how I felt with my teammates, being honest with the Lord about my feelings and reading His word. I read the last 3-4 chapters of the book of Job where the Lord answers Job and reminds him that He is God and is worthy of our worship no matter what our circumstances are in life. God also showed me how much His hand actually was on us. The timing was as good as can be expected for something like this. As I already mentioned, both of us and our bike were protected from serious injury. God used it as a time for me to rest, which is something I haven't done much of lately. Over and over He has shown me that He has not and will never leave or forsake me. Life is hard sometimes but He wasn't lying in Romans 8:28 when He said that He works all things together for the good of those who love Him.
This whole thing has been a journey that I will continue to share with you about. I just wanted to start by praising God for His faithfulness! God is GOOD ALWAYS!!