Jesus Take the Wheel.

 I love this picture of Matthew as a baby. It has nothing to do with the story I'm about to tell, except that he is in it. I guess maybe I look at this face and think about how often we are tested, how often we cry out in despair, how often we are close to losing all we hold dear. And that, is what this is about. 

Last week I was called to drive Matt to class in a blinding snowstorm. I couldn't believe the college had not called off classes. Being located in the middle of wide-open space, the snow swirls like sugar in a Cotten candy maker. Nonetheless, there we were. 

The only way to get to the college from our house is by country roads that weave in and out of once green pastures and cornfields that stood high and proud. Now caverns of wind and snow that seemed unforgiving as they blew past my car. It was very difficult to see the road ahead, as I tried to imagine it on a clear day. Matt and I barely spoke in what seemed like forever to take a 15-minute drive. I carefully pulled onto campus, slipping to the stop sign. I turned onto the road as Matt announced; You're in the wrong lane! I quickly tried to change lanes to make the next turn and narrowly avoided cutting off the car behind me. The horn rang through the cold night, and my stomach turned. 

I dropped Matt off at his building. As he opened the door he turned and said - I love you mom, thank you for doing this. I told him I loved him too. As I drove away, he disappeared into a flurry of snow. 

I carefully made my way off campus and onto the main road. Unfortunately, the plows had not made it through. Because the beginning of the day had been a sleeting rain, there was now a thick layer of ice underneath the soft snow. As I turned off the main road and onto the side road, the ice became more evident. I crawled along at 30mph hands at 10 and 4, praying to the angels to guide me home.

Suddenly I was at the bridge that crosses over the tollway. Guard rails brace the sides of it, and there are two lanes, one in each direction. The wind was so ferocious it carried the snow in all directions. At once, I hit a patch of ice that carried my car to uneven pavement on the shoulder. My car began to spin out of control, crossing back and forth into oncoming traffic. I knew that it was the end. My heart pounded thinking I would never see my family again, meeting my fate on this very bridge. Then, my car began heading right for the guard rail, soon to plunge over the side of the bridge. 

Out of nowhere, my car regained control just before I would have careened off the bridge. I sat stunned, in control, driving my car and myself to safety. When I got home, I drove into my garage, still in awe of the events, and began to cry. I buried my head in the steering wheel and wept. Then, I felt something deep in my soul. A stirring inside, hard to describe.  A whisper in my ear. I looked up from the steering wheel and said, I guess you aren't finished with me here on earth. You have more for me to do, don't you God? A peace came over me as I walked into the house. 

I began telling my husband about my journey, telling him, if not for the Grace of God, I would be dead. The angels steered that car from danger. Oh, I so believe in angels. I went on; Doug, I don't know how I am alive right now. With that, Doug looked at me and said, you just told me, the Grace of God.

Indeed, the Grace of God.

Amen.