Had a truck wreck, but it's good

3/7/14 Friday

            I am finally getting over this illness. Still get tired easy and am weak physically. Lost about fifteen pounds. I don’t believe anything happens by accident and I know that in Job the devil had to ask God permission to afflict Job with disease and disaster so I must accept that God had a reason for me to be this sick for this long. Some of those reasons I will talk about later.

3/8/14 Saturday

            Whew. So much so fast but we are grateful for God’s hand in our lives. Had a wreck today. It wasn’t nearly as bad as it could have been and that I give thanks to God for. Lately so many things are simply not happening regarding A-1 that I understand God has dried up the well and that He has a reason for doing so. I can’t reveal what the reason is but the Father’s discipline is seldom comfortable. A job did not come through this morning so I took Daniel home and then headed home myself. Traveling down business 20 and approaching the new overpass they built for Loop 250 I noticed a white pickup stop in the far right lane. “Nuts, what is he up to?” I wondered as I moved to the left lane. Speed limit is 70 in this part of the road but I started slowing down, unsure what was going on. Then the truck turned on his left turn signal and turned left right in front of me. Fortunately I was kind of on alert so I swerved as quickly as I could, almost running off the road and praying this guy would see me and stop. Nope. He never saw me and kept coming. I thought I might of missed him as the nose of my truck made it past but then BAM he hit the truck. That sent my truck sliding sideways and I found I was heading back across the highway towards the bridge columns that held the overpass. Steering hard to stay on the road I found the truck fishtailing the other way. Try as I might I could not straighten out and the truck ended up spinning around and the back end slammed into the guard rail. Whew!!! I came to a stop.

   

My truck       

 Seeing I was halfway on the road I quickly drove forward and got on the right shoulder. Then I got out and looked back. The truck I hit was still in the middle of the intersection. I was mad and yelled “What’s wrong with you” and started walking toward the truck I hit. A witness had run out and I saw him check on the driver of the truck I hit. Then he came towards me asking “Are you alright?”. “I’m fine” was my reply as I stormed to the truck I hit. When I saw it was an old man and his wife, guessing them to be near 80 years old, I quickly lost my steam. He reached out his hand and said “I’m ___-___” so I took his hand and introduced myself. “Are you ok” I asked and he said yes. It was cold and windy so we agreed to sit in our vehicles till the police came. I went back to my truck, looked at the damage, and drove back to where he was, closer to the impact site.

  The old mans truck         

 If I hadn’t swerved that old man and probably his wife would be dead now because I would have broadsided him right on the driver’s door. Praise God for His hand on the situation. As it was no one got hurt and the damage was not bad considering I was moving probably 65 MPH when we hit. Come to find out he was from out of town and had just left the house of the son of his friend, who had just died. He had called the son who came to the scene and informed me of this. I was so glad no one got hurt and glad I didn’t express any anger at the first contact.

            I called Cherie, who was in town to get

some things we need. She dropped everything and came to sit with me while we waited for the DPS trooper to show up and take the report. I am so blessed that God restored our marriage for she is truly a wonderful woman. When the DPS trooper came and asked me what happened I explained that it looked like the old man was unsure where to turn and perhaps confused. Actually that was the case because he was from a town hundreds of miles away and not at all familiar with this area. Besides the new overpass is not clearly marked when it comes to where to get on or off. He was cited and was able to drive off and I was able to drive home.

            We went to Rankin to visit one of the A-1 employees, who had been arrested for his third DUI. That makes it a felony with the possibility of a ten year sentence. Mondo had been doing so well and had sworn off drinking, evidently successfully until this event. He had driven to San Antonio, where he was given a car by his father. Somewhere in the process he had fallen off the wagon. As he drove through Rankin he was pulled over for flicking a cigarette butt out the window.

            I feel this was a Devine appointment. I had warned Mondo a few weeks prior that God was going to put His foot down and it would not be nice. Mondo tells me he has given his life to the Lord. I believe him. He said several times that he is tired, sick and tired, of the life he lives with drinking and all that goes with it. He was so grateful I came down to visit him in the jail. We talked of God, of life, and about what the future might hold. Mondo tells me he wants to serve God the rest of his life and I promised to help when I can. There are so many I see, who are destroying life with the drugs, drinking, and so many other things that come when you refuse to submit to the creator of the Universe. But the few who find the source of life and freedom are wonders to behold.

            Soon I suspect God will move me to a place I can spend more time helping others find that freedom.