Miracle at Mile-Marker 65...A Praise Break

I have not written for a few days because we were on spring break, we were traveling as a family and I wanted to be fully present and in the moment with my husband and children.  The title for that page and summary of what I learned is called, Unplugged: 40- day family focus.   Well that will have to be a tomorrow’s focus, because TODAY I have to pause for a praise break and thank God for sparing the lives of 5 women, 1 man and 2 children on a stretch of a dark highway last night.

My goodness, where do I begin?

Last night, we were being a blessing to a family who had already been a blessing to our family.  (That’s a testimony unto itself.) I had just reconnected the mother to her children, who had been hanging out with our boys.  Praise God that they were safe and headed back to their own home before all of the excitement began.  I jumped into the back seat of a different car, with friends who were heading back to the City. We were enjoying great conversation; talking about careers, maintaining our health and church. We were on a stretch of highway that was dark and we began to notice a small RV, hitched to a pickup truck, slowly begin to sway in front of us.  We could have passed it and continued traveling, but something just didn’t look right.  So we followed closely and started calling on Jesus. 

Did you used to have a wagon when you were younger?  Do you remember pulling that little red wagon behind you, while you ran throughout the neighborhood?  Over the cracks in the sidewalk, sometimes on the grass, over hills and around corners…just running.  What happened if you ran too quickly?  The little red wagon would swerve from side- to- side until you either regained control of it or it would sway out of control, eventually leaving the 4-wheels for a 2-wheel stance until it would flip over and rest on its side.  This is what we thought was unfolding right before our eyes.  We just knew that the RV was going to flip in front of us.

The more the RV swayed, the louder we prayed.  It traveled from one lane to the middle of the highway and back again.  I pulled out my phone and dialed 911 for the highway patrol.  But thanks be to God, by the time someone came on the line, the truck had come to a stop on the road shoulder…just inches from hitting the yellow and black guardrail caution sign. They had lost all rearview lights and power to the RV.  We followed suit, pulled off on the shoulder and our driver jumped out to assist the people in the truck.  While we sitting in the car awaiting highway patrol for assistance (which would never come because I inverted the mile marker numbers…I gave them 56 and I actually think the mile marker was 65…oops. Don’t judge me, I was nervous!), the 2 of us still in the car began to just thank God that nothing serious had happened.  We watched as 3 women emerged with cell phone flashlights, investigating underneath the hitched RV.

I had placed the first call to 911 at 9:41 pm, not knowing that I would place another call at 9:44 pm. This time, however,  the call would be different.  It no longer concerned the truck in front of us, this time it was our car.

As we were thanking God for their safety, an 18-wheeler sped past us and suddenly we heard a loud POW.  Good Lord, that was too loud to be a car backfiring.  The sound was similar to how I’d imagine a gunshot would sound, if I were in close proximity.  We sat there wondering what had just happened, when all of a sudden I noticed the outside noise of the highway had grown louder. I turned my head and realized that the back window of our car was shattered.
Uh hello people,  remember I’m sitting in the back seat!  I dialed 911 again.
The front seat passenger jumped out of the car to alert the driver to what had just happened.  I attempted to get of the car, only to realize that the child-proof locks were engaged.  I can’t open the door!  Panic almost set in, so I jumped over the front seat and out the front passenger door.  (If the United States Olympic track team needed a hurdler, they would have chosen me last night, because I flew over that chair.) 

The driver and other passenger returned to the car to check things out.  It wasn’t until that time that I realized that there was glass on the seat where I had been sitting. 

Shattered glass on the seat, but not in my hair.

Shattered glass on the seat, but no cuts on my face.

Shattered glass on the seat, but nothing on my back.

Shattered glass on the seat, and I had come out without a scratch.

Can somebody just stop and join me in a praise break?  What?!

My parents used to always thank God for keeping us from dangers seen and unseen…well I KNOW that to be true today.  THANKYA!

Long story short, we patched up both vehicles enough so that we could make it to the exit, which was about a mile away.  There was a gas station at the exit, so we used cardboard boxes, flannel pajama pants, a blanket and duct tape to cover the entire window.  The women and babies in the truck were going to sit and wait for their spouses to pick them up.  They were so thankful that we had stopped to assist them and just kept talking about us being their angels.  (Can I just say that our driver earned every bit of his man card yesterday?  He was patching things up on both vehicles and making things happen.  He was our very own MacGyver.  Thank you Sir.)  One of the ladies mentioned that a high school friend, from over 20 years, found her last week on Facebook, said that she had been on her mind and had been praying for her.  I told her to please message her back and tell her that her prayers probably saved all of our lives.

I felt the need to pray, so we held hands and began praying in the lot next to the gas station.  I sensed in my spirit that since God had spared all of our lives tonight that He still had work for us to do.  It was my prayer that each of us would refocus our attention to whatever it is that God is speaking to us.  If He had wanted us go home with Him, He would have made it happen.  Therefore, I will work my little hands doing what God has called me to do until He says that my work here is done.

As we pulled back onto the road, the other passenger in the car turned on a song by Kierra Sheard, Indescribable. 

The lyrics to the chorus are:

Indescribable, uncontainable,

You place the stars in the sky and you know them by name

You are amazing God

All powerful, untamable,

Awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim

You are amazing God

All I can say is that God is truly amazing!  We drove home, with gospel music blaring, grateful to God for protection.

What did I learn from this?  

1.  In ALL things, give thanks.  It could have ended much differently.  Yes, the back window was shattered, but whatever struck that back window could have hit me in the head and killed me. 
2.  When you are giving of yourself in service, God is protecting, healing and moving on your behalf as well.  Sometimes you don't even realize that He's been keeping you all along.
3. When God tells you to pray for someone, stop and do it…your prayer just might save his or her life.

I normally end by saying “Now walk it out...",  but today I’ve got such a praise that walking is inadequate…. I’ve got to dance this one out.  Care to join me?