4 Accidents and a ...... (pt5) - A Dose of Encouragement

         

and  a  MIRACLE!

One Sunday evening earlier this year we were driving home on the same road on which we travel twice every Sunday to go from our home in Banbridge to the church we attend in Lurgan. 



The drive takes 20/25 mins depending on traffic but on Sunday evenings there is normally very little traffic on that road.  We were listening to some worship music on a CD and chatting about the evening's meeting just as we normally do on the journey. 

In the past 3 years we have become very familiar with this road and we know that at one part there are quite a few significant dips so that as you drive towards any of these you have no real view ahead.  The road is clearly signed to tell drivers about this in advance and of course there are also signs and road markings to indicate no overtaking.

 I am often worried about cyclists along this road as there seem to be quite a few in the area but it was not a cyclist we had to worry about on this journey.


As we drove along in the dark around 8.30pm and came to the slight brow of a hill before one of these dips we could see some light over the brow of the hill so we knew there were some cars approaching.  Then as we got to the top suddenly we could see several lights of cars coming towards us on the other side of the road but as well as this we could see a set of lights coming towards us on our side of the road.

       This is a country road with a very narrow footpath and hedges or walls etc. so usually no room to manoeuvre.  We realized that a large lorry (truck for my American friends) had been trying to overtake 3 or 4 cars and was still on the wrong side of the road; he had obviously ignored the traffic signs and road markings.

       The lorry was about the length of 2 cars in front of us & the only thing my husband Fred could do was to swerve in to the side of the road as the lorry tried to cut back into his proper side in front of the lead car. 

       Up until then there had been no break in the narrow footpath but at the exact place that we had to swing in there was a gap in the footpath and in the hedge because there was an entrance to something there. 

Just enough room for our car to get in out of the way as the lorry skimmed past us.

This was a big thing in our lives that day and we were very happy about the outcome.

This event was to do with us being thankful to God because of his hand of protection in what could have been a major accident and cause us a lot of injury if not death.

 We have been over the route again of course several times and there is only one point that there is room for a car to pull in off the road and that is exactly where we were when we met the lorry.

Obviously God had brought us to the right spot at the right time and saved our lives.

What a great God we have who knows where we need to be at all times and sees the road ahead when we are not able to see it.  He even knows when others will be breaking the law and cause us to be in danger.

We are thankful that our God works miracles for us even when we don't know we are going to need them.


Do you believe He can work miracles to have you just at the right place at the time you need to be there?

Do you believe that He loves you so much to be in front of you on your life's journey too?

Do you know His Saving Grace in your life and the sacrifice of His Son for you?




Click Here for part 1

Click Here for part 2

Click Here for part 3


Click Here for part 4

4 Accidents and a ..... (pt4) - A Dose of Encouragement

All because of a sack of potatoes!


We were on our way to a church youth camp in Fermanagh, Northern Ireland.  

Fred and I with our three children Jonathan, Daniel and Linda who ranged from 4 to 9 years old.  We would be away for a week so the boot of the car was quite full with suitcases.

One of the other leaders had arranged for a large sack of potatoes (free of charge of course) to be given for the camp and as the location was along the route we would be taking to Fermanagh, we were the obvious ones to stop and collect it.

When we got near the address we were met by the daughter of a friend who knew the location and I got out of the car to let her get in the front beside Fred to direct him up a short side road unto another road etc.



A short while later, having collected the sack of potatoes,   I saw Fred's car arrive at the end of the side road and stop to wait to be able to turn into this road to come back to the main road where I was waiting. 

Just then I heard a screech of brakes.

 A small truck with a trailer attached to it was making this awful sound as it tried to slow down approaching Fred's car from behind.  

Too late it jammed into the car and force of this knocked the car several yards up the road.  I ran up the little side road and when I got to the car they were trying to get out but none of the doors would open.

After some forcing we managed to get the two front doors open and Fred and Glenda were able to get out of the car, but no matter what we did the 2 back doors were jammed tight because the accident had pushed in the back of the car so much that it had crushed forward against the doors.   

We also had trouble getting the seat belts off the children and then Fred lifted Linda out to me & the boys climbed out through the front of the car.  

I remember yelling at the driver of truck that he could have killed my children but I don't remember that he said anything at all.  

Well everyone was out of the car and no-one seemed to be injured. 

Although the children had had a terrible fright they were coping very well; much better than I was.  

All I could think was  

"That driver had put my family in grave danger 

and he didn't seem to realise it"  

Even though I was not involved in that accident I have always felt that I was the one most affected by it because I was the one who saw that it was going to happen and saw it actually happen but had no chance of doing anything to stop it happening.


Later when the car had been towed off to a garage, we were told that it was a write-off because the force of the impact had pushed the rear of the car forward so much and had broken the chassis of the car.

We have often wondered whether having the boot of the car filled so full with cases and the big sack of potatoes actually helped to prevent the children in the back from being injured because if the boot had been empty it may have crushed in more easily and the truck may have gone farther into the car.

Regardless of that, we know that yet again God had been there and protected everyone in the car.


Do we realise what an impact our actions can have on other people?

I really don't think that driver thought about that when he was driving too fast he couldn't stop in time but I do hope he thinks about it now.


Do we realise what an impact our words can have on other people?

I really don't think that driver did because he didn't even apologise to us.  
Perhaps he didn't want to admit he was in the wrong because it was a car accident.
Or perhaps he was realising just what could have happened when I was shouting at him.

Perhaps  I didn't think about what impact my words can have too.

I am thankful that God protects us.

I am also thankful that He uses incidents in our lives to speak to us about our words and our actions.

Are You?



Click Here for part 1

Click Here for part 2


Click Here for part 3

Click Here for part 5

4 Accidents and a ......... (pt3) - A Dose of Encouragement

Who would believe that you could slip on a powder?

