I’m drinking from my saucer,
My cup has overflowed,
With Heavenly Father blessings,
I’ve reaped what others sowed.
God’s goodness has been first hand,
But second and third hand, too,
From father, mother, grandparent,
They’ve told what God could do.
So let me share my story
With child and grandchild, too,
No one can ever do for you
What my great God can do.
                          —E. Ruth Greiner

Can good things and bad things overflow from the same cup?

Sirens and flashing lights pierced the June day on a busy boulevard in Los Angeles, California. An accident! Police cars and ambulances further complicated the jammed traffic.

"I must see if I can help," George Buhler thought aloud as he dashed into the street.

Anna, his fiancé shouted anxiously, "Don’t go! don’t go!" 

But it was too late! Screeching brakes and a desperate swerve could not prevent the inevitable—George Buhler was hit by a swerving car, and a second accident complicated the flow of traffic even further. 

Curious onlookers watchers anxiously as one of the ambulances sped off, carrying George to the hospital where his head and leg injuries were immediately obvious to the attendants in the emergency room.   Examination, x-rays, anesthesia and an operation all meshed together. 

Anna waited apprehensively in the Green Room. "Dear Lord, please, please bring George through the operation safely," she pleaded. "Would You restore him for our wedding next month?"

"Doctor, what happened?" George asked groggily following surgery on his badly broken leg.  "I d..d..don’t remember anything, Doctor. Why am I h..h..here?"

"You were in a serious accident, George. It was a close call. You almost lost your life. But you are going to be all right."  

George struggled in vain to recall the event. "Doctor," he said softly but earnestly, "if .. if.. if I had died in that accident, I know just where I would be right now. I would be in heaven."

Silence filled the room. 

"Doctor," George continued, "if you were to die in a fatal accident, where would you be? Would you be in heaven?"

"I.. I.. I don’t know," the doctor stuttered.

"You could know. You could know for sure," George assured him, even as his heart cried out to God for the eternal well-being of his doctor. "Let me tell you how. It is so simple. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. Jesus died for your sins. Believe in Him. Receive Him as your Savior. He will make you a new person, and you will have eternal life." 

George's voice was reduced to a whisper.   He was tired and could say no more.

Day after day when Anna would visit George in the hospital, he would say, "Anna, please tell me again what happened. I do not remember the accident."  Faithfully she would repeat the story, detail by detail..

The day came when George was finally released from the hospital. But a new challenge presented itself—learning to use his crutches.  But not one to give up, he persevered.  One day he paid a visit to the Bible Institute of Los Angeles (BIOLA)  from which he and Anna had recently graduated. As he was taking care of some business matters, he heard his name being called over the intercom, summoning him to the office of the Dean of Men. To George's surprise, beside the Dean of Men, stood his doctor!

"George," the Dean said, "the doctor  has something to say to you."

The doctor grasped George’s hand firmly. "I have come to thank you. Because of you, I am a new man. I received Christ as my Savior. Now I know where I would be if I died today. Thank you for telling me the way. I will never forget what you did for me." The embrace that followed said more than any words could express.

With a grateful heart George Buhler hobbled out of the office. "Thank you, dear Lord, for letting me have the accident so I could tell the doctor about you." 

Anna also rejoiced.

The following month was the wedding. George was determined to walk down the aisle without using crutches, so day after day he continued diligently with his therapy, pleading with the Lord to help Him walk . God wondrously heard and answered.  George Buhler's prayer was granted.

On July 10th George cast aside his crutches, and with only a cane to support him he stepped into the sanctuary.  As he and his beloved Anna said; "I do!" "I do!", they became husband and wife, united in holy matrimony to establish a godly home.

Eleven months later, in a Glendale, California, hospital, I was born into that treasured Christian heritage. Three sisters and a brother were later added to the family.  Each of us was led personally by our parents to know Christ as Savior, a good and faithful Shepherd who would lead us into pastures green and through shadowed valleys.

Yes, good and bad can overflow from the same cup. An accident! Bad? A doctor received Jesus Christ as his personal Savior. God spared the life of George Buhler so that he could pass on the way of life to his children. The children could then share the works of God with their children, and then to the next generation.

"Oh, that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear Me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever!" (Deuteronomy 5:29).