Allow Me to Be Reminded

Allow me to be reminded.  Today is a beautiful day even though the temperatures are cooler than normal; the sun does shine in Florida.  There are times when it appears the sun shining cannot affect your day and you allow yourself to be reminded of all of the things that have made you unhappy in the previous days or in the way past.  When this happens it is a good thing to remind yourself of the wonderful things that have happened in your past days or years.  These two little stories are good reminders for me.

When my son was an infant both sets of grandparents would babysit for me because I worked a lot.  His father was on active duty during the Viet Nam war and I had a lot to take care of by myself.  I had accepted a grave-yard shift position in a very busy all night coffee shop.  On Easter morning I was off work about sunrise and I was driving south to my parent’s home to spend Easter with them and my infant son who was already there with them.

The interstate around Jackson, Mississippi has been under construction since the beginning of the interstate.  When going South on I-55 you travel through an area of interstate that allows you to veer to the right and travel East on I-20 or veer left and travel South on I-55.  The area between was still under construction and piled high with barriers and dirt, and it was hard baked dirt that had been there for a while.

Well, I fell asleep before I reached the area and suddenly I was awakened and looking at that pile of dirt.  Immediately I swerved the car and veered left.  I pulled off the interstate and looked around me.  There was no one in sight.  I cried for a few minutes and I thanked God for being there and taking care of me.  You know he has these angels who are always on the job.

Many, many years later after my children were adults with their own families; I was traveling with my husband.  We were in Virginia and it had been a long, hot Labor Day.  Having awakened at four in the morning and traveled North of our hotel to spend the day tramping around a flea market, we were both tired.  The road we were traveling was narrow and mountains were on both sides.  This can be boring after a few miles and I fell asleep.  My husband was driving and I just dozed off not knowing that he dozed off also.  How we stayed on the road is amazing grace and then we left the road and landed in a front yard stopping just before we hit a giant oak tree. I looked around and this house and the barn across the road were the only areas that were not mountains.  The owner of the house came out and looked at the car, shook my husband’s hand and shook his head back and forth. 

“Mister, God is taking care of you,” he said. “It is amazing that you left the road in this spot.”

We felt humbled and blessed.  After we returned to the road and found our way to the interstate, I opened the car window just to breathe the mountain air.  I smelled fuel.  We exited and found a local hotel so we could inspect the car.  The hotel owner gave us a parking area where the car would not be sitting flat and the fuel would not seep out overnight.  The next day we had the car repaired and were on our way home. 

Ahh yes.  Please remind me of your goodness and grace when I forget to count my blessings.  I know I have much to do that I have not yet applied myself to and I am preparing to do just that. May his blessings be your blessings today, and be reminded, yes be reminded, of all of the good things.