"Who has saved us,...according to His own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ..before the world began." 2 Tim. 1:9

This is a picture of me 45 years ago with a local TV celebrity, who visited me in the hospital. He had a local kids show, where he portrayed a mute hobo named Lorenzo the Tramp, sort of clown type of guy, and he would always end his show with a dance called the " Lorenzo Stomp".
My father had a photographer take a picture as he came to visit me. I gave him a rubber pencil as a joke, and he actually signed his name with it. The thing that stunned me the most was when he spoke to me. For up until now I had never heard him speak.

The reason I was in traction, was that I was struck by a car as a ran across the street without looking. My right femur was broken in half, and the doctors had to drill an iron rod through my leg to fix it. I can still remember screaming as the doctor drilled a hole through my leg. But as painful as that was, I believe my Dad must have had such excruciating pain to see his 10 year son go through all this. He never spoke about it to me, but I'm certain he was hurting big time. I was in the hospital for 6 weeks, and then another 6 weeks of rehab. The driver who hit me was a young man, and was totally innocent. I ran out into the oncoming car as I chased my older brother Brian, who had crossed the street just before, and who saw me receive the blow from the vehicle. Brian never spoke about what he felt either. It must have been hard to watch your little brother be knocked 20 yards in the air and land on his face, and then lie a pool of blood. I really should have been killed, if not for the mercy of God.

I share all this, because it truly was the grace of God, and the power of my Lord that was with me even back then, when I was still in the kingdom of darkness, and yet to be called into His marvelous light. It would be 20 years later, in the year of our Lord 1984, that the Lord would open my heart, and bring me to Himself, and to faith.

I hope this encourages you. God loved us before the foundations of the world, and He is not willing that any of His children shall perish, but that one day they all shall come to repentance, and come to love the Savior of their soul.
Yes, He loved us when we were yet without strength, and in due time Christ would come and die for the ungodly (Romans 5:6). And Jesus came to not only save us from our sins, but He came to seek out every lost sheep, and bring them into His pasture, and fold.