That's exactly what happened to my husband one night on the road between Londonderry and Strabane in Northern Ireland.

   The third accident!

Fred decided to go to a prayer meeting in Strabane while I stayed at home with the kids.  Not a very unusual thing for him to do but the phone call I got about 30 mins after he left home was very unusual.

Fred was on the phone from someone's house (we didn't have mobile phones in our family all those years ago) to tell me that he had had an accident in the car and that he was fine but he would not be able to drive the car home so I would need to come and pick him up in my car.

Then a man took the phone from Fred to reassure me that Fred was okay and in his home and he could stay with them until I got there.  I got directions and then arranged for the grown-up daughter of our next door neighbours to stay with my kids while I went for Fred and her mother seeing I was rather shocked about it all decided that she would come with me.

We had no trouble knowing when we had arrived at the right place because we could see the car lying on its side in the field beside the road.  

Around the field was a wire fence with cement posts.

All we could say was

How did the car get past the posts without Fred being injured?

Fred doesn't know the answer to that one either.  

As he was driving along suddenly the car seemed to slide and it spun out of control off the road turning over a couple of times and landed in the field on its side with Fred hanging there held up by the safety belt. 

The police arrived and told him that a tanker carrying powdered milk had spilt most of its load along the road a few hours earlier but it had been washed up and they didn't think that could really be the cause of his accident.

However the next day Fred went back to the home of the man who had taken him in that night to thank him again and to take some pictures of the car before it was towed away.  


When he got there another vehicle had had the same problem and had gone off the road through the hedge at the opposite side.

 A couple of hours later another accident happened with a car going off the road at the same spot and it hit a telegraph pole.

In the end the road had to be cleaned again because it was decided that washing up the powdered milk had left a slippery skim on the surface of the road.


3 cars were written off but all three drivers were unharmed even though they would admit that they had no control of their vehicles once they hit the slippery patch.

The only person who was in control of the situation was God and we are forever thankful that he kept Fred and the other drivers safe.

There was no warning; there was nothing to visibly see as the car approached the dangerous stretch of road.

It was not Fred's fault that he had that accident.

I have often thought of how we don't have any warning when the devil is getting ready to try to harm us spiritually too.  

However God has warned us in the Bible about the nature of the devil and his intentions  towards us so that we can be prepared for the attacks to come.  
God has likened the devil to a roaring lion hoping to devour us. 
Such a strong picture.

Thankfully we have a God who is all-powerful, stronger than the enemy and when He is on our side who can stand against us.

The devil certainly could not take Fred's life that night as the car bounced off the road and into the field, those cement posts did not harm him.

 God miraculously kept Fred from all harm.

Is God in control of your life?

Have you allowed Him to be in control?      

Do you truly trust in Him?

Click Here for part 1

Click Here for part 2

Click Here for part 4

4 Accidents and a ..... (pt1) - A Dose of Encouragement

Fred and I started going together 

            ..... when we were 16.

We went to different schools;  his an all boys Grammar School and mine an all girls Grammar School.  The two schools were located quite close together but not a lot of contact was made between the two (professionally).

However that year both schools offered their A level Mathematics students the opportunity to do a computer course at the City's Technical College each Tuesday afternoon and both of us took up the offer.

That meant we were able to see each other at the course and also to spend some time together after it.

Now Fred got a motorbike as soon as he was old enough and he started using it to go back and forward to school each day so he took me home on it after school.

My school uniform included a blue pleated skirt in which I could do a beautiful twirl and have the skirt fan out but as cute as that might have been (not true really) it was not the most suitable attire for riding on the back of a motorbike.

 Okay the obvious thing was to change into a pair of trousers on leaving school so that I could ride on the bike.

                                           No way was that allowed.  

Our school had a strict rule that when seen anywhere out of school we must be wearing the FULL school uniform and not just part and of course to go to the Tech we had to be in uniform as it was still part of the school day.

           Yes and full school uniform also meant a grey beret!!!

So for a few days I had been on the bike in my skirt trying to keep it tucked in around me and not bellowing up in the air, but having got fed up with that I decided that I would put on a pair of trousers over my skirt to travel to the Tech and home afterwards on the Tuesday.

During the computer course each week we had a mid afternoon break and this Tuesday Fred wanted to go back up to his school to get something so we hopped on the bike and started off towards the school going along one of the main streets of the city.  There were cars parked on each side of the road and suddenly I could see a car pulling out from a street on the right.  There was no time to stop and the car was into us just at the right of the front wheel of the bike.


I was thrown off the bike and landed hitting my head on the ground, thankfully Fred had been able to slow down so it was not a very forceful knock but I was still thankful for the helmet I had been wearing.

The driver of the car had just simply not noticed us coming (as still is so common with motorbikes) but as he was an older man and we were just students he did try to put the blame on us and then came out with the comment

                     "Just as well you were wearing that helmet girl"

No it was not

        Just as well I was wearing that helmet 

it was really

I was obeying the rules of the road (wearing a helmet) and he wasn't (when he pulled out when it was not safe to do so).

After sorting out about the accident and knowing that we were both ok we got back on the bike and went on with our afternoon.

We thanked God that He had protected us that day and even though we had had an accident no one was hurt and very little damage had been done.

It is so good to know that wherever we are and whatever we are doing God is with us and knows what lies ahead.  

However one thing was going round in my mind

Can you just imagine what I would have looked like if I had been wearing that school skirt?

So not only did I thank God for his protection in the accident
        but also for the fact that it had not happened on one of the previous days when I would have been wearing that skirt.


I believe that God cares about little details and he cared about what I would be wearing that day.

Do you believe he cares about the details of your life each day?




Click Here for part 2 in "4 Accidents and a ....."