The phone rang at 2 a.m. one night last week. That usually causes a sinking feeling, but with our 19-year-old daughter, Cara, studying in Australia , the 14-hour time difference sometimes makes a middle-of-the-night phone call a necessity. When I hear her voice on the other line, the initial trepidation gives way to joy.

It's hard having a daughter so far away, but I know she's in good hands there, studying at Hillsong International Leadership College. Janet and I went with her when she started there and were thoroughly impressed with the school, the staff, and of course the famous Hillsong Church. It's an exciting place to be and an awesome opportunity for Cara.

We talk often, but something sounded wrong the night of her 2 a.m. call. Something was bothering her, and once we got past the formalities, Cara told me what it was: "Dad, I almost drowned today."

Speaking softly, she explained that had gone with some friends to a quiet beach, away from the Sydney tourist crowd. A riptide suddenly dragged her out to sea, and at the same time seaweed entangled her feet, preventing her from kicking her legs. She was gulping water and struggling to stay afloat. She screamed for help a couple times but it happened so fast, her friends didn't realize what was going on.

Cara said she mustered all her strength and yelled one last time for her friend, Liz. It was all she had left in her.

"I thought I was going to home to glory. I thought I was going to see Jesus," she told me.

Her friend Liz heard her, and started to go into the water to help, but a man appeared out of nowhere. He told her to stay there, he knew what to do. The man, whom the girls described as about 60 years old, swam out to meet Cara, talked to her, calmed her down, and then helped her back to the beach.

When she caught her breath and regained her composure, she turned to thank the man. But he was gone. Nowhere to be seen on this deserted beach.

It is so hard to tell this story. As a parent, my heart ached for my precious daughter on the other side of the world. I wanted to hold her tight, squeeze her, and cry with her. All I could do was speak into this puny little device and tell her how much I love her and how God has great plans for her.

Feelings of joy and relief flooded my heart and mind and soul. So close to a tragedy. And yet, when she needed a miracle, when we needed God to intervene, he came through.

Was it an angel who rescued her? I don't know, it could be. But whether it was a man or an angel, this being showed up out of nowhere, saved my daughter's life, and disappeared.

Someday, somehow, I hope to thank him. For now, I can only thank God.
And Cara, bless her young and beautiful heart, she was on the verge of leaving this earth and what was going through her mind? I'm going home to glory. I'm going home to Jesus.

Such a child of God, she looked death in the eye and knew that Jesus would be there for her, one way or the other.

"Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him." – Romans 6:9 (NKJ).

Cara will be home at the end of November for Christmas break. She'd better be ready for a lot of extra hugs this vacation.

Oct. 2, 2006. Sylvania, Ohio