Blessings in disguise

I wish there were more opportunities in this life to tell the stories of times we've been blessed by God, or how something that seemed like a trial turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

Of course I think the past few years have been a blessing for me. Even though, at the time, I couldn't see it. All I could see was my life falling apart... I hadn't thought about how it would be put back together.

Whenever I think of times like that, my mind always goes back to 2004. I had something happen that has no explanation other than God was watching over me.

That year my husband and I lived in Stillwater, OK. I was working as an artist in a local screen print shop, and he was in his junior year of Vet School at OSU. That June he started a preceptorship at a Veterinary clinic in the Fort Smith area - one that he would later go on to work for after graduation.

One Sunday evening I was headed back to Stillwater after going to visit him for the weekend. On the turnpike headed to Tulsa I had a blowout, in fact my passenger rear tire had completely disintegrated. Nothing left but strings of rubber. I'd never seen anything like it. I was thankful not to be going up to speed when it happened. I managed to limp my little Nissan Sentra to the next exit to get to a safe area to figure out what to do, and in the process of making calls a car pulled over to see if they could help me.

A man and woman got out of the car. They looked to be about the same age as my parents. I got to talking to them, and they said they saw me standing on the side of the road looking at my tire, and they could see that I was scared and alone. This couple just happened to be on their way to the cemetery to put flowers on their daughter's grave. They said she would've been about my age. They saw me, and felt a strong desire to help me. They knew I would have parents out there, just like them, who would be worried about me. I believe whatever happened to their daughter gave them the conviction to help me. I also believe they were my angels.

But the story doesn't end there...

The man helped me change my tire, and made sure I was ok to get back on the highway. I was getting kind of emotional at that point, and cried for a ways after leaving them. I'm not sure why the whole situation was making me that way. I guess I just felt 'watched over'. I had calmed down as I came into the south side of Tulsa, and I noticed flashing lights in the distance. There were emergency vehicles everywhere, and policemen detouring everyone off of the main highway to a secondary road. I pulled over to a grocery store to get directions back to the highway I needed and asked if they knew what had happened. Apparently there had been a horrible six car accident about a half hour or so earlier.

I got back in my car and completely lost it. I knew that if I hadn't gotten the flat tire, that would've put me in Tulsa about the same time as the accident.

Wow.

What is there to do in a moment like that besides pray and thank God for protection?

I prayed till I got my composure, and finally made my way back to Stillwater safely. I will never forget that night, in fact I remember everything about that evening with complete clarity. It is permanently etched in my mind.

The next time something happens that you think is a nuisance... just think about what it might be keeping you safe from. You never know when those little nuisances are actually blessings... and we don't even realize it.