My dogs have been hyper lately because I haven't been able to take them for walks the way I usually do (busy, busy schedule and ministry commitments). So I have been taking them to a community college down the street to let them run around campus a bit after hours. I took them at 6:30 this morning to give them a run before anyone arrived on campus. It was still dark.

One of my two dogs is sort of hyperactive, and he also has a bad habit of jumping up on you when he is excited. He weights about 80 lb., so when he comes at you from a running start and jumps up on you, it will knock a person down. We are training him not to do this and he "knows better" -- but at times he gets excited and forgets and jumps anyhow. He just turned two years old, so he is the equivalent of being in his late teens in German Shepherd years. I sometimes call him my "cocky teenager."

This dog has been particularly wired lately and when I took him to run he ran far away from me really fast. So I called him to come back to me. He decided that my call was an invitation for him to come and to come jump on me, even though I had not intended it that way. He was about 2 blocks away and he turned around and ran at me full speed. When he got to me, I could tell he was about to jump. So I bent over slightly to push him away. He did not read my body language or take my hint ... he seemed to jump with more gusto than normal, maybe because of the length and speed of his running start.

The result was that he was moving fast with a lot of force and the top of his head hit my chin, snapping my neck back sharply. It hurt a lot, and as it happened, I became aware of a lot of things at one. My head snapped back and I heard my neck crack and I could feel the force of the snap. I felt my lower jaw smacking into my upper teeth with such force that my head vibrated for about 10 minutes afterwards. I lost control of my body and I felt myself starting to fall. I wanted to put my arms up to shield myself from the dog, who was jumping up a second time to lick me in the face. But my arms did not seem to respond. I began to lose consciousness.

While this all happened, my brain was telling me that this was a very serious blow and I might be seriously injured from it. But I did not have very much time to dwell on that. I felt myself start to collapse and I was losing consciousness. A thought ran strongly through my mind, "The enemy meant to kill you with this, but I won't permit him to do so."

Suddenly it felt like someone was standing behind me and holding me up. There was not anyone else on the campus, but it felt like someone was standing behind me and holding me up. I did not fall and I did not lose consciousness. The vertebrae in my neck seemed to shift a bit on their own and suddenly they felt like they were all back in place. I regained control over my body. My chin hurt a lot where the dog's head had struck it, and my head was still vibrating from the blow, but the dizziness was instantly gone and I felt my strength returning to me. I regained control of my arms and pushed the dog away.

Someone was holding me up. I could feel them supporting me. Maybe a security guard was on campus and came up from behind when the dog jumped on me. So I turned around to face that person, so I could thank them for their help. But no one was there. I began to wonder if that maybe had been an angel I felt holding me up.

I was able to walk back to the car and drive home. There was a lump and a cut on my chin where the dog's head struck it, and it was painful all day. But that was the only physical harm I suffered from this. It could have been a very serious accident, but God seems to have protected me from any serious harm.

This type of experience kind of makes Ps. 92:11-12 come alive. It says, "For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone."