Gratituesday: Glad We DIDN'T Make It to Church on Sunday

I think this is the first time that I've been glad that we DIDN'T make it to church on Sunday. We were headed to church. I even got up on time, before everyone else to help things run smoothly. We were out the door in plenty of time. There was a little bit of rain/freezing rain, so we left early to allow enough time to drive slower. The highways were looking fine....

Until we hit the exit ramp. It was a sheet of ice. My husband realized it at the top of the ramp and was able to slow us down enough to be safe. But we passed two cars that were flipped upside down. As we passed the second one, we realized that the car was on fire with a woman stuck inside. There was a man trying to help her get out, but no one was doing anything quickly.

My husband pulled us far enough away to be safe, and then he ran back to the car to help get the lady out. I called 911 and stammered out the details of what was happening. (I don't think you ever know how you'll lose it when calling 911 until you have to do it!) I wasn't able to see much through the rain, but I could see the flames growing.

I was praying desperately and trying to keep myself calm so that I wouldn't scare Emma. A man driving a tow truck stopped and ran down the ramp with his small fire extinguisher. That bought them more time, but it didn't extinguish the flames. They kept growing.

The men were finally able to free the woman from the car and get her safely away from it. The fire department, ambulances, and police arrived shortly after that. By the time they got there, the flames were well into the area where the woman was stuck. Had these men not come to her rescue when they did.... Well, won't even consider that.

Jason stayed at the top of the exit ramp, flagging cars to stay away until the police arrived. Then cold, wet, and dirty, he made his way back to us. I was never so glad to see him!

As we talked later, I mentioned that things could have been far different for that woman's family this Christmas had he and those other men not stopped to help her. Then it hit me.... Our Christmas could have been a lot different had God not extended His hand of protection as they were helping her. It was very possible that the car could have exploded because of where the fire was. In fact, we drove by the scene later the day and were amazed at what little remained of the charred frame.

Emma handled the whole thing pretty well for an almost-five-year-old. She was scared... mostly because Mommy was scared. She heard every bit of my 911 call, so there was no hiding what was going on. The only thing she didn't realize was the danger that her daddy put himself in to help someone. In fact, she was downright mad about not being able to go to church when it was over! I simply told her God chose to use her daddy and those other men to help that lady. He put us there at just the right time so that He could help her. We talked about how the lady may not have been okay if Daddy hadn't been there.

I don't know if she understood it all or not, but she seemed okay with it. She just requested that there not be any cars on fire when we went down that ramp the next time.

I think I can second that request.

For more reasons to be grateful, stop by Gratituesday hosted by Heavenly Homemakers.