It’s funny, should you survive to laugh, to recount
thoughts you had just before an accident.
Some accidents are worse than others and I was very lucky today to walk
away unharmed.
One-lane roads.
Whether I’m driving to Trace’s or to church or wherever I’m headed, it
never fails. I usually end up on a
one-lane road behind a slow-driving person who is doing anywhere from 5 to 10
to 15 miles below the speed limit. This
has happened so many times, it’s actually a rarity when it doesn’t happen.
So today, nothing was different as I left this morning
for church. A stop at a stop sign
allowed a car to makes its way in front of me, and wouldn’t you know it, they
were determined to drive 10 below the limit.
I sighed, and though I was irritated, the seemingly
random thought popped into my head, “I wonder how many of these slow drivers
have saved my life by keeping me from speeding.” I shook the thought off as the radio played
and I waited for our one-lane road to split into two. When we finally came to Perkins Extended,
they stayed straight and I turned right, which meant an open road lay before
me.
Winding down the curves on a rainy day didn’t seem
dangerous to me then. I’ve driven these
roads many times before, and I guess it was that sense of routine that caused
me to be careless.
As I rounded one curve ahead, I saw a pine cone in the
middle of the street. Hmmm, I thought, I wonder if I hit that pine cone, if I would lose traction—silly,
silly thought, I know. Pine cone? It wouldn’t be the pine cone that made me
lose traction.
No sooner did I think that thought did I find my car
spinning out of control.
I know friends that have gone through this experience,
but it’s never happened to me. I had no
idea how to react. I sat, spinning,
mindlessly holding my coffee in one hand and the steering wheel with the other
as the car whipped down the street.
You know what’s sad?
In the moment, I didn’t think about dying. In that moment, my only thought was, “What is
this going to cost?” Lives at stake and
all I can think about is money. Does
that tell you where my heart is at? I
stared ahead, focusing on nothing and everything, seeing a car pass by in the
intersection ahead. I really had no
control over the car, and I braced myself.
I remember closing my eyes, and thinking, “This is it,” and waiting for
impact.
I felt the car switch directions and instead of doing
another loop, it seemed to catch itself.
And instead of piling head first into another car or a fence or a
hydrant or a pole or a house, my car went into reverse and the two back tires
simultaneously jumped over the curb. It
was enough to stop the car. Without even
damaging it.
The engine had
died and the radio played on. A car
drove passed slowly to make sure I wasn’t dead and then drove on. If you didn’t look carefully as you drove
past, you would’ve thought I was simply just pulling out of the drive way,
which I had missed by maybe a foot.
I shut the car off immediately. Counted to five to breathe. And tried to start it. Glory!
It started.
I went on my way to church as nothing was damaged on the
property I had landed. And just sat. When Trace got there, I told him what
happened and I held his hand, and I think that’s when it started to sink in.
When we left the service, as we drove to lunch in our
separate cars, I studied the side of the roads.
I could have hit anything. I
could have hit a pole, a bus stop, another car, a pedestrian, or even something
that would’ve been lesser damage, like a fence or a mailbox. I could’ve hit a pedestrian. Or one of the people who is out selling
newspapers. Instead of the car’s back
tires paralleling with the cub, what if I had hit it sideways? These thoughts started turning over in my
head.
None of that happened.
Instead of any of those things happening, God kept this idiot safe. I really don’t know how people don’t think
there’s a God. That wasn’t “luck.” It
surely wasn’t “The Universe.” That was the hand of God, to Whom all
belongs. Merciful protector, loving
keeper, gracious Father, thank You for protecting me and giving me another day.
The way God orchestrates things is amazing. From little stuff, like letting me find my
lost diamond earring yesterday, to keeping me safe today...just in awe and just
so thankful.
No day is promised.
Each day is precious, and I’m so thankful to have walked away from that
as if it never happened.
Luke 12:32 “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure
to give you the kingdom.
Psalm 121:7-8 The LORD will keep
you from all evil; he will keep your
life. 8 The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time
forth and forevermore.
Psalm 138:7 Though I walk in the
midst of trouble, you preserve my life;
you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and your right
hand delivers me.
Psalm 46:1 God is our refuge and
strength, a very present help in trouble.
