Angels Watching Over Me

No evil shall befall you, nor shall affliction come near your tent, for to His Angels God has given command about you, that they guard you in all your ways. Upon their hands they will bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. Psalm 91: 10-12

This is a story of our guardian angels' providence, and my song of gratitude in response. You don't have to live in the rural South for that.

After having driven about 620 miles on my way from Annapolis, Maryland to Atlanta, Georgia, I heard a sound that every parent dreads emanating from the back seat of my car. I quickly pulled onto the shoulder of the road, but not before my daughter threw up all over herself and the rest of the back seat. I simultaneously consoled her and mopped up. Thirty minutes later we were moving again.

My cell phone battery had died an hour prior to this episode, but I wasn't concerned. Although I did not have a car charger for my phone, I had one for use in a household power outlet and I planned to charge the phone once we got settled for the night.

"No", I heard a voice firmly say. "Pull over at the truck stop and buy a car charger."

I dismissed the thought, negating the need for that expenditure.

"Pull over at the truck stop and buy a car charger", I was persistently nudged.

I have lived long enough, and lived through enough, to know that some proddings should be obeyed without too much questioning. I took the next exit, spent $10, and plugged in the phone to charge. We drove another hour without incident, and were treated to a spectacular sunset. A bit further on, my daughter enjoyed seeing lights twinkle in skyscraper windows as we skirted the metro Atlanta area after dark.

About ten miles from my in-laws' house, interstate traffic was solid and busy, flowing along at 90 mph. I was doing 80 mph in my little Honda Civic, when without warning I lost control and the rear end of my car swung into the lane at my left, nearly hitting another vehicle. I began to react, but it is hard to compensate accurately at that speed. The rear end of the car then swung into the lane at my right and was nearly clipped by a tractor-trailer before I straightened out. At the same time I was decelerating, and the tractor-trailer behind me barely managed to brake enough to avoid going straight over the top of us.

Having regained control, I finally heard the telltale sound that indicated a blowout in one of the rear tires. I put on my hazard lights and leaned on the horn. Traffic was still barreling past us at high speed, we were approaching a major split in the interstate with no emergency lane in sight, and I needed to pull over...NOW. "PLEASE!", my heart's urgent request shot heavenward.

The three lanes to my right were suddenly clear of any approaching vehicle, as if all traffic had just been erased. Rumbling on a bare metal rim, I limped over to the side of the highway. Although I was on an overpass, there was a wide shoulder and I could safely get out and assess the damage.

Back in the car, my knees began to shake like jelly as I looked to my left at the metallic river rushing forcefully past. I took a deep breath to regain composure, and found myself looking at the fully charged phone. Silently mouthing "Thank You!", I picked it up and called my father-in-law.

When he heard what had happened, he told me to sit tight. I put down the phone, and my daughter's voice gently reached out to me in the darkness: "Mommy? All those other cars are moving, but ours stopped. Why?" "Well, sweetie", I replied, "our tire broke, and Grandpa is going to come and fix it." Reassured, she promptly fell asleep.

Ten minutes later, he arrived with a jack, a tire iron, and a cup of hot coffee for me. What a thoughtful angel of mercy! I've changed my own tires before, but he told me to relax and he would take care of it in a jiffy, which he did.

Traffic parted again to allow us to access the exit ramp, and we took back roads to the house. By the time I parked the car, he had already written down the tire information so he could call around for the best price the next day.

My daughter and I slept soundly. We were safe, and I was grateful. The next morning, I had no sooner poured my second cup of coffee than Dad had secured me the best deal on tires in the metro Atlanta area. Pops, you're an angel.

It has been said that there are no coincidences, only God-incidences. There were many on Monday night:

• The 30-minute stop to clean up after my daughter was sick kept us out of even heavier traffic.


• The nudging to buy that charger, and my heeding it, enabled me to call for help.


• We were not involved in a collision, in spite of the close calls and the traffic speed and conditions.


• The inexplicable parting of traffic allowed me to pull over safely.


• There was a safe place to pull over--an oasis among miles and miles of construction with no hazard lanes or shoulder on the interstate.


• The blowout happened a few miles from my in-laws', and not out in the middle of nowhere.


• That I have a husband to whom the safety of his wife and child are paramount...the rest is just "stuff".

For all of these, and for all of my blessings, I give thanks.