God's Hand is in EVERYTHING!

Last night I drove my mother-in-law to Target. She thinks driving over in West Virginia is "city" driving and is terrified to go herself, so I take her when she wants to go. On our way home we met with a bit of a catastrophe. A large (and boy do I mean LARGE) doe was in the road ahead of me, almost straddling the yellow line. I saw her and quickly started slowing down while moving over to the shoulder of the road. One of the things my father taught me when I learned to drive was to never slam on my brakes. Slamming on your brakes can cause you to quickly lose control of your vehicle, and cause the person behind you to slam into your rear end. With the amount of traffic that travels on this particular route slamming on my brakes would have been a very bad idea. The doe took about 4 strides in the opposite direction, noticed a car coming down the hill toward it and reversed course. The doe took off at a dead run and slammed into the side of my car. She hit so hard she shoved my still moving car sideways. My poor mother-in-law is a drama queen extraordinaire. After the deer hit she began screaming hysterically. I had to raise my voice to get her to quit screaming and settle down.

I finished pulling off to the side of the road and picked up my cell phone to call the insurance company. I could not open my door, but the damage is contained to the front fender with the exception of my mirror which is now somewhere on the highway. We sat on the side of the road while I gave all the information to my insurance company.

I don't get upset over things like this. No one was injured, although I will admit my neck was a bit sore last night, I have insurance, and my car can be replaced. I would say the doe didn't fare as well, but she was not in the road behind us so I do not know her fate for sure. I hope she didn't suffer much. Possessions can always be replaced, our loved ones can't. Stressing or becoming angry over the damage to my car would serve no purpose. As we pulled back onto the road I told my mother-in-law that hitting the deer was just God's way of keeping some idiot ahead of us from pulling out in front of me and causing an even more severe accident. She told me that a friend of hers had said the same thing over the weekend when they took a wrong turn on a trip.

Several miles ahead on our own winding country road we saw the flashing lights of a fire truck. As we rounded the curve and were waved through by the firemen we saw a vehicle in the ditch, completely vertical with it's top smashed into the bank. I couldn't even tell you what type of vehicle it was, the damage was that bad. I told my mother-in-law that the accident was indeed proof to me that God put the deer in my path to keep us safe. If not for our stop to call the insurance company we would have been to this very spot in the road and who could say what the outcome might have been.

I entered my home last night not concerned with the damage to my car, but with a sense of peace and wonder. God's blessings are everywhere. Even in those moments where you want to scream and yell, lift your voice to heavens and praise God anyway. You never know when what might appear to a curse is really God's loving hand.