In A Split Second

We had just finished a good week at Pinebrook. This one was a vacation week and we had enjoyed the speaker and also being with a number of good friends. It was a good week. But since we had been away at Pinebrook 3.5 of the past 4 weeks, we decided to head home a day early. And to avoid traffic we left early, right after breakfast. We were driving south on 33, listening to a cd of last week's speaker. As we approached Wind Gap a few cars put on their turn signals to exit the four-lane highway on the right. I pulled into the passing lane, going about 60 mph. Suddenly I saw some object in my lane that covered about 3/4 of the lane. I hoped it was cardboard, Dianne thought it was metal, and we now think it might have actually been concrete. I had a split second to react. I wasn't sure if the cars had cleared on my right and there was little room between the object and the guard rail on the left. I swerved to the left, missed the guard rail, but caught the object in the front on the passenger side. If I had hit the object dead on, I think we might have rolled the car or lost control of it. I could have also hit the guard rail and bounced back into the lane of traffic. But the Lord protected us and I was able to control our damaged car and get off the road to the right, at the far end of the on ramp access from the highway below. I knew we had damage and there really was no shoulder to get off because of the guard rail. It wasn't safe where we were so I made a decision to try to back down the access road. I realized I could cause more damage to the car by driving, but there was no other choice. Several drivers coming up the ramp passed us, but none stopped to help. Despite the fact that I had my flashers on and stopped when a car was approaching us from behind, one lady was upset at me and made all sorts of hand gestures to us as she passed us. No good Samaritans were there. Finally I backed down the ramp only to find a divided highway below blocked our access to possible help across the road. So I decided instead to try to head towards Wind Gap because we could see a car lot there. We finally limped into what turned out to be a Chevy dealer. The service folks there were very kind. They looked at the car and said we'd need two new tires and a new wheel. However, they couldn't locate a new or used wheel, so they decided to try to straighten our bent one in hopes of getting us the final 100 miles to home. It was a long wait for us in a small crowded waiting room with nothing to do. Three hours later and $350 poorer we headed home, arriving there safely 6.5 hours after we had left Pinebrook. PTL! We still need a new wheel and a new wheel cover. And we're not sure if Toyota will find any additional problems when they check it out for us on Monday. If they don't, we might get by for another $300. But we thank the Lord for so many things - we were able to avoid hitting it head-on, we were able to stop safely at an access road, we were able to get the car down the rmp backwards, there was a good garage close by, we were able to get competent help, we were able to get home the same day, and most important, neither of us were hurt physically. It could have been a much more serious accident. And for those of you who insist on using your cell phones when you drive (I never do), if I had been talking on a cell phone I could never have reacted in time to avoid hitting it head-on. We don't know why the Lord allowed this to happen to us, but we do know He protected us. We have learned to pray every time we leave for a trip, for lives can change drastically in just a second. Thank the Lord that our lives are in His hands. And we will be heading back to Pinebrook again soon - maybe we'll see our wheel cover on the next trip.