The joy of the Lord is your strength.—Nehemiah 8:10 (NIV)

At our Bible study, we were asked to describe an experience when we felt supernatural peace that did not fit the situation. Immediately, I knew mine. 

My husband, Lynn, and I, along with our son Derek and his wife, were leaving a mountain town to head home. Suddenly Lynn said, “I have a terrible headache.” I knew immediately this was an emergency, so we quickly found our way to a small hospital, where we learned that Lynn had a brain hemorrhage and his life depended on quickly getting to a brain surgeon on the other side of the mountain. Lynn was losing consciousness as a small plane appeared at the hospital. The nurse told Derek, “Tell your dad anything you want him to know.” 

Soon I was scrunched next to the pilot. Lynn was on a gurney behind me with a medic on each side. I saw only one monitor—which flatlined several minutes into the flight. The medics would not make eye contact with me. The engine was too loud for conversation, so I looked out the window, suddenly awed by the beauty of the mountains below and the blue sky above. I felt a wave of peace. “Lord, if You have chosen to take Lynn, thank You for this setting.” In that moment, I was filled with peace that passed any understanding. 

When we finally landed, a medic gave me a thumbs-up. Lynn survived the flight and critical brain surgery and is with me today, almost twenty years later, as I remember the day I touched the face of God.