They take a beating...

Somewhere in heaven, there is an angel assigned to watch over and protect me who is wondering what she did to get saddled with me!

You might know that I was on vacation last week. My mother and I drove from Atlanta GA to Gatlinburg TN to spend a week in the Great Smoky Mountains. As part of our adventures, we visited Hot Springs NC to enjoy the hot mineral spring tubs for a day. Although we took the scenic country route for our drive up to Hot Springs, I decided to take the interstate back to Gatlinburg.

So, here's the picture: concrete dividing wall, the shoulder, then three lanes of traffic. I was traveling in the far left lane, an 18 wheeler truck was in the middle lane and in the far right lane, another 18 wheeler truck. I'm driving along, talking to my mom, listening to Sirius Radio, when I see the 18 wheeler in the center lane begin to move over into the far right lane. No soon does he make that move, when I notice him swerve back into the center lane and over into my lane! Well, I push the accelerator and question why he is swerving back into my lane when all of a sudden, out of nowhere, comes a blue Pontiac Firebird. Apparently, the Firebird was in the blind spot of the 18 wheeler and when he saw the 18 wheeler heading over into his lane, he also accelerated to cut between the two 18 wheelers - only he was going too fast and over-corrected, losing control of his car!

Now, the Pontiac is careening into the far left lane (where I was!) in a spin! I promise you, I braced myself for impact because I just KNEW that his rear bumper was going to collide with my rear bumper - sending me into a spin and into the concrete wall on my left. Here's where my guardian angel must have stepped in because:

1. the Firebird missed clipping me - and I still don't know HOW that happened. (my mother claims she saw the whites of the driver's eyes as he spun around);

2. the 18 wheeler in the middle lane stopped, as did all the other cars following in order to give the Firebird room to do whatever it was it was going to do; and

3. the Firebird spun through the center lane, the left lane and came to a stop in the shoulder, facing the right way of traffic - ALL WITHOUT HITTING ANYTHING OR FLIPPING OVER!

As I watched all of this enfolding in my rear view mirror, all I could say was, "Thank you Jesus, Thank you Jesus, Thank you Jesus."

But here's the "funny" part: That morning, while on my daily prayer call, I asked the pastor to pray that my mom and I would have safe traveling mercies for our short day trip. After giving me grief about all the vacation time I seem to have (HATER! hahaha), he prayed what I will call a "throw away" prayer about traveling mercies. I really can't blame him for that, because when Mom and I got in the car to head out to North Carolina, I did the same thing. "Father in Heaven, give us safe traveling mercies as we head out. Bring us back safely to our destination if it be Thy Will" and got in the car and drove off. My point is this: Even with my "throw away" prayer, God looked down from heaven, heard, dispatched the angel to travel with my car and answered my prayer. And, going even deeper than that: He protected all the people on the road with me at the time. I have reflected since last Thursday that if one person had been distracted or on the phone or in an arguement with someone in their car - if someone had driven just a little bit faster or a little bit slower, the results could have been a lot different. AMEN! Hallelujah.

We serve an awesome God - and I cannot wait to meet my guardian angel and tell her thank you for the bumps and bruises she took for me on Thursday, September 4, 2008.

Be blessed.