You Never Know!

Life is about mindset, how you view things, and what you choose to ... (fill in the blank). The greatest news anyone can ever hear is, "we get to choose!" We can believe, or not believe... it's up to us.

Recently, at the local grocery store, I found myself speechless (and for me, this rarely happens). While shopping for some sort of drink, I noticed a woman trying to reach something that was obviously too high for her... but no one would help her. She looked homeless, or at the very least, in desperate need of clean clothes. Since everyone was walking by, as if they were "too good" to help her, I walked over and offered my assistance ~ why isn't this obvious for more of us? 

After I handed her the bottle she was struggling to reach at the very top shelf, she looked at me with the softest, kindest eyes I've ever seen, gave me a hug, and in a thick Scottish accent, whispered something in my ear that will stay with me forever...

"I'm here to share the news ~ good deeds are prayers with wings. Keep giving, my new friend."

Chills instantly shot through my body. She had something about her ~ something that was unexplainable. You may say I just ran into a nice, older lady... but I think there may have been more than meets the eye.

I'm not saying I know, because I don't know... but you never know!

A few winters ago, my wife and I were driving home from a long road trip late at night, and during a huge rain storm. Winters in Southern California aren't a big deal, but sometimes it does get below freezing ~ this was one of those times.

The entire way home, I was feeling really nervous for some reason, and kept asking for protection from "whoever was watching." I've driven in heavy rain before, but this night was different~ the road was crowded, and cars were flying down the freeway. In Southern Cali., people don't have a clue how to drive in the rain. 

30 minutes from home, I got extremely sleepy but didn't think I needed to stop. I've never been tired enough to stop before and we were almost home... so I was going try to make it. Liane kept asking me if I was sure I could make it without falling asleep. I assured her I could do it. I wouldn't put our lives in danger in order to save a few minutes. She continued to ask, though, as if she didn't trust me. There was one more exit to pull off and rest before we would hit a long stretch of freeway, with nowhere to stop. One last time (about 100 yards from the exit), she asked again if I needed to rest. I told her... ONE MORE TIME... that I was fine, and was going to drive home. By this time, the temperature had dropped below freezing, and was raining harder than ever.

As we were about to pass the off ramp, my car began to pull off the freeway. This of course happened very quickly, but remember I didn't want to stop, so it felt like we were in slow motion. Yes, my hands were physically turning the steering wheel to the right and off the road, but my mind wasn't. I didn't want to pull over, so obviously I wondered why I just did. Before I knew it, I had taken the last exit off the freeway. How did that just happen? Since I got off, I decided to find a gas station, and take a 20 minute nap. 

As we got back on the freeway going home, we notice something crazy had happened: At least 20 cars had spun off the road into ditches and were flipped over on their sides. Come to find out, immediately after the last exit that "I" decided to pull off, all the cars hit a huge patch of black ice, creating a 20 car pile-up... I was spared. 

I'm not saying I know, because I don't know... but you never know!