We were taking my mother (aka Grammy) home one night. It was a routine drive through some residential back roads. Suddenly, a car flew across an intersection directly in front of us. I instinctively slammed on the brakes. The driver had run a stop sign and was going full speed ahead. He missed barreling into our car and t-boning us by two seconds. The thought of this set my heart to pounding.
I pulled off to the side of the road. Heart still racing, I said, “Let’s pray”, to my mother and daughter, who was buckled in the back seat.
“Dear Lord, thank you for saving our lives tonight, in the name of Jesus, Amen.”
We continued on our way, although I was still shaking. I recounted what had happened, as I needed to process it myself and I wanted my young daughter to understand the significance. If we had passed through that intersection just two seconds sooner, I most likely would have been killed or critically injured.
I shuddered to think of what might have happened to my mom and daughter. Perhaps we would have all died that evening or one or all of us could have been in intensive care for months. We couldn’t be sure. What we were sure of was that none of us would have walked away unscathed.
Yet here we were driving along full-bodied and able, discussing it and praising God for his protection, in an undamaged vehicle.
I was quite disturbed by the incident. Questions haunted me. What if I had died? Would I have made a difference in my corner of the world? Had I taught my young daughter enough that she would be ok without me? And what about that mess of undone projects and boxes of junk in the basement someone else would now have to deal with? Even more importantly, had I put God first in my life? Was I truly living the life I was intended for?
Back in eighth grade I attended a Christian summer camp for a week. I don’t remember a whole lot of detail, but there was something one speaker said that stood out in my mind. He talked about making sure our life counted, because it was short and we only got once chance. Then he quoted James 4:14,15:
“Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.” (NAS)
I can tell you this: I didn’t want to get to the end of my life and have regrets. The truth is, we can’t go back and change the past. We can’t rewrite the last chapters, but we can start a new chapter and move towards a better ending. I determined to do this.
Sometimes it takes a close call to wake up and reevaluate. It doesn’t have to be a near accident. It can be an illness, injury, job loss or change, loss of a loved one, divorce, etc. It happens in different ways and at different times in our lives. The important thing is to use it as an opportunity for growth.
Now when we take Grammy home and we approach that intersection, I slow down a bit and one of us says, Remember that night when…?
We sure do. God still has a plan for us on His beautiful earth. And He has our attention.
Have you had such an experience? Please feel free to comment and tell us about it.
-Carolyn
“Life isn’t easy. Together we can make it better.”
Carolyn the book of James is one of my favorites! If we could all apply it to our lives everyday, what a world we would live in…
I can think of so many instances of God getting my attention. Two times almost drowning, once tubing near New Hope separated from my group, lost my tube a violent thunderstorm had rolled in, I was in the middle of the rocky but shallow river near others trying to get to the banks for shelter under the trees. I just remember God saying reach out I will save you, I asked a man who was with his girlfriend if I could grab hold of his ankle and he got us to the bank. I had to reach out, I could have just floated down stream, drown or been struck by a tree or lightning. The second again in a river with my cousins in Connecticut, I slipped on the wet rocks and was under six feet of water. I could not get my foot free to get to the surface, I struggled for a few seconds and all of a sudden I heard God say reach up I will save you and all of a sudden the sun came out strong and I looked up and raised my hands and literally was pulled free from the rock, there was no one there. Angels for sure, God sends them, but I reached up:). The last and most recent God didn’t put a stop sign but He definitely wanted me to SLOW down! Running and racing through our life as we sometimes have to do… Coming through Collingswood a nice summer day 10,000 things on my mind, frustrated, rushed, maybe even a little careless. All of a sudden a large brown turtle came out from in front of a parked car and proceeded to cross Haddon Ave…VERY SLOWLY… I distinctly heard SLOW DOWN GINNY! So I did:) I’ve learned to be in the moment better.
Thank you for your encouraging posts Carolyn❤️
Wow, Ginny, those are some incredible experiences. I’ve gone tubing several times and the storms can be very scary, but I’ve never had anything happen as amazing as your rescues. Thank you for sharing today. :)
Boy does God get my attention! Every day He gives me about 4 or 5 yellow lights at dangerous intersections to and from work! I have no choice but to slow down! Then sometimes I will witness an accident that had happened maybe 2 or 3 minutes before I got there and think (like you did), wow, what if I had blown that yellow light, that might have been me!! Ginny is right, we just need to be more aware…..especially of those turtles, geese and yellow lights!
Good thing you’re being extra careful. I wish everyone was! I still drive a car. In a world of SUV’s and vans, it can be difficult to see around you.
Be extra careful now that Pokémon Go has become a sensation and people are paying more attention to their phones than driving!
Nice post, BTW. Keep up the good writing.
Thanks for the warning! (And the compliment)
Carolyn, you know my circumstance and what has been going on with me so no need to really “share.” But you know I feel God pretty much hit me with a frying pan up the side of my head lol! God gets our attention in many many ways I know and I am thankful for every one of them, whether it’s a frying pan up the side of my head, or a still, small voice. I will say I respond better to the frying pan ha! But we should all be listening! God has a plan for us, even if our lives are short by his standards. I’m listening very carefully for his “directions!”
I’ve fielded a few frying pans myself! Must say I prefer the still small voice. :)