why it's important to be a defensive driver...

...because it will save your life. case in point.

now that i'm calmed down and breathing a little more steady, let me share with you my near death experience (as well as the girl's, unfortunately). due to an insane, ridiculous, careless driver who needs to know what a solid yellow strip on his side means, the girls and i almost became the meat in a subi-ford sandwich. and i'm not exaggerating.

i was traveling the speed limit (45 mph) down a familiar road of small hills that glide up and down along the four mile stretch. i thank the Lord i wasn't glancing down at the radio. or my cell phone. or back at the girls. i thank the Lord my eyes were steady on the road. concentrating. paying attention to where i was going. and what was coming at me.

as i peaked the top of a small hill, i saw a row of vehicles (approximately four, maybe five), big and small, in the oncoming lane. i also saw a very large, over-sized truck right in front of me. the grill of the truck was gaging closer with every mile per hour he added to his gas pedal attempting to pass those that apparently were going too slow. surprisingly, i didn't panic. i kinda always wanted to know what i would do in a situation like this. oncoming car, or in this case, a monstrous truck. would i slow down? would i yank the steering wheel out of control, flying off the road? would i swerve right? left?

i immediately pressed hard on the brake and gently swerved off the road to the right, kicking up dirt and rock. monstrous-truck-man gained speed to squeeze into a gap between another truck and car in his appropriate lane. no time to lay on my horn. no time to scream. hardly time to even take a breath. he missed us by a split second. and my blood started pumping again.

thank You, Lord, for Your protection. for Your hand on my wheel. thank You, that You foresaw this event.

apparently, today was not the day to dance with Jesus. i'm definitely okay with that. it took me a minute to gain back the speed i needed to go to make it to our destination, which happened to be the doctor's office...for both girls. to add to our lovely drama today, the girls are pretty sick. jessa with flu. miley with the bad cold crud.

this situation today made me think about life things. situations like that tend to do that to me. not that i've had many of them. but when given a chance to really think about what's important in life, i like to take it.