I Could Already Hear the Sirens . . . Can You?
Is It Just Another Monday?
It’s an ordinary Monday afternoon. My daughter Jenna and I are driving home after lunch with a friend. The traffic light turns red. We stop.
As we wait, we notice a boy—maybe 10 years old—riding his bicycle on the sidewalk. Maybe he’s on his way to the store. Or a friend’s house. Or just taking a ride around the block.
Perhaps it’s just an ordinary summer day for him, too.
He approaches the intersection just as the traffic light turns green again. But he doesn’t notice the light.
He leaves the sidewalk and begins pedaling across the road.
At the same moment, a car from a side street also approaches the intersection just as the light changes. The car begins turning right.
That One Split Second
What happens next is so fast—less than one gulp of air—yet it takes all my breath away.
Sometimes it’s in the tiniest of moments that life changes forever. A single incident can ripple on, shattering not just one family, but multiple families, classrooms, communities. And strangers, too, like me.
In that split second of time, Jenna and I sit frozen in our seats. But the boy and the other car do not collide. The driver of the car—in the last possible instant—sees the boy and swerves.
That’s it. Nothing else happens.
Except the boy rides on. The car completes its turn. Jenna and I drive home.
Gratitude for What Doesn’t Happen
Instead of witnessing a tragic accident, hearing broken glass and frantic screams and emergency sirens, we return to the normal sounds of our ordinary Monday afternoon. After our hearts stop pounding. And our adrenaline runs out. And our brains adjust back to the beautiful reality of what is in this moment, instead of what could have been.
No harm done. Nothing altered. No lives changed.
What remains is gratitude. For a child I’ll never know that can laugh with his friends today, return to school in the fall, maybe grow up to be a gray-haired grandfather one day.
All because of what didn’t happen on this ordinary Monday afternoon.
The most ordinary days may be the most extraordinary ones of all.
Have you had a moment when you felt both terrified then thankful, from one breath to the next? Share your thoughts in the comments.
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Whew! Oh, my, Lisa, that would have taken my breath away, too. Thank you, Lord, that this young man’s life was spared in that moment. Blessings!
I was holding my breath as I read through this because I expected the worst. Aren’t we just so human to do that?
BUT GOD…He chose to give this boy an extraordinary day, as well as the driver of the vehicle turning. Can you imagine living with the results of having hit the boy?
The ordinary days that He turns into extraordinary days are the best kind!
And, yes, I was relieved when I could breathe easy again. I was right there with you and Jenna. xx
It’s scary how everything can change in an instant. I’m so thankful that day remained “ordinary” for both the boy and driver and you and your daughter. Sometimes I wonder if one of our activities in heaven will be listening as God tells us about some of the ways He protected us that we never knew about.
From where you began, Lisa, I didn’t think this was going to have a happy ending. Thank God it did! I’m so glad and that you are allowing this close call to ripple across your heart w/ gratitude. My mother and father witnessed the same kind of episode, but the young boy was killed, struck on his bike by a car. This too still ripples, but in shock for my mother, still with us. I think of the Texan parents and families and friends who witnessed literal ripples and waves of water and how life will never be the same. One weeps and simultaneously thanks God for life that remains. All of life is so transient, so fleeting, and if we let that truth sink in, perhaps we will ripple our appreciation outward in appreciation for others and trying to make a difference in their lives as they have done in ours.
Thank you, dear Lisa, for rippling your love and wisdom into me.
xo
Lynn
Oh, Lynn. I’m so sorry for the family who lost their son those years ago, and also for your parents who witnessed it. And yes, I also think about those grieving families in Texas whose loved ones literally rippled away in the floods. So very tragic! I love your sentiment that we who are still here can be inspired to take the opportunities we have to ripple out our appreciation to those around us. I definitely appreciate you, friend! Love you!
A beautiful reminder “to give thanks” for all the ways the Lord has protected us…even when we are unaware of it. How many accidents has He protected us from in the past? And the reminder to not take any time we have here for granted. Life truly is a gift.
Lisa, you had me on the edge of my seat! I’m so glad that day turned out like it did. Sometimes I wonder how many of those situations happen all around us that we aren’t even aware of. Like the parents of that child, we have no idea that God performed a miracle.
Your post really had me thinking… how many times have we witnessed, or even been part of, an ordinary moment that was, in fact, an extraordinary one where God has protected one and all? More than we realize, no doubt!
How scary to witness this “almost tragedy”! I am glad that the driver swerved in time to not hit the boy, and I hope the bicycle rider will be more alert to the traffic lights going forth. As parents and grandparents, we are always a bit worried about the dangers in life and pray for safety for our families!
This is such a powerful post, Lisa, and a fantastic reminder of how extraordinary ordinary moments are.
sometimes I thank God for ordinary days. We don’t realize at times how grateful we are for those near misses who never see. wow . each day, each moment is a blessing isn’t it?
Phew…
I was holding my breath.
Reminds me to be thankful for all the “near misses” that have come to nothing by the grace of God.
Oh, goodness! My only example I can think of is when I woke up the morning after a fitful night in the 1987 hurricane in the UK to find that a) the giant redwoods at my friend’s house had amazingly not fallen (actually I must have found that out later as the phone lines were all down), b) our big old apple tree was as tall as it was far from the house, so its top twigs were just touching the house.
I am picturing your apple tree being just the right height to not touch your house when it fell. My husband volunteers with our local disaster response team, and he’s trained me to look at trees differently when they grow too close to a house. He’s seen too many roofs caved in by beautiful tall trees!
I was holding my breath. I’m so glad the boy and the car did not collide. There could have been some awful ripples that day.
Stopping by from the July One Word Link-up.
Oh my goodness, this is such a moving post, Lisa! I am so glad the accident did not happen, but how scary for you both!
It reminded me of a day over 30 years ago when I was pregnant with my son. I was on my lunch break, trying to cross a road on the corner at a busy, crowded street. (There were no lights, just a pedestrian refuge in the centre of the road.) There were lots of other people, nipping out between cars and making it across the road. When I finally got close enough to the edge to cross, I went to step out into the road. For some reason, I just could not move. It felt like something was pushing me back. I remember there was time enough for me to feel frustrated, almost angry, and wonder what on earth this was happening – but in that same moment a car came whizzing around the corner at speed, fast enough it would have injured, if not killed, both me and my unborn son. I still remember feeling the whoosh of air as the car drove past me. As soon as the car had passed me, the feeling of being pushed back stopped, and I was able to cross the road safely. My heart was pounding like crazy with the realisation that it was divine intervention in some form or another that saved me. I still say thank you almost every day in my daily prayers, and I often wonder how many other, less dramatic occasions this has happened without me even realising it!
Thank you so much for sharing this post with Hearth and Soul.
I got chills as I was reading your story of what happened 30 years ago, April! I can’t imagine how different your life might have been had it turned out differently (if you had even survived it). And yes, I often wonder too how many other things we never realize we’re spared from because, thankfully, they DON’T happen! Grateful.
How this resonates
My husband 91 years old fell backwards out of the bath backwards and hit the radiator on the back of his head with such a force he fractured the vertebrae in his neck.
A little lower he would be paralysed a little higher either death or severe brain damage
We are being up held and supported by our local church here in Poole Dorset.
Oh, Jean, I am so sorry to hear this about your husband! I hope that he is recovering from this horrible fall. It sounds like you are receiving good support in Poole Dorset. May the community there continue to meet your needs.