Story by Terri Davis
Growing up in the mid-west, I was accustomed to driving in some pretty scary weather at times. I worked second shift and lived about 20 miles away. The weather was decent when I went to work that afternoon but quickly changed to what we called “the nasties.”
As luck would have it, a bridge was being repaired on the main road to get home so it was necessary to detour onto some back roads to get there. I set out from work and began my journey. It was sleeting and very cold. I had my heater on high. I cranked up the car radio and put in my Keith Lancaster cassette entitled, “Prime Time.” This tape always gives my faith a boost and I sang along as I slid down the road.
A few miles from town the weather seemed to clear up a bit. I picked up speed and continued to sing and praise God for all my blessings. I was having a grand ole time in my one-on-one with God.
I rounded a slight curve where the road was also slightly elevated. I hit a patch of ice and started to fish-tail. “No big deal,” I thought. I let off the gas and kept right on singing. I had fish-tailed before and had always managed to regain control.
Well, there is an exception to every rule. I was belting out “Go Tell John” with Keith and couldn’t help but notice that the three foot high concrete wall of an old bridge was getting closer and closer to my car! I felt about a half second of fear and then yelled, “God, please don’t let me hit that bridge!” Just then the passenger side tires left the road and the car flipped up onto that side. I had been so close to that concrete wall that I couldn’t see any space at all between it and the front end of the car.
The car slid down into the creek on its’ side and then flipped back down onto all four tires. I put the car in park, shut off the headlights, ejected the Keith Lancaster tape and put it in my coat pocket and shut off the engine. I climbed out of the car and up out of the ditch and walked to the nearest house to call for help.
It wasn’t until the tow truck and sheriff arrived with their flood lights that I saw that not only had my car missed the concrete bridge on the driver’s side, it had also barely missed a big oak tree on the creek bank of the passenger side. It looked as though someone had deliberately set my car between the bridge wall and the oak tree. My car was totaled but I only received a few minor scratches.
As the sheriff and I stood there watching the tow truck driver, he said, “Do you realize what a lucky girl you are? You could’ve hit the bridge OR the tree — or if the water had been high enough, you could’ve drowned!”
My hand was wrapped around the Keith Lancaster tape in my coat pocket. I looked back at the sheriff and said, “Yes, I realize how fortunate I am; I have my own guardian angel.”
