To carry on from last week’s thoughts, I remember one year we were all set to go on our annual holiday trek further north from where we live. I was driving the car that was towing our runabout boat, behind my husband in the towing vehicle in front of the caravan. We had been wondering about this caravan as it was the first time we had done a big trip in it, and it seemed to have some irregularities in the way it towed, but we just put it down to not being used to it as it was new to us.
We set off and about half an hour into our trip, I could see the caravan begin to sway as it went along ahead of me. Going down a slight slope the swaying got worse, and after going over a small bridge, it gave one wide swing right across the road and back again before tipping over onto its roof right there in the middle of the road! The towing vehicle had been pushed right up on top of the roadside barrier and sat there, half tilted over. I pulled over onto the verge as quickly as I could and then saw my husband crawling out of the window, so I guessed he wasn’t hurt. What to do? Ring the AA I guessed, and did this on my mobile phone. It seemed no time before the police and ambulance turned up, as well as other helpful people. All we had to do was sit and watch as they tried to clean the mess up!
What were our feelings at seeing all this? All we could say, was “There goes our holiday”! It had happened and all we could do was to accept the fact. Both of us had a strange feeling of peace (or maybe it was some sort of delayed shock!) A couple of hours later, we were heading back home in the car. Our holiday was over before it had started, but we still had the feeling of peace about it all….we knew that God had been looking after us through it all. We had so much to be thankful for. It wasn’t raining; there were people helping dispose of the wreck; we weren’t hurt at all, and no-one else was involved. On top of that list, was the fact we were going home to our own bed that night, and not to a hospital bed with injuries!
It was established that one of the tyres on the caravan had had a blow out which caused it to sway so badly, and then flip over. Both vehicles were classed as write-offs and insurance covered it all. We ended up buying another caravan with dual wheels which was safer, and couldn’t help thinking of the verse in the Bible that says “All things work together for good to those who love God” (Romans 8:28).
This was just one of the many blessings that we have experienced in our life, and we were able to give God the thanks for it all. Without Him, we would just class it as bad luck, and be complaining about our lost holiday!