This campout was an annual event; one the boys had been having for several years. They roasted hot dogs, burned marshmallows, told jokes and talked about their plans for the coming year.

Around midnight several of them decided it would be fun to take a night ride on the ATV's. They hopped on and sped off into the woods. For one of them it would be a terrifying experience that would leave all the boys frightened and subdued.

As they drove down the trail into the woods the joy and exuberance of their youth was reflected in the laughter and shouts. One after another they flew around the turns of the trail.

The last rider came up over the ridge; he was an inexperienced ATV rider and wearing warm cumbersome gloves. He didn't see which way his friends had turned and he turned the wrong direction. Before he knew it he was flying down the side of ravine.

His bulky gloves hit the accelerator instead of the brake causing him to speed up instead of slow down. Fear coursed through his veins as he struggled to control the vehicle. Finally he hit a stump or rock; he couldn't be sure in the dark. He managed to shut off the motor but not quickly enough. He flew over the handlebars and rolled with the ATV.

Eventually he rolled into a crevice and the vehicle rolled over on top of him. He knew immediately he was hurt and felt blood flowing down his face. He kicked the ATV off of him and managed to get out from under it. He sat stunned feeling the blood but not seeing it. He knew his collar bone was broken.

His friends realized he wasn't behind him and came back. They could see the glow of the headlight from the ATV and called out to him. They climbed down the slippery, dark side of the ravine to find their friend.

They got him on his feet and helped him up the hill. He was cold and shivering but alive and able to walk despite the flow of blood from his head. At the campfire they could see he was hurt and two of them hurriedly put him in the car and drove the ten miles to the hospital.

Once at the hospital the wounded boy called his parents as his friends sat in the waiting room. It's the kind of call no parent wants to get.

"I'm okay," he said right away. "But, I'm at the hospital and my collarbone is broken and my head is bleeding."

His parents flew to the hospital with fear and dread in their hearts. The two friends were still anxiously waiting. They told what happened in worried voices. Everybody else was okay. The nurse finally came out and let the parents into the ER.

Though the boy was 18 and legally an adult, to a mother her son is always her little boy. Tears welled up in her eyes as she looked at her baby, pale with streaks of dirt and grime. His face grimacing in pain. The doctor began stitching a cut above his eye. The mother looked away and back at him.

He looked into her eyes and said, "Thanks for coming mom." That big, tough manly looking man was still a scared kid inside and the tears welled up again in the mother's eyes.

"He must be okay, he knows it's me and he can talk," she thought. "Dear God, please let him be okay," she prayed.

Over a four-hour period, the parents looked over the scraps and cuts and bruises while they waited between x-rays. Time goes slowly one tick at a time when waiting for news about your child.

And, while they waited they began to realize how lucky they and their son really was. He was alive. His injuries were not life threatening. He would be in pain for awhile but he would heal. God was watching over him that night. And, so were his friends.

We want to thank both God and our son's friends for taking care of our child. His friends --for coming back looking for him, for helping him out of the ravine. For driving him to the hospital. For waiting with him. For bringing his car home. For calling to check on him and for coming to see him in the morning and mostly for being there for him.

And God, dear God we can only say thank you for protecting our child and not taking him from us. For giving him only injuries that can be healed. For letting him realize how lucky he is. And, for surrounding him with good friends.