Grateful Beyond Words

Yesterday was one of those days. The kind that start with "Mom, can we? Can we? Can we?" and end with the obligatory parent give-in.

Honestly, there was no harm in what they wanted to do: go to the hobby store to spend their long-term savings. Which had been building up for a year.

It was just the hour of the day they wanted to do it. Rush hour, to be exact. Middle of dinnertime. Probably the most inconvenient time of the day for any Mother on planet Earth.

Now, if you REALLY want to have your wish granted at that hour, you ask Daddy. And that's exactly what my little cherubs did. And since Mike was looking for a good reason to close his computer and get away from the ills of the business world, he acquiesced and off they went.

Here is where is gets dicey. Generally, when the kids and Mike leave the house, I busy myself with all the activities that I've managed to ignore all day long: dishes, laundry, sweeping, etc.

But, this one time, I looked up and thought "I'm sure glad Mike chose to take the Armada*." For some reason**, I just felt safer with them in that car during rush hour, especially considering they were going all the way down 75 to Walnut Hill.

When Mike got home he said "Come here." And he grabbed me and gave me a hug, the likes of which I haven't felt in a while. And he relayed the following story:

He was first in line at a stop light and knew, as he sat waiting for the green light, that he needed to cross several lanes of traffic to get over to the far left lane to enter the freeway. So, he was a little anxious waiting for the light to turn to be "first" so he could manage this maneuver.

Uncharacteristic of Zach, he chose not to say anything when he saw a Honda Accord barreling down the road, about to cross straight in front of the car.***

Mike never saw the red vehicle even approach the intersection. Only Zach did. Mike estimates that it was going 60-70 mph. It barely missed clipping the front of the car. And it never slowed down, as if the driver felt he had right-of-way and was driving on the Autobahn.

Needless to say, we feel like we dodged a giant bullet. Our house has most definitely been under attack lately, so we are taking this as a big, fat reminder that God has our backs.

Truly, had Mike accelerated any faster, the Armada would have been T-boned. The force of the impact would have killed at least one of the boys and, possibly, Mike. Given the speed involved, it could have meant a fire, which surely would have been disastrous.

It's those "near misses" in life that cause you to pause and be so, very grateful that we have a God to carry us. These types of circumstances remind us of the fragility of life and how things can change on a dime.

Even if that accident had turned out to be a terrible tragedy, God STILL would have been with us. We would have eventually found gratitude in our memories of what had been and rejoiced in whatever part of our family was left.  The battle would have become one in our hearts and how we chose to deal with an outcome that was less then favorable for the time we are on planet Earth.

Even though the other driver almost permanently changed our world yesterday, I covered him/her in prayer this morning. I prayed s/he was in a place of feeling a little shaken over their driving mistake and realized the implications of blowing through that light and wouldn't do it again****.  That, if s/he was drinking, that this experience would be a huge wake-up call. And, if s/he was suicidal, that s/he would turn to God and allow Him to redeem the hurt and pain.

Above all, I couldn't find enough ways to give praise to God, who covers us in ALL ways, in ALL times, and in ALL His glory. 

Thank you, Lord, for the privilege to spend another day with the family you blessed me with.



*5300+ pounds of man-grunting steel and hp.

**GOD. Nothing but.

***Generally, Zach is really good at spotting things on the road and making sure they are brought to your attention. I have to wonder if a reaction from him would have caused Mike to panic and caused an accident due to acceleration?

****This part of my prayer seemed a little self-serving until I heard a news report on the way back from dropping the boys at Boot Camp.  Seems a man who killed a young girl in a horrific accident is coming to trial next week.  I had to wonder "If he had almost had an accident before that had shaken him up, would this have happened?"