This is my brother with the vehicle we referred to as "The Plymouth." After the accident, it was our only car–at least for a while.
People are shocked when I explain that I was allowed to drive at 14 in South Dakota (dawn to dusk). They should be shocked! If they only knew the crazy way we drove at that age. We drove 80 miles an hour on gravel hills because fish tailing was fun. We drove one another's cars, or should I say we drove the cars that belonged to one another's parents. My girlfriend stopped her vehicle by throwing the transmission into park. You can imagine how excited I am to have my own kids get behind the wheel.
When I was 16, I could drive at night, and often did. We lived a good distance from my high school and I was involved in a number of extracurricular activities that kept me from home until later. I also had a boyfriend (don't tell my kids). I don't recall what had me driving the Plymouth home in the dark alone one particular evening, but I will never forget the drive.
On a dark and deserted county road, I suddenly heard a voice yell, "Watch out for that deer!" I was so startled, I slammed on the brakes. That's when a deer ran across the road in front of me. I spent the rest of the trip home trying to figure out what had just happened.
Had I seen the deer in my peripheral vision? Honestly, no. Was I looking out for deer? No again. Whose voice was that? Honestly, it seemed to be mine, but like someone else had taken over my head. It was too loud to be a thought. What would have happened if I had not heard the voice? Would I have been injured or killed? Would another accident have crippled my family financially and emotionally?
1 Kings 19:12 calls God's communication "a still small voice." I can't recall God ever yelling at me other than the night I avoided a deer collision. But I have heard His still small voice many times. I look forward to telling you what He had to say.
Could He be speaking to you, too?
for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care. Today, if only you would hear his voice (Psalm 95:7)
Mel,
I’m intrigued by these last few posts regarding your past. I’ve been taking a focused and intense look back at my own life for some personal reasons lately (with a “friend”), and its interesting what comes up. I just shared with the FB Bib Stud group about one of those past experiences and it involved a still small voice that I was hearing in the most desperate times of my life, before I was even saved. Again, thanks for sharing your God experiences with us.
Thanks for sharing that! It’s been a really interesting process for me, too–thinking back to God’s involvement in my life. I’m glad God chose active and big for His voice with the deer. 🙂
Immediately I thought of Billy giving June a ride home after Lil’ Abner practice and falling asleep on the way home. We really were lucky that none of us were hurt worse than we were. Racing on the frozen Big Sioux, bombing it on Thrill Hills, turning off the lights coming over the blind hill by the Egan Cemetary…Dumb! DUMB! DUMB!!
God watches out for the young and stupid and for a time I was both!!!
Shane
Dumb is right. I had forgotten about that! I’ve forgotten so much honestly. I was reading my year book and this girl was reminding me of all the fun things we did together and I don’t remember her at all. LOL!
I have been cursed and/or blessed with a steel trap memory. Drives everyone in my life crazy, but is also quite handy much of the time.