How many have truly experienced Blessings in Disguise? I was blessed to be off with my kids from just before Christmas until after the New Year. I had BIG plans for this time off from my full time job: plans to get caught up on house work, finance work, spend QUALITY time with the kids, get back into a regular exercise habit.
The last week before Christmas, I struggled. My son had come down with strep throat and a cold on top of that, and my daughter had a stomach bug. I caught my son's cold and my daughter's bug. I felt horrible, yet I forged onto work, ended up taking off the last official day of work, carried myself to the doctor and was thankful to then rest from work and recover.
Rest? What mom REALLY ever gets rest? I got through Christmas and the very next day my daughter was complaining her throat was hurting and she was crying. Her throat looked swollen and I suspected she might now have strep throat, since my son had it earlier. There was shower of sleet falling as we piled into the car to head to the doc. I prayed, "God, let us get to and from safely," before we ever left the driveway. Seven miles from home, I wrecked my car. One of my "big" plans for my time off was to get new tires for my car; I believe the worn tires to be the culprit of my unfortunate fate.
I was being careful, keeping in mind the poor road conditions and my poor tires and was trying to negotiate going down a steep hill and taking a sharp turn at the bottom. I got down the hill, but didn't make the turn. I ended up in a ditch and on our side with BOTH my children in the back seat. No air bags went off, no glass broke and we were helped out by firefighters who arrived on the scene quickly while responding to another call. They flipped my car back on all four, winched it out of the ditch and I drove it back home at about 15 mph. We didn't make it to the doctor and my daughter suddenly didn't give much more thought to her sore throat.
The body shop told me I needed new tires. I knew that. I needed new brakes. I had anticipated that. I needed brake fluid. Huh? I had checked that - it was full. "You have TWO reservoirs," the technician said. I didn't know that. He told me my rotors are destroyed. I wondered if my wear of the brakes might have hurt the rotors. He explained he had NEVER seen rotors as BAD as mine and went into detail about how they had worn unevenly. It was very dangerous, "Imagine driving down the interstate and the wheel locking up," he said, "you would have likely wrecked and it could have very well killed you and the kids if they were with you." Wow. My kids are almost always with me. What if?
I remember my prayer: "God, let us get to and from safely." He did! We may not have made it to the doctor, but we returned home safe and sound without even a bruise. This accident was a blessing in disguise. God's got my back. He knew my car was in worse shape than I had realized. He allowed me to wreck so it could get fixed before something more serious happened. I found myself praising God and saying, "Thank You." Seems odd to say thank you for allowing the wreck. We weren't hurt. He protected us - more than we even realized. God's got my back. And He has yours!
Reflect to find your blessings in disguise.
