On the Way Home

May 2, 2021 | by The Fellowship

Our family has attended The Fellowship for the past 12 years.  My husband and I have a 13-year-old daughter who is involved in the youth group and a 10-year-old son who is involved in Fellowship Kids. We have always been blessed by our relationships with Christian friends at The Fellowship.

My children and I recently attended the Cowboys for Christ Rodeo at Fellowship Ranch.  My husband was unable to attend because of work.  My teenager was a volunteer for the rodeo, and my 10-year-old had fun participating in the different events.  We roped cattle, raced barrels, played games, rode a horse, paddle-boated, ate fun food, and had a great time!  It was great to be outside, try new things, and spend time with our church family.

We began our drive home around 6:30 p.m., heading east on I-10 from Sealy toward Katy.  While driving, I began to feel that something was wrong with the front tire on the driver’s side of my van.  The “maintenance minder” light lit up on my dashboard, and my vehicle started to slightly rock. 

Unfortunately, we were traveling on a part of I-10 with no shoulder, so I could not pull over.  I was hoping to get off at the nearest exit.  I began to cry out to God to help me maintain control of the vehicle and for us to be able to pull off of the freeway.  Putting on my hazard lights, I began to gradually slowdown in the far right lane.  My goal was to keep control without slowing down too much for fear that another car on the freeway would hit us from behind.

The vehicle began to heavily rock back and forth, and I could smell something burning.  There was still no exit in sight!  “Please, Lord!  Please!” was my cry as I continued to plead for a place to safely pull off!  By then the tire had completely blown out and most of it had come off of the rim.  The splash guard around the tire had also detached from the van and was being dragged along with the van. The shuddering and the noise were frightening!  I felt so helpless!

We approached a spot where there was an entrance ramp onto the freeway with a merge lane.  And next to the merge lane was a flat area big enough for several vehicles to fit.  Praise God!  I was able to safely get off of the freeway and stop!

My next thought was: “What do I do now?” My 13-year-old was calm and level-headed throughout the event, but my 10-year-old was frightened (and so was I!).  My first thought was to call a tow truck, but I felt nervous about the three of us sitting so close to the main lanes of I-10 with traffic speeding right next to us while we waited.  But just then a truck pulled into the area where we were parked and the driver got out to help us.  What a blessing!  Especially when we saw it was someone we knew from The Fellowship! Traveling a bit behind us, he had seen the tire blow and could pull over where we did!

Not only did God provide a person to help us, but also one with whom we felt comfortable and safe! A Good Samaritan man and wife who had been a little further behind when all of this happened decided to circle back around and also offer help.  The two men were able to take the bad tire off and put the spare on.  They then “sandwiched” our vehicle between theirs for the drive back to our house with hazard lights on to make sure that we got there safely.

The prayers spoken (verbally) and internally during this experience were not lengthy, well thought out, or detailed.  We were just crying out to God in the moment to keep us safe.  He did and … even more than that … He provided helpers and … even more than that … He provided one whom we knew!   We all  marveled at how God takes care of us and is with us in all things. He answers our prayers even when we do not ask with eloquence, have our heads bowed, or speak with our hands folded together.  God always hears us and knows the cries of our hear.

D.H.

The angel of the Lord encamps around those
who fear Him, and He delivers them. 
Psalm 34:7