John 14:27 - Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
when accidents happen image of our smashed car

When Accidents Happen

By Karen S Musselman

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When accidents happen, and they will, how should Christians react? You might think, ‘Well, it depends on the accident.’

How Should Christians React When Accidents Happen?

My husband came and woke me up the other day and said, “I think I just totaled my car.” I’m like.. “What?!”

I looked out the window and sure enough, the whole back end of the car, minus the bumper, was smashed and twisted, and the rear window was missing. He has an old, 2001, Subaru Forester that he loves.

After I got my 1999 green Subaru Forester, he liked it so much, that he found one for himself. His and Hers Subarus.

His car is the daily driver. He uses it to run errands, shopping, going to auctions, etc. Mine is the Grandma Sunday-go-to-church car. We keep the mileage lower on it, under 5,000 a year, so it doesn’t need the emissions inspection we Pennsylvanians are subject to.

He had to call the other driver’s insurance company to make a claim. No problem.

This was Truly an Accident!

Hubby was sitting still in a short line of cars right on the other side of the crest of a hill. The township had workers out mowing the sides of the road. Did they have flags out warning oncoming traffic? Flag people to alert drivers to slow down? Oh, no, they did not. That would make sense!

when accidents happen flagger holding a stop sign

My husband had to come to a screeching halt to miss the car in front of him! So, he sees this truck coming and thought, ‘She can’t see me yet.’ So he braced.

And sure enough, as much and as hard as this young woman slammed on the brakes and veered toward the side of the road, the smash was inevitable. It was either his car or the telephone pole. Thankfully, she did not hit the pole.

Their Reactions? Priceless.

The young woman, who was about my stepdaughter’s age, jumped out of her truck yelling, ‘Are you okay?!’ She was a nervous wreck, understandably. He said, ‘I’m fine. Are YOU okay?’

She just stood there, and then said, ‘Can I just give you a hug?’ She was a shaking mess. My husband agreed; it was the fatherly thing to do. It was the Christian thing to do when accidents happen like this one; an accident that was neither driver’s fault. There was no advanced warning or anything to slow down.

In fact, as soon the two vehicles smashed, the township workers packed up and left in a hurry. That was real nice of them.

When Accidents Happen, God is Watching!

As it turned out, I believe that young woman is a Believer, too. Her husband graduated from a private Christian school and he was super polite on the phone with my husband, who had to call him for the insurance information. His wife was such a mess – again-understandably so! – that she forgot to give my husband her insurance card.

It could have easily been so much worse, like had she missed his car and ran into the telephone pole. Or pushed him into the car in front of him.

accidents faith

Another “miracle” of sorts, she was driving a lifted truck, almost identical to our own truck. When she hit his car, the front of the truck was well above the bumper, so no damage to the bumper or the frame!

My husband’s already talking to a couple of people, one of them from our church, about helping him fix it so we can keep it and put it back on the road. There’s no mechanical damage to it; no damage to the underside of the car either. Just the twisted liftgate and the blown out window.

All is well! They both walked away uninjured, and we Praise God for that!

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When Accidents Happen

by

When accidents happen, and they will, how should Christians react? You might think, ‘Well, it depends on the accident.’

How Should Christians React When Accidents Happen?

My husband came and woke me up the other day and said, “I think I just totaled my car.” I’m like.. “What?!”

I looked out the window and sure enough, the whole back end of the car, minus the bumper, was smashed and twisted, and the rear window was missing. He has an old, 2001, Subaru Forester that he loves.

After I got my 1999 green Subaru Forester, he liked it so much, that he found one for himself. His and Hers Subarus.

His car is the daily driver. He uses it to run errands, shopping, going to auctions, etc. Mine is the Grandma Sunday-go-to-church car. We keep the mileage lower on it, under 5,000 a year, so it doesn’t need the emissions inspection we Pennsylvanians are subject to.

He had to call the other driver’s insurance company to make a claim. No problem.

This was Truly an Accident!

Hubby was sitting still in a short line of cars right on the other side of the crest of a hill. The township had workers out mowing the sides of the road. Did they have flags out warning oncoming traffic? Flag people to alert drivers to slow down? Oh, no, they did not. That would make sense!

when accidents happen flagger holding a stop sign

My husband had to come to a screeching halt to miss the car in front of him! So, he sees this truck coming and thought, ‘She can’t see me yet.’ So he braced.

And sure enough, as much and as hard as this young woman slammed on the brakes and veered toward the side of the road, the smash was inevitable. It was either his car or the telephone pole. Thankfully, she did not hit the pole.

Their Reactions? Priceless.

The young woman, who was about my stepdaughter’s age, jumped out of her truck yelling, ‘Are you okay?!’ She was a nervous wreck, understandably. He said, ‘I’m fine. Are YOU okay?’

She just stood there, and then said, ‘Can I just give you a hug?’ She was a shaking mess. My husband agreed; it was the fatherly thing to do. It was the Christian thing to do when accidents happen like this one; an accident that was neither driver’s fault. There was no advanced warning or anything to slow down.

In fact, as soon the two vehicles smashed, the township workers packed up and left in a hurry. That was real nice of them.

When Accidents Happen, God is Watching!

As it turned out, I believe that young woman is a Believer, too. Her husband graduated from a private Christian school and he was super polite on the phone with my husband, who had to call him for the insurance information. His wife was such a mess – again-understandably so! – that she forgot to give my husband her insurance card.

It could have easily been so much worse, like had she missed his car and ran into the telephone pole. Or pushed him into the car in front of him.

accidents faith

Another “miracle” of sorts, she was driving a lifted truck, almost identical to our own truck. When she hit his car, the front of the truck was well above the bumper, so no damage to the bumper or the frame!

My husband’s already talking to a couple of people, one of them from our church, about helping him fix it so we can keep it and put it back on the road. There’s no mechanical damage to it; no damage to the underside of the car either. Just the twisted liftgate and the blown out window.

All is well! They both walked away uninjured, and we Praise God for that!

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