A couple of weeks ago, as I was working through a Bible Study, I was asked to recount specific ways God has protected me.The first memory I thought of was when I was a child at summer camp, hiking through a cave.  Somehow, the group I was with became separated from the leader taking us through the cave.  There were 5 or 6 of us and I remember us crawling through the cave on our hands and knees.  It was an extensive cave.  We would take a turn and come to a dead end and have to turn 180 degrees and try a different way.  I remember one of the girls started crying and panicking.  It still scares me now, just thinking about it.  And by the way, last month, Jason and I were hiking in Arizona and headed to an area on our map marked as a cave…I remember thinking I wouldn’t hike through it unless I could see to the other side.  Yep, I've never been the same.Back to summer camp:  I don’t know how long it took us to find our way out.  But we did.  And we came out at a different location that all the other staff and campers waiting on us.  I remember being so relieved that we made it out alive.  The next summer, the cave was off limits as an option on our day hike and I still wonder if it was because of what happened the preceding year.After this, other thoughts started flooding my mind.  And a thought that I couldn’t get out of my mind:  that I don’t have an STD.  Please hear me here:  I don’t mean this in a prideful way, but rather a very thankful realization of one of the ways God has protected me.I’ve thought more about this concept, of God protecting us, and the exercise of recounting the ways He has.  Almost like a spiritual discipline.  For the little things day to day and the big things from our past.I’m reminded of Exodus 33:21-23

“Then the LORD said, ‘There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock.  When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by.  Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back, but my face must not be seen.’”

I heart this verse!  It’s a clear picture of God’s provision and protection.  He puts us in the cleft of a rock and then places his hand over us in protection.Although we all walk through the ugly and God allows this, He also protects us during the good and the bad.  This is certainly something to be thankful for as we approach Thanksgiving.How has God protected you?  Not only today, but over the last week?  And the last couple of years?  I encourage you to take time to be still and allow God to remind you of the ways He has protected you.