From What Chases Us...

I don't know what the weather is like where you live...but let's just say around here...I haven't watered flowers for a while. No need. The faucet in the sky seems to be stuck in the on position.

And while I would a MILLION times rather drive in rain than snow, rain brings a few perils of its own. And last night on the commute home...gulp...

I was driving home, minding my own business, keeping a happy distance between the Bekahmobile and the other cars. I noticed that quite a ways ahead of me, a pickup truck pulling a fifth-wheel eased onto the road from the shoulder on the righthand side.

I never saw the little blue car to know where it was in proximity to the pickup truck. I don't know if it came up behind him or was beside him. I don't know what started it...I only know that in one second, I saw that little blue car veer sharply to the left and into the median an spin out into a donut, throwing dirt, dust, and grass everywhere. My eyes were fixed on him, unsure if he was about to flip or spin back into the road or what. I slowed carefully on the wet road, and the pickup truck pulling a trailer just a ways behind me in the other lane slowed easily behind me. We both watched...waiting to see if the car would wreck...if we would need to stop and call 911.

The semi right behind me eased to the left to pass me, and that was fine. And then I saw the semi behind him, barreling down on me. So fast. I looked up at the semi in front of me, and my eyes darted behind me...and back and forth. My breath caught hard as I wondered if I was about to become a Bekah sandwich between these two trucks on the wet roads.

I thought of the accident Ryan and I saw on our way home from Gatlinburg...how we read later that the little car crumpled between the semis, and I wondered if I was about to be that car.

The semi behind me didn't slam on his brakes or blare his horn. He just pulled to the shoulder, over the deep rumble strips and kept going until he could slow enough to pull back in behind me. Up ahead, the blue car eased itself back onto the road, and the snarl of traffic that could have been a horrible accident all kept moving, with faster heartbeats, to be sure, but physically unharmed.

I'm always grateful for a safe commute. It's not lost on me that I've done this 100 mile per day {round trip} drive for four years now and have been kept safe every mile of the way. It's also not lost on me that weird things happen at the end of journeys and it's not all over yet. But last night, I was grateful for the safety of a Hand guiding my car and all the cars around me. Drivers who stayed alert, who reacted well...these things kept us all safe.

And it was also a great reminder that we don't always know the perils that chase us. Until the semi behind me changed lanes, I had no idea anyone was bearing down on him from behind. I had no idea I was in any danger. That truck was just a few hundred feet back and I didn't know he was there and what kind of trouble could have loomed for both of us.

In those moments - on the road and in life - I'm so grateful for a God Who sees more than I can.