In an instant

It's 10:30PM and all the members of my household have found their way to bed.  I too, am tired, but my mind is busy and racing with the "what ifs" and "what could have beens".

I am grateful.

Grateful that once again, my Heavenly Father has graciously pour out protection over my family.  There are so many times that these kinds of stories have a different ending.  A tragic ending.

Tonight my husband and my daughter, Sabrina, left after dinner to run to the store.  Sabrina was complaining of a headache and we were out of Children's Tylenol.  Tomorrow is also the first day of fall break, so it seemed a good night to make cookies and stay up a little later than normal.   While Aimee washed the dinner dishes, I started working on the cookie batter and Rod and Sabrina headed to the store for Tylenol and peanut butter chips.

Rod was driving home from the store; he was on the frontage road just east of I-25 going the speed limit of 55mph, when all of the sudden his eye saw something on the dark road just in front of him.  It was a deer, right there in the middle of his lane just feet away.  Instinctually he swerved to miss it, but there just wasn't time.  His car slammed into the deer.  The deer's antler went through Rod's windshield, thankfully neither Rod or Sabrina were hurt.  When they got home, Sabrina ran in with the news, we all ran outside to survey the damage.  My first thoughts were "what is it with this car!!"  We had to buy a replacement car for Rod a few months ago, after the axel on his truck came apart while driving down I-25 (another miracle of God's protection!!  Just picture driving down I-25 and your 2 back wheels fly off your car!  Imagine what could have happened.  But God intervened and got Rod and the tires to the side of the road with out any one getting hurt or any kind of accident).  We had the new car for about a month when Rod was caught in a terrible hail storm, it took them close to 2 months to fix it, we have only had it back for a few weeks and now it's a mess again.  My mind raced with all the questions, will insurance cover it?  Will they total the car?  Will we have to find another car?  On and on... As we came back inside and tried to move on with our evening my thought shifted gears.  What if that antler had come a little further through the window?  What if the car would have veered into oncoming traffic or rolled off the side of the road?  Our losses could have been much greater, and cut much deeper.  Rod and I gathered the girls in the kitchen and took a moment to pray, a moment to thank God for His loving protection.  Our stories do not always have "happy" endings, but I am grateful that tonight it was part of God's plan to protect my family.
My heart is heavy for those who's story have not ended in the same way as mine.  My prayer is that you will find comfort in the arms of our Savior, Jesus Christ, one who is not surprised by the unexpected object in the road.

My prayer's tonight are specifically with Nicole, who was in a terrible ATV accident yesterday, she sustained serious injuries, please been praying for her and her family.
And take the time to hold those you cherish a little bit longer and a little bit tighter.  XOXO Cija