In August, 1989, Floyd worked for GE Aircraft Engines, and they were relocating our family from Cincinnati, Ohio to Valdosta, Georgia. It was a straight shot down Interstate 75. A moving truck packed us up, so all we had to transport were our two vehicles, three kids, and ourselves. That sounded easy enough.
We loaded up and hit the road. I followed Floyd down 75, through downtown Cincinnati and into Kentucky. Floyd moved into the left lane to pass a pickup truck. When he changed lanes, I followed him over. Once we had both passed the pickup, we glided back into the right lane. Barely a mile up the road was a rest area, and Floyd exited the freeway to the wayside. So I followed him in.
Sliding out of the car, I said, “Hey, why are we stopping all ready? We just got on the road.”
Floyd was white as a ghost. He said, “Didn’t you see what almost happened?”
Now, I was really baffled. When I’m driving, I try to be aware of what’s around me at all times. I frequently check my rear view and side mirrors. I watch for pedestrians and vehicles approaching from side streets. I don’t like to get caught off guard. I’m alert.
I said, “No. What almost happened?”
Driving in the left lane, Floyd passed the pickup truck, and I followed him. Then he watched me from his rear view mirror. As I was passing the pickup, his left rear tire came completely off his vehicle. The tire cruised down the Interstate at freeway speed between the pickup and my Subaru wagon. Floyd expected to see the tire veer under my car and cause me to wreck. All the while, the poor pickup driver is struggling to maintain control of his vehicle with a car right beside him. With great effort, he kept from side swiping me, and managed to maneuver his truck onto the shoulder of the road. Meanwhile, the tire was picking up speed and passing my car. Just as it cleared the front bumper, it took a sharp left, crossing the left lane in front of my car and shooting into the median.
And I went merrily on my way, oblivious to the danger that I was in. Had I realized it was happening, I might have panicked.
- God kept me from seeing what was happening around me.
- God kept the pickup truck from slamming into me.
- God directed the path of the wayward tire, steering it around my car and off into the median.
- God kept Floyd from wrecking while he watched the situation through his rear view mirror.
When Floyd described what he witnessed, I realized that had he not told me, I would not have known that God protected me from a serious accident that day. Now I wondered how many other times God had intervened on my behalf that I wasn’t aware of? I won’t know until I see Him in eternity.