Blue in the Unexpected

Back in the year 2000, my girls and I were in an automobile wreck. It was probably one that the police have filed away in a box and long forgotten. However, it is a memory that enters my thoughts way more than I would have guessed. Most of the time it is when I am thinking about prayer or actually praying.

It is probably because back then, I had a very strong feeling that I was going to have a wreck before I actually had it. It was a strong feeling that at times made me very nervous. I began to pray for angels on all four corners of my van every time I got into it. I even asked my best friend to pray for our protection. It wasn't a conversation I wanted to have with a lot of people for fear of sounding freaky. I went so far in one conversation with my friend to discuss which songs I wanted at my funeral, if something should happen. The conversation wasn't one of fear, but of preparation. The continued feeling forced me to pray out loud in that van all the time. Being in real estate, that van was my office so there were days where I was constantly driving.

On the late afternoon of the wreck, I was dressed for work, had both of the girls in the car with me, and had been to Sam's to pick up some bulk items. We were headed home. Landon was seated behind me in her car seat and Morgan was in the seat behind the passenger's side. It was customary at that time of day to be juggling work phone calls and mommy conversations. I was on the cell phone with one of my real estate team members and I quietly said, "I am about to have a wreck right now". I saw a car flying down a side street with no anticipation of stopping at the stop sign that I was about to pass. I dropped the phone and braced myself. My poor team member heard it all. The teenage driver of the other car, hit the passenger side of the van where Morgan was seated and pushed our van across the road up onto a guardrail. I remember the van bouncing back down onto the road and the front of the van was crushed into the street. I quickly took inventory of the girls and their condition. Morgan was very upset and Landon's eyes took up every bit of the space in my rear view mirror, but they appeared to be okay.

When things like that happen, time is hard to measure and things tend to move in slow motion. With the guardrail crushing Landon's side door in, and the other car crushing in Morgan's side door and the front door, there was no way to really get out of the van, so we sat. People were gathering quickly. The front of the van was buckled in on my knees a bit and it was a little difficult to wiggle free. I wasn't sure we should move until emergency vehicles got there. The faces that appeared in the passenger window said otherwise. Growing up in Franklin, I actually recognized one of them but one particular, unfamiliar face stood out. The man was dressed in a plaid flannel shirt and had a beard. He appeared to be very big, fit, and had a deep voice. I realized the passenger window was cracked from where I had opened it for some fresh air. The men began to encourage Morgan to get to the front seat immediately. They could not get the window down since it was a powered window. Several of them began to push the glass down with force to try to make the opening larger. I told them that for the most part, I felt like we were all okay until the police came. The stranger looked at me and said, "Ma'am we need to get you all out of here".

At that point, I realized the large container of Tide that was in the very back of the van had been thrown throughout the vehicle and exploded. Real estate contracts and checks over my visor were dripping with blue detergent. We were all covered in liquid Tide and looked like Smurfs. The men pulled Morgan (who was about 8 years old) out the window and asked me to try to turn enough to unbuckle Landon. With one arm, I managed to get her out and pulled her to the front of the van. At about 18 months old, I felt like I was going to pull her arm out of socket. They easily slid her out the window. I watched the gentleman I knew, taking care of my daughters. I was relieved they were out and being cared for. With all the commotion going on outside of the van, I was somewhat glad that I was inside for a brief moment until the guy in the plaid shirt looked at me and said, "You're next." He was an employee from the nearby lumber yard that had heard the impact and ran to the scene. I looked at the window and reminded him that I was a bit bigger than my girls and although I had not had much for lunch, I was not going to get through that window. His next words caused panic. "Ma'am the back of your van has been on fire."

I quickly wiggled my legs free and made my way, head first out the window. Several guys were still pushing the glass down as I informed them that I had girl parts that were trying to get out the window. I am not sure why they didn't break the window but I finally got out. As I stood there in front of my new friend, I began to thank him. He told me that the Tide was a blessing to sliding all of us out of the window. I quickly felt guilty for seeing the detergent as a nuisance on top of a problem. As the police were taking notes from the scene and the witnesses, I heard what the man in the plaid shirt said to the cop. "The van was rolling over the guardrail towards the river bank, when all of the sudden it looked like a hand just pushed it back over the guardrail."

On that day, I changed my way of thinking on a couple of matters. My prayer life changed dramatically! I now pray with believability and I ask others to pray for me. There is power in prayer. I still pray for angels on all four corners of all of our cars. I also try to go back to the understanding that the nuisances in life can be used for something good. There are so many times that I can get down about something and then I remember that blue Tide all in that van and how God used that. Jeremiah's prayer in Chapter 10 includes this acknowledgement in verse 23: "LORD, I know that people’s lives are not their own; it is not for them to direct their steps."

In the unexpected we need to battle the tendency to get frustrated, angry, or blue because that nuisance may be part of God's plan that He needs to free us or rescue us from something. Pray in advance believing verse 23 that reminds us it really isn't up to us, but pray trusting the One whose plan really is better than our own.