Rico and I had just come back from a romantic dinner. Oh how I reminisce over the laughs, the smiles, the conversation, the batting of the eyes, and the charm of his face. We don’t get to have date nights but once every six months or sometimes it seems longer so tonight was just perfect. My mom was okay and the kids were excited their parents were trying to rekindle the fire.
I prayed for sparks and good vibes and God gave us fireworks- just not the kind you may be thinking about. (There is a twist to the story you must keep reading).
As we prepared Emmanuel for bed suddenly we heard a screech and then a loud BOOM. It was a sound I have heard many times over the several years growing up at mom and dads house. It was the sound of a car that had either crashed into the tree in my moms front yard, ran into the brick wall across the street or somewhere in between the two.
Remember those fireworks I mentioned earlier? Well my natural instinct was to grab my shoes and head outside. As I walked over to the window in anticipation to see where the car had landed the sky turned white. The transmitter had just fallen onto the power line and the sparks were blazing everywhere. I yelled out to Rico to call 911 because if the person was trapped inside we didn’t want them to be caught on fire.
I ran to the living room door and without shoes, a coat, or anything I was going down the steps to try to rescue the person. The sparks started back so Rico yelled for me to come back into the house, so I did. Seconds later the sparks stopped and a small fire began to surface near the ground. At this point it was life or death for whomever could be trapped inside so I walked swiftly to get my shoes and head back outside.
Rico ran to the rescue like Sonic the Hedgehog while I trailed behind him. It was pitch black at this point so using the flash light on our phones, we tried to make our way to the car. When we got there I said “Oh my God”, the car had flipped over the brick wall and landed top down. Moving past the debris, the water pump in the road way, and small parks we made way to beside the car looking for the person or persons trapped on the inside.
We were the first persons at the scene but a mother and daughter came up moments later after hearing the crash and wanted to help. Sparks began to flare up again so I yelled to the mother to get back. Lord knows we didn’t want anyone else getting hurt and it wasn’t safe because we didn’t know if the car was leaking gas and could blow up.
As soon as it was safe Rico, the mother, daughter, and I surrounded the car looking for the person inside. We couldn’t find anyone so Rico got down on his knees and looked on the inside- what little of it we could see. There was no one.
Rico finally got a hold of a 911 operator. In an excited tone Rico described to the operator what had happened. Of course they have to ask a lot of questions but in the moment we just wanted the help to get there.
To the right of where I was standing I heard a faint voice yell out “help.” I replied “where are you, I can’t see anything but I’m coming to you, are you okay?” The mother and daughter duo left where they were searching by the car and came to help me search. Rico being the protector that he is ran in front of me.
The next voice we heard was a deep male voice saying “who that” in a threatening tone. I braced myself because we only wanted to help but realized we could have put ourselves in harms way. It was so hard to see anyone or anything because it was pitch black but I saw a young lady standing on the fence line of the hotel that was near. A car was parked on the other side of the fence facing the road.
Moments later the man who yelled, the lady on the fence, and the car were gone. Gone. Vanished into the darkness.
Rico and I were speechless because how could they have gone, where could we have gone?!
We turned our attention back to the faint voice who called out for help. We searched high and low. By this time there was a couple that came up that came to assist as well. The young male said looking at the car he could tell the person could have gotten ejected and was probably in the field near by. We spread out to canvas the area.
The young mans girlfriend who was exposed from the waist down shined her light in my direction and we searched behind the building looking for the driver of the vehicle. Rico was brave and was going to go towards the field with the young man whose girlfriend was with me.
Shortly after, 3 more people arrived on the scene, we continued to search high and low. On the way back towards the car I searched the ground looking for anything that could help lead to the person, I found a medicine bottle. I was amazed at how many feet away from the car the medicine bottle was. Rico found the owners manual, but still no sign of the owner of the vehicle.
I had already been praying but at this point I had prayed for God to give me the strength to endure what was next. Due to the severity of the car and the minutes that had gone by without hearing the person who cried for help, their voice, I had to prepare myself mentally to discover a lifeless body or worse maybe several lifeless bodies.
Soon thereafter the fire trucks arrived, it was 3 to be exact. Then came the ambulance followed by the police. It was a parade of help. As much as I have taken training for EMS/Dispatch and as much as I knew that we were to move out of the way and let the experts do their job; I couldn’t pull myself to leave. Neither Rico, the mother and daughter duo, the young couple, the couple in the mini van, and later we found out one of the police officers younger brother was one of the persons wanted to leave. So we didn’t!
