New Mercies

My nephew got into a really bad car accident on Sunday. The vehicle flipped five times before landing on a tree, which it split in half, but by the grace of God, he and his two friends walked away with their lives.

I was on my way. I remember being about two hours out when my mother called. I really need her to not be the person to call me for things like this. I was sure my nephew had died, she put so much on it, but this was the one time I was grateful that she is just overly dramatic. He’s eighteen years old. I had just seen him ten days earlier, when I was up there last, and he had just graduated high school two days before that. The notion that he might have been killed in that accident paralyzes me every time I think of it, so I try not to. But when I look at my own son, now thirteen years old, with a lot of teenage antics yet to pursue, I cant help it.

My other nephew, this one’s older brother, totaled my sister’s last car, and now his little brother has done the same. I, myself, took my mother’s car, without her permission, and totaled it, when I was eighteen or nineteen. Myself and my two friends were lucky enough to walk away from that accident as well. I shudder to think that this would be some sort of rite of passage for all kids to take….

It makes me sad to think of what COULD have happened, but very grateful that nothing like that did. Thank you Jesus!