It was in the wee hours of the morning and still dark outside. We’d been traveling non-stop for over 18 hours except to refuel with gas because we were young and impatient and could manage to stay up all night driving.
Papa was a young soldier man and we were stationed at a military base in Oklahoma. I don’t remember when exactly it was, but definitely before we had our children so probably around 1979 or ’80. Traveling by car, we had spent vacation time visiting with our families in Pennsylvania and were heading back to Oklahoma on the long, 20-some hour drive.
Really it was foolish, driving straight through the way we often did but we wanted to spend every moment we could with our families. His family lived a good four-hour drive away from my folks, so we tried to divide our time equally with everyone.
We were tired and weary of being in the car, but still we pushed on because hubby’s leave ended the next day. No time to check into a motel for the night. So on we continued.
Hubby was driving on that divided highway somewhere in between Tulsa and Oklahoma City around 3 a.m. Car rides make me sleepy even when I’m not exhausted so I had already fallen asleep, my head tilted against a pillow smashed against the passenger side car window.
I groggily awakened to a strange sound – a steady, almost rhythmic whooosh, whooosh kind of sound. And when I opened my eyes, we were driving down the grassy medial strip on the highway instead of on the smooth pavement at a high rate of speed. Hubby had also dozed off and the swishy noise of the tall prairie grass rustling underneath our car had awakened and warned me that something wasn’t right.
My cry of alarm jolted him awake and he quickly righted the steering wheel easing us back onto the roadway. I was wide awake now and fearful that it would happen again. We counted the miles to the next exit or rest area and when we finally spotted one, we wisely pulled over and changed drivers.
I’ve often thought about what could have happened that time so long ago. The highway wasn’t heavy with traffic, yet there were lots of tractor trailer trucks traveling in both directions. What if we had completely crossed the highway and hit one head-on? What if that medial strip hadn’t been prairie grass but had been cement jersey barriers instead? What if I hadn’t awakened in time?
I believe that God protected us on that early morning drive and it was He who caused me to hear the grass and awaken just in time. So today, more than 30 years later, I’m thankful for His guiding hand and I’m also thankful for divided highways.
“We pray for the big things and forget to give thanks for the ordinary, small (and yet really not small) gifts.” ~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer
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I can most definitely identify with this! We had gone to a race in Charlotte many years ago, and rather than stop at a hotel, HUBBY decided we’d just drive home (a five hour drive). It was a night time race, so by the time we got out of the parking lot, it was probably 2 a.m. I’m like you: I always fall asleep when I’m riding. We both woke to the sound of gravel under the car….he’d fallen asleep at the wheel. So, I, too, am thankful for divided highways. And God’s grace.
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I think we’ve all had experiences like that, Dianna. So scary at the time but then we tend to forget to be thankful for those times we’ve been protected from harm. I often wonder how many times God shields us and we don’t even know it?
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Something to be thankful for – for sure! What a close call. I am thankful too – that you woke up in time and here we are – blogging friends who might not have been.
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Exactly, Dor! And I’m so very thankful for my sweet blogging friends like you. You add little rays of sunshine to my life! 🙂
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That was much too close a call!
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It really was and I’ve never forgotten it. And I always am checking on hubby while he’s driving asking him if he’s tired and wants me to take over for awhile. But we don’t do those all night drives anymore. Too exhausting!
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We could get by on a lot less sleep back then, couldn’t we? I remember driving home from WV all night, getting home about an hour before we were to open for business. When the sun came up, my eyes were ready to slam shut! God is good. Like you said, it’s hard to tell how many times He’s spared us grief and we don’t even know it.
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Oh my goodness, yes, I do wonder how we did as much as we did on little to no sleep. I need my rest now or I’m an absolute bear! 😉
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