Our Close Call!

   Monday morning started out to be a “glad to be alive” sort of day! First, we met a couple, new friends, at a local restaurant for a delicious breakfast of frittatas and french toast. On the way home, we stopped to do some grocery shopping.

   As mom used to say, “Old Mother Hubbard’s cupboards are getting bare!” And they were! The last time our youngest grandson came over to spend the night, he discovered that we were out of hot chocolate. I didn’t want to be caught unprepared on his next visit!

   We spent nearly an hour in the supermarket stocking up on supplies. After we had put all of the bags into the back of our car, Al decided that he wanted an apple. I was getting ready to return the cart and remarked, “Okay, you find the bag with the apples and I’ll take the cart.”

   As I took the handle of the shopping cart, I heard a boom nearby. It was the sound of one car crashing into another. Al and I froze behind our car. I saw a vehicle coming toward us, about two car lengths away. There was a second bang as it careened into another car parked diagonally from ours.

   I could see the driver’s face clearly behind the steering wheel, her mouth open in horror. The car was obviously out of control, accelerating and heading toward us. Then there was a powerful jolt, knocking us off our feet and onto the pavement.

   Although neither of us remember hitting the ground, we landed side by side, Al’s head resting in my lap. It was very surreal. I could hear my voice asking him, “Are you okay?”

After a few scary moments, he responded, “I think so!”

   By that time, people were surrounding us, telling us not to move. So we lay on our backs trying to assess if anything had been broken. My left toe was throbbing and bleeding, the shoe lying on the ground a few feet away. Al’s elbow had a gash too; but it didn’t seem like either of us had any broken bones. Before long, we heard the wail of sirens.

   “Is this really happening?” he asked as we lay there, his head still in my lap.

   “Thank you, Lord,” I said out loud over and over. It was hard to hold back the tears of thanksgiving. Things could have been so much worse.

   I hobbled over to our car and sat in the back, next to the grocery bags while an officer interviewed me. Al was busy checking out the damage: it had been scraped all along the left side. If he had been getting into the driver’s seat at the time of the collision, he wouldn’t have survived.

   The driver had finally been able to come to a stop without hitting or injuring anyone else. She was escorted into the back of the police car out of the sun until interviewed and her son arrived to give her a ride home. According to the officer, she probably wouldn’t be driving again.

   When bad things happen, questions and doubts naturally flood our minds. We are traumatized, our faith shaken. Why? Where was God? What about the promises in the scriptures of His protection from harm?

   At those times, we have a choice--to distance ourselves from Him or to return to the bedrock of our faith, best summed up in the Apostles Creed: “I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried; the third day he rose again from the dead...” (www.UMC.org)

   Jesus suffered and died for us, conquered death and is with us always, no matter what happens. Looking at the bigger picture, in Him is our hope of eternal life. He loves us!

That evening we finished the leftovers from breakfast for dinner, still shaken, but feeling very thankful. What started out to be a “glad to be alive” day ended that way too!

   “The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.” Deuteronomy 33:27a NIV

   “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” Romans 15:55 NIV