Angels on Overtime

On September 11th, Sarah was in a car accident. You can read about it in her own words on her blog, Homeward Bound. It frightened me, but she wasn't hurt, nor were any other cars involved.

Yesterday I dropped my 16-year-old son Stephen off at HCC at 4 pm for the second of three driving session with his instructor. During that time, I ran errands and took Joel to the duck pond. Gorgeous day, I was absorbed in the beauty of the pond, the mallard ducks, the Canada geese, the joy on Joel's face and the softness of his face close to my mine. After praying a brief prayer that Stephen would learn to parallel park easily, I dismissed thoughts of his outing. The afternoon sun and breeze carried me to Kansas in my mind. (Some go to Carolina, I go to Kansas!)


"So, how'd it go? Was the parallel parking parallel?" I asked, upon greeting Stephen and his instructor, Dave, at six.

"Oh, yes, it was parallel," said Dave. "And the driving was ...exciting."

"What do you mean?" I asked. "Rolling stops? Strange turns?"

"No," said Stephen, "like almost a head-on collision."

"What? What!!" I searched their faces for an explanation.

The instructor said, "It wouldn't have been Steve's fault. He did everything right." Dave went on to describe what happened.
"We were on 543 . A small car heading opposite us slowed down to turn right, but the big Dodge Ram truck behind that guy was barreling down on him. Instead of slamming on his brakes, the truck crossed the center line to get around the little car, and came right into our lane. Steve swerved to the shoulder to avoid him, and the guy behind Steve did, too. If Steve hadn't done that, I'd hate to think what--"
"Did you have to use that extra brake?" I asked Dave.
"No, in this case we needed speed, and that's what Steve gave it. He did it so well."
"Praise God!" I said, "praise God. He protected you both."
Dave nodded and smiled. "We were really lucky. Really lucky this time."
"God protected you, " I restated, not acknowledging luck.

I don't know why God did that for us. It certainly is not the story of friends close to me whose teenage son was killed in a head-on crash. As I drove Stephen home on Wheel Road (the one on which Sarah had her crash), I felt tears well up in my eyes. Relief. (He's okay!). Gratitude. (Thank you, God!). Pride (Stephen, you thought so quickly!) Fear ("It could happen again, and will my child survive?) Sadness. (Why did Donna's son die?)


"He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep you in all your ways." I thought, "when it comes to cars and my family, Your angels have been working overtime." Flashbacks to the year 2000: I was hit twice--, once in January, once in August. Last year Paul was T-boned on May 11th, and struck by a hit and run in June. Paul's accident in Baltimore was at about 5:30 pm. Little did I know, a half hour later, in Philadelphia, our friend Tim Barranco stepped into the path of a speeding train.

Paul was not hurt. Tim died.

I don't understand it. I never will. All I can say is, I am thankful, I am so very thankful that God has again protected my family physically. I can no more keep them alive by keeping them out of cars than I can by standing at their bedsides while they sleep, but I am tempted to think I have that kind of control. Shame on me for thinking that. Let me instead, O Lord, continue to give You thanks for the countless times your angels do your bidding that I'm not even aware of.