While Rico and the firefighters and police searched in the field I told the EMS worker pushing the gurney that there was no body and we couldn’t find the person. The search continued, still no body. The firefighter and Rico found a gun. The crash site had now become a crime scene.
It was chaotic, no order, so many Indians but no chief.
After about 30-45 minutes and providing information to the officers and firefighters Rico and I decided to call it a night. We were the first ones there and the last ones to leave.
On our way back across the street Rico and I stood in the driveway talking. While we talked we noticed a young man hobbling on the sidewalk in front of the house. He was limping but trying to walk as fast as he could. The firefighters, paramedics, and police that were still on the scene chatting amongst themselves and didn’t notice him. I wanted to yell out “hey, look at him maybe he knows something or was the driver.” But a small voice inside told me to be still. Although I didn’t speak, I pointed vigorously at the man in hopes they would stop the guy for questioning.
Rico thought the guy wasn’t involved but the more he saw him hobble, the more he thought maybe it was him. He hobbled and hobbled until he was out of our site.
Our work was done so we came inside. The kids who ran downstairs frightened for their lives when they heard the noise and after the power went off were now sound asleep. I went upstairs to check on my mother- she looked relieved to see me. I hadn’t known that she was texting my phone to check on us since I didn’t carry that phone with me.
I lit a candle, got her situated and then came back downstairs. A hummer sat outside for about 45 minutes to an hour across from the crime scene, two police officers staked out in the cut, Dominion came to try and restore power. Rico and I went to sleep speechless, cold, and still in shock from what had just happened.
After tossing and turning and being extremely cold, we woke up to light and what appeared to be a very bad dream. But it wasn’t a dream; it really happened.
Rico went to look outside and you won’t believe it- everything was gone. Like it never happened if we hadn’t had the pictures and the vivid memory and the voice of the faded voice asking for help no one could have told me just hours before there was an accident.
Take a deep breath; exhale and let it go!
Now I want to put a biblical twist to the story. How many of us have found ourselves calling out for help in the midst of darkness? How many of us have crashed, been tossed every which way, how many of us have been turned upset down and landed bottom up? How many of you have had people come to your rescue but in the thick of things rescue never came?
Ever been in a situation like that: mentally, physically, physiologically, or even spiritually? Who was your help? Where did your help come from?
The Bible tells us in the book of Psalm, 121st chapter it reads:
It says the Lord is our keeper, He is our shade at our right hand. When we sleep on God He never sleeps on us. He is always awake!
In the story I shared we were unable to find the person calling out for help. Aren’t you happy that anytime you cry out for help God hears your voice and He invites us to come to Him for shelter. He sends His angels to protect us. He may use the mother and daughter, the firefighter, the paramedic, Rico, you name it to help rescue you.
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying,”I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of the life.”
John 8:12
The Bible tells us that God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all. So when and if we find ourselves in the darkness call out and and glorify God whom is the light.
This morning I am thanking the Lord for bringing me out of darkness. I am praising His Holy name right now because He rescued me. I could have been dead and in my grave but God saw fit to spare my life. I owe it all to Him and because I owe it all to Him I will spend the rest of my days spreading the Good News and telling folks about His love and His word.
The Bible says we are the light of the world and we should walk as children of the light. Are you walking as a child of the light or are you still walking in darkness?
Today I urge everyone who reads today message to let your light shine out of the darkness of this world. I ask that we all allow the spirit of the Lord to dwell within our hearts and that we share the love of Christ with those we come into contact with.
Jesus came into the world as the light so whomever believe in Him would not live in continued darkness.
In closing, I want to challenge you to allow the Lord to be your everlasting light and for God to be your glory. Read Isaiah 58-60.
Challenge accepted? Comment below if you accept today’s challenge. Make sure you share the message, press the like button in the comments section, and respond to today’s message if you accept the challenge. Lastly, support this inspirational blog and subscribe today!!!! God bless you!
Amen
Wow oh wow. What an event. Glad God put his people in place. Do you think it was symbolic of the woman and man being there and then disappearing just like that? And still there was no body but a man hobbling by? Wow. Well the truth will come out. Always do. Thanks for the encouragement.
Yes I truly think there was a symbolic message here. It’s like the Holy Spirit- He is our Helper and He is there even when we don’t see it.
Oh but it gets deeper than that into what I believe God was saying here. It was already a long read maybe I should have written a part 2 to go into further detail.