For a few terrifying moments on the evening of this past Thursday night, Thanksgiving night, my heart stopped.  

And the hearts of my entire extended family.  Stopped.  Our breath came to a collective catch and we held it, listening, blood pounding in our ears.  

We had finished the traditional Thanksgiving dinner, the back field had been walked,  Sugar Creek was flowing through the sycamores at the back of the property as pretty as a picture and I was feeling so blessed!  My brother and sister and their families, my children, my parents, my grandchildren, nieces, nephews.  Rarely since Dave joined the military had there been so many of us here at the same time!

We had begun to pack up kids into car seats and left-overs into Tupperware for the short trips to our own homes.  My husband and brother left to return folding chairs to my Grammaw's party barn and my niece Jeni, and her husband Lee, along with their little family had left a few minutes before to begin the long drive back to the Lafayette area.

 Then the phone rang.    

There had been a head-on collision on 252, less than 3 miles away, and it was Jeni and Lee.  Our hearts stopped.  Our breath caught.  The busy, noisy, happy, house full of family fell silent and we strained to listen above the pounding  in our ears, dreading what we would hear.  Every eye glued on my mother with the phone to her ear, her face drained of color.

 Although it's just a stretch of two lane country road, we all knew how dangerous State Road 252 can be.  My grade school principal, Don DeHart, one of the truly nicest people I had ever known, had been killed in a head-on crash on that road a few short years ago and the community was devastated.  I thought of his family in that brief moment when time moves in slow motion and we waited for mom to relay the rest of the news.....they are ok!  They are ok!  We breathe.  In unison, we exhale, then breathe deep with tears stinging our eyes  as we whisper prayers of thanks.  They are ok!

As it turns out, Jeni, who was driving, is a black belted ninja master of defensive driving. (who knew?!)  She saw the oncoming driver drifting into her lane and began moving over to avoid him.  They ended up in the ditch with their car scraped all down the driver's side but, instead of the head-on that was initially reported, it was just a really bad side-swipe and no injuries.  The car behind them took the head-on but that family will be ok also.  God is so merciful!

I guess it's natural to reflect during this holiday and mentally check off all those things you are thankful for but, I'm afraid that I often do this in a rather distracted manner.   Events like last Thursday's scare, tend to wake me up from my everyday fog of life and reminds me how much I truly have to be thankful for.    I pray that I would always be grateful and aware of each blessing.  That I would be able to "Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."  (1 Thessalonians 5:18)  I have a good example to look to.

I almost never talk to my Grammaw without her telling me of how she has been blessed.  She gives examples and tells stories of how God has provided for her.  Grammaw was a foster child because her mother died when Grammaw was 5 months old and her father could not care for his small children.  But, even as a child, long before she knew Him, she can look back now and see God's hand in her life and is grateful for His protection and providence.  She regularly stops mid-story to thank Him for her memories because they remind her of how God has cared for her all her life. When I listen to her stories and her thankfulness, I too am thankful for her memories.  And I always leave her house thanking God for the every day blessings that I may have overlooked before.

So, on that day of Thanksgiving, I thanked God for his protection.  For the blessing of my extended, loud family.  I prayed for Mr. DeHart's family, who celebrate holidays without him now.  And I prayed that I can make it a habit to always see the blessing of God's provision in the midst of the business of life and always be aware that, "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning..." (Lamentations 3:22-23a)