{"id":1750,"date":"2011-09-30T01:00:27","date_gmt":"2011-09-30T05:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/?p=1750"},"modified":"2011-09-28T15:24:23","modified_gmt":"2011-09-28T19:24:23","slug":"is-there-a-deer-on-my-lap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/09\/is-there-a-deer-on-my-lap.html","title":{"rendered":"Is there a deer on my lap?"},"content":{"rendered":"

She sat with blood and shattered glass dripping from her body and hair. \u00a0Staring blankly at the man who had come to her wrecked car, Natalie Carley asked, \u00a0“Is there a deer on my lap?”<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>“Yes, but don’t look at it,” he commanded in a reassuring tone meant to comfort her. \u00a0Carefully, he drew her from the crashed car, saying, “Most of the blood belongs to the deer.”<\/p>\n

Natalie Carley was heading to her mother’s home from a doctor’s appointment in Tampa. \u00a0Using the unpopulated Florida 528 Beachline highway, her car hit a deer crossing the road. \u00a0Ms. Carley had watched the car in front of her swerve from a crossing deer when suddenly her front windshield shattered. \u00a0She could no longer see the road. \u00a0 She slowed down to stop, pulling off the road.<\/p>\n

The next thing Ms. Carley remembers, pain is shooting through her head. \u00a0Her feet are wet because she had pulled into a water-filled ditch. \u00a0Additionally, there is a deer laying on her lap. \u00a0As she pulled her blood dripping hands away from the steering wheel, a man approached her car. \u00a0Moments later, he retrieved her from the car and the dead deer.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

As Ms. Carley and the rescuer waited for the EMT’s, she asked her new friend to make phone calls to her family. \u00a0In her mind, she began to recalculate her next weeks’ activities. \u00a0Ms. Carley \u00a0is a Christian missionary serving in Barcelona, Spain. \u00a0She teaches indigenous pastors at a seminary there. \u00a0Her travel plans were to leave the US for a permanent position at the seminary on September 28. \u00a0Her car was to be a gift to another missionary who was furloughing in the US and who needed transportation. \u00a0This wreck was delaying or destroying most of her carefully laid plans.<\/p>\n

Later Ms. Carley relayed to me that when a good friend called her, he said, “I know that you are asking the Lord, ‘Why is this happening?'”<\/p>\n

Ms. Carley gently repositioned her bruised and bandaged body on her mother’s sofa. \u00a0She pulled her leg up under her and cocked her head. \u00a0“Actually, I wasn’t asking why this happened. \u00a0I was asking the Lord to teach me what I needed to learn through this situation.”<\/p>\n

Now my breathe was taken. \u00a0I know the yearning she has to return to her teaching. \u00a0Together in prayer, we’ve shared the pathos of her having to leave Spain where there is a great need for the love of the Savior. \u00a0My first question would have been “Why?”<\/p>\n

My mind raced. \u00a0What if I was occupied with learning the lessons God had to teach? \u00a0What if I had a greater need to learn God’s truths through the mishaps of life rather than investigating the why’s of the situation?<\/em> \u00a0My first question is nearly always “Why me, Lord?”<\/p>\n

How much more rewarding would my life become if I asked, “What should I learn through this experience?” \u00a0Again and again, the Scriptures urge us to capture each situation that we are thrown into seeking God’s will and guidance. \u00a0Almost instinctively, we know that God has allowed each incident to teach and help us. \u00a0Yet, my first question remains, “Why?”<\/p>\n

I am praying that the next time my plans are shattered by a bloody deer that lands on my lap my first question won’t be my pathetic, “Why?” \u00a0But that my mind will race back to ask, “What should I learn from this experience?”<\/p>\n

Have you had a dead deer experience lately? \u00a0What was the lesson God wanted you to learn? \u00a0Were you able to learn this lesson?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

She sat with blood and shattered glass dripping from her body and hair. \u00a0Staring blankly at the man who had come to her wrecked car, Natalie Carley asked, \u00a0“Is there a deer on my lap?” “Yes, but don’t look at it,” he commanded in a reassuring tone meant to comfort her. \u00a0Carefully, he drew her…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":387,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,20,287,186,49,4,41,268,17],"tags":[21,688,291,290,726,715,701,57,6,700],"class_list":["post-1750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christianity","category-church","category-faiths","category-hope","category-inspiration","category-simple-truths","category-spirituality","category-survival","category-teaching","tag-christian","tag-christianity","tag-deer-and-auto-wrecks","tag-deer-crossing","tag-faiths","tag-hope","tag-inspiration","tag-prayer","tag-simple-scriptural-truths","tag-spirituality"],"yoast_head":"\nIs there a deer on my lap? - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/09\/is-there-a-deer-on-my-lap.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Is there a deer on my lap? - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"She sat with blood and shattered glass dripping from her body and hair. \u00a0Staring blankly at the man who had come to her wrecked car, Natalie Carley asked, \u00a0“Is there a deer on my lap?” “Yes, but don’t look at it,” he commanded in a reassuring tone meant to comfort her. \u00a0Carefully, he drew her…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/09\/is-there-a-deer-on-my-lap.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-09-30T05:00:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-09-28T19:24:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/files\/2011\/09\/deer-in-car-150x150.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda G. 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