What Not to Do.

Last night I went to 6pm Mass at the Newman center with Matt. He didn’t make it to my send-off party and, loving the Fitz brothers as much I do, I just had to meet up with him once more before I left and say a proper goodbye.

(It was kind of reminiscent of the time we all went to morning Mass with Ken before he took off on his first African adventure.)

We spent a few minutes in Adoration after Mass, and then headed to our cars. Matt asked what he could pray for, in particular, and I asked prayers for docility, and of course safety…..that I wouldn’t do anything stupid.

What I failed to ask for is that Matt begin praying these prayers BEFORE I actually leave….

We got in our respective cars and parted ways. So...I’m driving down University and I see this guy in the back of a pick-up truck leaning into the truck’s window to talk to the driver as they drive. I said – out loud, I believe – something to the effect of, “If he gets in an accident, he’s really in trouble! Lord, please protect him.” At that, he sat down.

Then, I turned onto Price. Normally, I would peek and see what traffic looked like before deciding whether I just wanted to take the access roads home. But instead, I mindlessly got onto the freeway, before realizing that it was terribly congested. Apparently, there were at least 2 accidents. I decided I would get right back off at the next exit. Unfortunately, this didn’t happen as quickly as I would have liked. It was all stop-and-go and, at least once, I slammed on my brakes and thought to myself, “That’s all I need – to get in an accident 2 days before my trip.”

And then this happened….

Yep.

I can’t say the Lord didn’t warn me.

(But I can say I am reminded of the time a certain unnamed person got injured playing basketball just before he went to Africa. I swear I wasn’t trying to one-up him.)

Thankfully, I hit a Christian. At least, I know his son was a Christian. I hit an older gentleman, following whom I assumed to be his son (we can call him Larry). After pulling over, Larry immediately jumped out of his car, checked on his dad, then came over to my car and said, “Are you okay?” Apart from my being absolutely mortified, I didn’t have a scratch on me. (Thank you, God!). I apologized, and he said, “Cars can be fixed. Are you okay?” His kindness certainly took the edge off.

Just then, a highway patrolman pulled up behind me. No one had called him. (Thank you, God!). He got our info and started doing his thing.

Somewhere in the course of my conversation with Larry, I mentioned that I was leaving the country on Friday for a mission trip. He asked where, and shared that his son had just returned from a two-year mission to Japan. I tried to continue the conversation. However, at this point, I was on the verge of tears because I was grieving over my car and frustrated with myself and afraid I would owe money, etc. And yet! I didn’t want to miss a perfectly good opportunity to share the Faith.

Yeah….

Hi, I’m Lindsay. I just smashed your back bumper and possibly injured your father. Let me tell you why I love being Catholic!

EVANGELIZATION FAIL!

Ladies and gentleman, don’t try that at home.

I look at my car now and think, “Lord, what’s the purpose of this?” I could speculate that it is spiritual warfare. Maybe. I could blame Matt for eating dinner instead of praying for me. He probably was. :) I could beat myself up for doing something stupid. But I’ll refrain…

Most of all, I thank God for His protection (probably in answer to all of your prayers), and I hope he will help me (and you!) to learn from this experience, especially to learn to heed His voice. I thank God for the kindness of “Larry”, and I pray that He will heal his father of any injuries and make him better than he was before. I thank God for the gift of a sense of humor.

And I thank Him that I am not driving to Uganda.

And to you, Cujo, they tell me they might have to put you to sleep. You have been a trusty friend. You might have an awful paint job, but you've always been there for me. You will be missed.