I love our alarm clock. It shines the time in big, red, digital numbers on the ceiling. You can open your eyes, see you’ve still got an hour and roll over and enjoy 60 more minutes of cozy warmth before you have to swing your feet into the cold chill of another workday.  Ahhhhh – usually – but not this morning…

Debbie saw it first and blurted out the time. My eyes popped open to those big, evil, glaring red numbers mocking me (I declare I think I heard an evil laugh). 45 minutes late for getting up – are you kidding? My heart and brain go into overdrive simultaneously:  What happened to the alarm? It’s off! Who turned it off? Where are my clothes? Man, I knew I should have gotten gas on the way home yesterday! Ouch! (Stubbed my toe.) Man, I’m gonna’ be late! Dress. Comb. Gargle (no time to brush). Out the door.

For a full eighteen minutes I was totally unnerved – and grumbled about it. I observed every minutes difference on the dashboard clock. “If everything goes right I can only be 15 minutes late,” I murmured. Then, I saw the flashing lights – everywhere – in the insection where the radio station sits on the corner. When I was finally allowed to cross I saw a full-sized Ford pick-up with its front end literally buried in a PT Cruiser that was wrapped around the truck like an oversized bumper.

As the story began to unravel, I found out that the truck was stolen and involved in a high speed chase that ended in that intersection at 6:15 AM when it struck the PT Cruiser broadside as it was crossing innocently under a green light. That driver never got out of the car alive.

My mind flashed back to yesterday morning. As I was getting ready, an urgency to pray for my own safety on the road overwhelmed me. I remember praying these words, “Lord whatever you have to do for my protection, do it.” When the peace of the Lord came, I felt He had heard me. When I found out the details of the accident, I knew He had heard me.

I shoot for being at the station in time to give the weather forecast at 6:20 – which puts me crossing that intersection about 6:15 AM. What I thought was an inconvenience, was really just God being in control.

Thank you, Father.