gratitude

I love when Mama calls me. Her voice just does wonders for my spirit... most of the time! This morning was not one of those times, and yet, at the same time, it was. I've spent the rest of the morning in an emotional state... close to tears and overflowing with tears and trying to express my gratitude the entire time.

Let's start with the part that my sister is okay. That's the most important part anyway. And the reason for the gratitude.

Last night, my sister spent the evening with a friend. They played games and talked and fairly early, she headed for home. She parks in her normal area, a couple houses away from hers. She walks from her truck toward her house. A guy is walking down the street the other way.

My sister is an alert female, needs to be living in the big city, and is aware of the guy... but it's already too late. The guy pulls a ski mask over his face, a gun out of his pocket and grabs my sweet sister.

He puts the gun to her throat and demands her truck keys. She complies immediately, thinking, "this is it. I'm gonna die and this is going to hurt."

She is terrified, rightfully so.

The guy grabs her keys, pushes her away from him and says, "run!"

She runs... and hopes that he won't shoot her in the back.

Thank God that he doesn't! He jumps into her truck and races off. My sister collapses on the ground, pulling out her cell phone. Amazing that she still has it. She calls the police. She calls her friend. Both arrive within minutes.

The police are able to track her truck since she has that Lo-Jack system in it. They have helicopters with lights shining onto the truck within a few minutes. She says it was like being in a movie. They have her truck stopped and the man arrested within 15 minutes!

The truck is returned to my sister immediately. (wow!) She is requested to head down to the police station to pick the guy out of a lineup. She does... and can pick him out immediately since she had seen his face prior to him pulling the ski mask over it.

And there is another guy there. One who was not quite as protected as my sister. This man had been attacked by the same guy a couple hours earlier. The guy had made this man lie face-down on the ground while he pistol-whipped him. The man is okay, he has a massive headache today, but he is okay. He also picked the guy out of the lineup immediately.

The police have informed my sister that she is miraculously lucky. The guy was so high on drugs that it was amazing that he did not accidentally pull the trigger on that gun when he had it to her throat.

I've talked with my sweet sister this morning. Hearing her voice made me cry, which is okay. She's still very afraid and it will take time for her to be okay emotionally.

I'm just so grateful that she is okay and will later be okay on the emotional level.

...may there be mercy and comfort for my sister.

...there has been mercy for me and I am in awe.