[Gathnet] Blessings during Stressful times

[Jonathan Gathman]

Greetings, Gathnetters,

   First off, I want to say, I'm ok, and none of the kids or Jacqui  
was in the car.

   Why do I say that? On the way home last night, a young lady hit me  
by crossing the line and continuing straight into me on a curve.  I  
had only a moment to evade, when I realized she was going to cross  
over.  I did get to the very edge of the road, but there wasn't much  
of anywhere to go.  She hit the left passenger door, which threw my my  
back end off the road about 45-50 degrees.  I ended up stopping with  
my front wheels on the road, and back end off the road.  Car remains  
mostly drivable (meaning that some metal was pushed into the wheel  
well, and rubs the tire on certain turns etc.  I will not have to tow  
it, however) Given I just bought new tires, I don't want to damage  
them, however, in the meantime.

   Police never did come, and finally just took statements and info  
over the phone.  Hope that's not going to be a problem.  We'll see.

   This is the car we are planning on taking to California.  I took it  
to town a bit today, where I get the car up just a little bit to  
speed, and there doesn't appear to be any damage to alignment (though  
I haven't tried it at cross-country speeds). I'm hoping if we can get  
this into the shop soon, we'll still be ready to drive out in plenty  
of time.

   God is good: there were plenty of trees and signs I could have been  
thrown into, but God managed to make the car miss all of those.  Also,  
I believe I showed patience and kindness during the whole incident,  
which I hope may be a credit to the Lord.

   The big thing is, of course, not to worry too much, given that I'm  
already too overbooked... Just was told by my boss that I'll need to  
fly to Dallas next week sometime.  Also, count the many blessings and  
protection, and not get too hung up on things.   In the light of  
eternity, the fact that the new paint probably won't look as good as  
the original after a couple years is no significant.

   Take care,

Jonathan Gathman
jonathan at stl.gathman.org