We’re well aware that our physical reality is simply a manifestation of spiritual truths, so I wasn’t surprised to find our truck falling off a cliff last night. David took a wrong turn in the dark, and in attempting to turn around, we almost fell off the road.

When navigating the tight turns in the dark, David backed off the road so one wheel is completely over the edge of the embankment.

Once he realised what had happened, David stopped the truck and we all got out very quickly. Thankfully, we were very close to a house and its inhabitants came out to see what was going on.

Leo and Kerrie invited us in, and Kerrie cooked some extra pasta for our family. They’ve only been living in this house for about a month, and as we’ve driven past several times, we’ve been meaning to stop and introduce ourselves. Clearly, we needed a crisis like this to make us actually stop and meet Kerrie and Leo and their sons Daniel and Reuben.

Kerrie unpacked some boxes with toys in them, and our girls were happy to play with them while the adults worked out what to do about the truck.

Leo helped David secure the truck with a steel cable. Using a boat winch, David tied the top corner of the truck to a tree across the road, holding it steady so it wouldn’t slide down the bank.

Then Leo drove us up to Pat and Mandy’s house, where we spent the night in the caravan. We’re thankful for all the help everyone gave us, that we had a warm, dry place to sleep and that it didn’t rain in the night.

In the morning, we returned to the truck to wait for help. We knew it would come, but we didn’t know when.

In the daylight, it's clear that we've truly backed off the road and are hanging over the edge of the cliff.

The whole truck sits at a crazy angle as it rests on its undercarriage.

We're very close to Leo and Kerrie's house, and they've shown such care to our family throughout the incident.

Leo and Kerrie welcome us into their home once again, and the girls pick up on the games they started last night.

A mother of five, Kerrie is marvellous with children and has kindly hosted our girls in her house for most of the day.

Our situation seemed dire, but the truth is — nothing was actually wrong. Sure, we parked the truck at an undesirable angle and couldn’t access our belongings, but we were kept warm and well-fed and made new friends in the interim.

The horrible situation that we found ourselves in was entirely imaginary! We could imagine falling off the cliff. We could imagine the truck sliding down to rest at the bottom of the ravine. We could imagine that help wouldn’t come. But none of that was real.

Instead, we sat out in the sunshine, played with our children and talked — like we do most other days. Nothing was wrong. Everything was good. We just had to embrace the situation and make the most of it.

I can learn a lot from this situation. I am reminded not to create fears in my imagination and simply to accept what is happening in front of me.

A knowledgeable friend with a 4WD assessed the truck for us and decided that he wouldn’t be able to pull us out. We needed something bigger — something much bigger.

Like this.

A hundred metres up the road, a digger has been working on widening and smoothing Pat and Mandy's driveway.

In preparation for the tow, David digs out some of the rock and soil in front of the back tyre so that it will be able to mount the bank easier.

After already having a full day of work in preparation for the fresh-food markets on the weekend, David comes up to work on the digger and to pull us out. We're so thankful for his arrival!

I expected the digger to drive us out, but David sets it in place, drops the grader bar into the gravel to provide extra grip and then manipulates the arm to pull us off the cliff-edge.

Being rescued was quite anti-climatic. It happened so quickly and easily with the digger!

After we were out, we drove up to Pat and Mandy’s again to pick up our tent. Our plan is to set it up at Johnny’s to provide more undercover play-space for the girls if the weather turns cold and wet.

Back at Johnny's, we light a camp-fire and the girls play around it.

There are a number of artichoke flowers in the garden rubbish, and our girls light them then hold them up as torches.

Elijah munches on the side of a hula-hoop as he lays beside the fire.

It was wonderful (as always) to return to Johnny and Claire’s welcome. We feel so comfortable here and can relax once again.