A few Sunday nights ago, there I was on my way to church driving my little tracker convertible. Deniese had been sick that day, so I was heading on in to services by myself, and as a matter of fact about 10 minutes earlier than I usually do. I was scooting along considering what I was going to say in the closing prayer that night, and then I started thinking about one empty cup in the communion tray that didn't get filled (which will be a bulletin for another day...) when suddenly a car in the left lane swerved at me head on and then went on off the right side of the road!

The guy went over a rock wall, through a hedge, and punched into some landscaping timbers where he finally came to a halt. Slllllam! I immediately stopped and got out and made sure he was OK. (He was fine.) The owners of the above mentioned terrain just happened to be having a BBQ in their front yard, barely 30 feet from where the guy crashed, so there were lots of witnesses. The police came pretty quickly, and I was not needed so I went on to services. I never did find out what happened, if the driver sneezed or fell asleep or what.

As I was driving away I counted the number of seconds it would have taken me to travel between the spot the guy entered my lane and the distance I was from it: about 5 seconds. If I had been about 5 seconds faster leaving the house this fellow and I would have had a "meeting" at a pretty high speed, head on. Yowzers! Since then, I have also figured out that if he had swerved only a few seconds sooner he would not have been slowed down by a wall or a hedge. No, the path from the road to the picnic tables that the family was having the BBO on would have been a clear shot.

Now consider this. I was doing the right thing, coming to services. I was thinking the right thoughts. Was God sending me a warning? If so, he sent it twice. The next day, I was crossing the bridge by the Spinner's park on my way to the TV station to help Kieran with the show. Just as I came over, an impatient guy passed a cargo truck illegally on the left and almost nailed another guy broadside, right in front of me!

I thought a lot about what kind of bulletin I could write about these events. I had several people at Paul's get-together read the above and comment on how they would end the article, and what point they might make. I had several good comments. One person reminded me that God has a purpose, not just for me but for everyone, and after all I was spared to carry that purpose out. One person suggested I remember the suddenness of change and how we never know when our time on this earth is going to come to a close. I had one person suggest it should be a reminder to me that we only get so much time to use on this realm and I should make the most of it while I have it. Interesting, isn't it, that so many different people were thinking along the same lines... I find it very heartening.

I even had one person mention the providence of God, and how he is alive in our lives. Do people pray for me, as a person and as a deacon? When people pray for our church to grow, doesn't that include me? When we pray for the fathers of our congregation, that includes me. Sometimes I teach, too, and we pray for teachers. So should I really find it a surprise that God was looking out for me, that he delayed me 5 seconds and kept me from being munched?

There are people who don't know God but turn to him once a near-death experience happens to them. So how much more should we stay turned to God when we KNOW he is there and actively cares for us?

Randy