The Moment We Were Five Minutes From Home

A song we frequently sing in my kindergarten classroom is “Bear Hunt.” On the way to find the bear, the lyrics bring us to different obstacles in which we can’t go around but must go through. In the Dr. Jean version, my students reach a candy factory and we sing,

“Can’t go over it.
Can’t go under it.
Can’t go around it.
Guess we’ll go through it.”

There it is. The last line. “Guess we’ll go through it.” Those words have been dancing in my mind since we were five minutes from home back in November 2020.

We (Grant, Midas, and I) were returning to our home town after visiting family in St. Louis for Thanksgiving. Our drive there was ambushed by a continuous downpour of rain, but by God’s grace and mercy, we reached his sister’s home safely. The trip home was a different story.

Grant had successfully driven us five and a half hours when I plopped into the driver’s seat. The trip had been uneventful up to that point and would remain that way for another hour and twenty-five minutes. Crossing the county line, I steered our Pilot through the bend on the road. The road had straightened when I looked on to see a tire spinning straight toward us. The oncoming lane had vehicles sweeping past us. To the right, the shoulder dropped into a ditch, and cars were lined up behind me so slamming on my breaks would have been disastrous. The only way was through it.

“BAM!”

There it was. The tire smashed into the front passenger side of our vehicle. Shakes began to form in my body as we pulled to the side of the road. Grant got out to assess the damage. The tire, traveling from an oncoming trailer, had crushed our bumper, headlight, and many other parts. Thankfully, the man driving the truck and trailer pulled to the side of the road. Grant exchanged information with him, popped the bumper back on, and drove us the last five minutes home.

Examining this story months later, I see God’s favor radiating through it.

No one or pup was hurt in the accident. It could have gone from bad to worse if the tire would have bumped our vehicle and than shot up and smashed the windshield. Angels were surrounding our car that day.

Even through our mistakes, God covered us with mercy. Looking back, we know we should have called the police to file a report. The driver of the trailer could have conned us or lied about who he was, but he was an honest man with great insurance! His insurance covered the cost of everything! Another miracle! We had no out of pocket expenses, and they even provided us a rental car. The insurance agency was easy to work with and stress free. The dealer where we took the car did amazing work and our car is better than ever. The only sacrifice we made was through this accident was the time it took.

Talk about God’s Goodness!

This experience has reminded me that there are events in life that we must go through. One cannot veer to the right or left or simply stop. You must face the obstacle head on to get through it, and by God’s grace and mercy you will.

I will.