Here is a story I submitted to our church for the annual Christmas Advent Book 2009.
A couple of years ago our family, which included Joey, me, Andrew age 3, and Elizabeth age 2 (Catherine wasn’t born yet) were making our annual holiday trip to visit family in south Alabama, to the small town of Monroeville. We loaded up, as families can relate, half the house into the van and made the five- hour trek. Little did we know the many “speed bumps” we would encounter during our trip’s duration.
We managed to make it down without incident, but after visiting with family for about a day, I realized Andrew not only had a mild cold but was running a fever and more than likely had an ear infection. Not long after he was showing signs of being ill, Elizabeth also began to run a fever. After contemplating, I made the executive decision to leave for home a day early and take them to our pediatrician in Huntsville. The family wasn’t thrilled with us leaving early, but a mother has to do what a mother has to do.( as all mothers can relate) We ended up driving at night so the kids would sleep. Three hours into the trip, around 8 PM on the interstate whilst I was driving, I unavoidably hit several wooden planks that flew off a truck in front of me. Bump, Bump, Bump! we all went, followed by the unmistakably Whooooshhh sound as our right front tire quickly deflated. I quickly pulled to the side of the road, and Joey jumped out of the car to inspect things. Sure enough, it was flat, and guess where the spare tire was? Under the floor board in the middle of the van. Under the sleeping children. As strong as Joey was, he could not get the tire out from under the floor. So we realized our only option was to call *911 and ask for help. I reached for my cell phone and could not find it-yes, I had lost it.(its whereabouts to be mentioned later) I used Joey’s and made the call- the dispatcher said she would send someone out as soon as possible. Well, we waited and waited, all the while concerned that we were too close to the road, and the oncoming cars would hit us at any minute. I had the grand idea of utilizing the DVD player, for now the kids were awake and beginning to voice their opinions about their interrupted sleep. A great distraction for the kids, but I soon learned that one should not turn it on while a car engine is off…yes, the car battery was sucked of all life, and we had an additional issue to deal with. After the 2 longest hours of my life, the policeman finally arrived. (Stranded vehicles must be low priority for the fuzz.) He was able to retrieve the tire, change it, and jump our engine to life all with Joey’s assistance. We headed on exhausted but glad to be on our way. Mind you, you can only drive 55 mph with a spare tire, which at 10:30 PM on the interstate with 2-3 hours to go, will drive one slowly insane….such detail one can see on the sides of the road, even at night, going so slowly! Rubber tire pieces, road kill, a discarded couch… Around 12:30 AM we were nearing the Huntsville exit, eager to be in our warm beds. Nothing could stand in our way now- except me missing the exit and driving 20 miles both directions to get back to the Huntsville exit! My sweet husband was ready at this point to send me away for a new wife. I blamed it on fatigue and the dark. Well, after much ado, we finally arrived at home sweet home..the kids had fallen back asleep in their car seats, and we for just one second, contemplated keeping them their all night, so not to disturb them, then remembered there was probably a law against that. We tucked the kids’ in their beds, decided we would unpack the van the next day, and fell, literally fell into bed. So, what exactly is the point to this story you ask?
The theme being “ What can I give Christ for Christmas”, I realized this story fit quite well. I give Christ thankfulness and gratitude for Christmas. This story of mishaps actually turned in to a story of appreciation, and this is why: At 6 AM the next morning, a worker of a rest stop near Cullman called our house, and said that someone had turned in my lost cell phone. The worker also offered to mail it to us. How kind! Someone could have easily found it and kept it, but instead turned it in. The policeman who aided us at 10PM at night was so kind to help change our tire. Aren’t we all so fortunate that we live in a country where assistance is only a phone call away! We have well made roads, interstates with which we can freely travel without borders, roadside bombs, or war to cause us fear. I took my children to the doctor that next morning as well, and they were each given antibiotics to make them well. We have such easy access to medicine and doctors. Not for a moment during our trip, even with all the “speed bumps” did we have to seriously be concerned for our health and safety, because of this wonderful democratic, free country in which we live. Yes, I give thankfulness, gratitude, and appreciation to Christ this Christmas and every one yet to come.
Felicia Downs
