Jesus Take the Wheel...

I've always like the message of Carrie Underwood's song, but there have been a few points in my life, four that come to mind, that I think God took the wheel quite literally.



About 12 years ago, I was driving home from college on the interstate and I looped off unto a smaller highway. The exchange has a long loop and at the end some cars merge from the right. Long story short, the car that was in the right lane, didn't see me in the left lane, traveling at 65 mph, wedged between them and a two foot cement wall, and moved into my lane to free up their lane for a car merging from the on ramp. How that car missed me was a miracle. I literally felt like someone was in that car with me, when I miraculously was not stuck and the car was inches from my bumper. Jesus took the wheel.



When I was about 7 months pregnant with Zach I was heading to work, and I needed to make a left hand turn. The light turned yellow and I looked and the cars were stopping, so I went to turn. Just at that moment, a sports car came racing through the right lane at probably 50 mph, and nearly struck me. I was livid when I saw what they were racing to get, their morning Tim Horton's coffee. I mean seriously, you almost killed me and my unborn child for that? I was shaken up, because all I could think of was that I could have lost my baby, and I truly believe that had it not been for that one moment of hesitation, something horrible could have happened to Zach and I. That day Jesus took the wheel.



Just this summer we were heading back from the lake, Wayne was in a separate vehicle because he had met us down there. Both of the boys were in the back of my car sleeping. I went to pass a semi. I hate semi trucks, always have, I am paranoid about traveling next to them. I tend to speed up as I pass them, because I just want to be free of them as soon as possible. As I was passing this truck I noticed it was moving closer and closer into my lane of traffic. I was being forced off the road, riding on that bumpy thing they have on the interstate. I was terrified. In that moment, I thought Wayne, who was driving ahead of us, was going to look back in his rear view to see his entire family killed. I was scared. My boys, My boys are going to die, that was all I could think. Somehow just as the semi made its final swing into the left lane, I was past it. That semi couldn't have been less than 6 inches from my bumper. The driver was pretty shaken up because he immediately got back into the right lane and stayed there, driving slow the rest of the time I saw him in my rear view. I kept thinking, I almost died, my boys almost died, but we didn't because of 6 inches. Six inches, and the fact that Jesus took the wheel.



Today we were all driving back from looking at some play sets. We had just had lunch at McDonald's and the boys we groggy in the backseat. We were driving down the somewhat country road at 50 mph, and the sun was shining. Zach was sleepily saying, "I don't like the sun, it's too bright." and Wayne was driving listening to some music. Up ahead I saw a car coming to the end of a street. We had another car about 5 car lengths ahead in the left lane. Wayne switched lanes, going into the right one. As he was doing this, I could see the gray car that was stopped had started to prepare to turn left. They were going, the only problem was that in 2 seconds, they were going to be turning right into our car. I did something you are not supposed to do, I reached over and turned the wheel, took control. Wayne at that moment looked and saw the car, but didn't resist my control of the vehicle. I braced one arm against the dash, as if I could protect the 10 month old who was sitting behind me, directly in the spot this car was about to strike and I swerved us left. I felt the wheel move, and it moved fluidly around the car that was now 1/2 way out into the lane we left. I'm not sure if it was Wayne's hands, or someone else's, but I was not the only one steering the wheel. The whole incident passed, and the car missed us by inches. We never swerved beyond the left lane, and thankfully we avoided a collision. I am not sure what would have happened to the driver of that tiny gray car. I am not sure of the damage that would have happened to my side of the vehicle, but most importantly to that baby carrier that houses part of my heart. I am so grateful I don't have to find out, because Jesus took the wheel.



I can't thank you enough Jesus for all the times you've taken the wheel in my life, literally and figuratively. I am still thanking you for that other car accident when you didn't take the wheel, but took care of *Sarah and I instead.