A Close Call

Every person has close calls in life that really make them stop and think. Today we had one of those on the way home from the playground. Nina was riding her tricycle and I was pushing Lyla in the car. When we're walking down the sidewalk with driveways on it, I always make sure Nina doesn't ride too far ahead of me, and on this occasion today we were almost home and Nina was riding about 6 or 7 feet in front of me when I hear a garage door open. I hear the sound of a car, and look up to see the white lights of a car in the garage telling me the car was in reverse. It was the driveway directly in front of Nina, and I yelled, "Nina, stop!" while leaving Lyla and running forward to grab the back of her tricycle. Nina listens and stops just as I reach her; meanwhile the driver of the car zooms backward out of her driveway without ever looking behind her. On the street when she goes to put the car in drive, she looks up and sees us standing there at the edge of her driveway, and the shock on her face was evidence that she, too, realized it was a close call.

You can try with everything in you to protect your kids, and sometimes you can, but ultimately you just have to trust God to take care of them. But, imagine if you were never given the opportunity to try? Imagine if your kid(s) were taken away from you and placed in deplorable and horrifying situations and you were never given the chance to save them? That is the plight of so many parents and children in the world right now. The book I'm currently reading, Not For Sale, highlights the plight of many in that situation. If you don't believe me, check out the latest goverment released Trafficking in Persons report for 2009 for some sober reading this weekend. However, if you want to be inspired, check out the "Heroes" section of the report where people from all over the world are doing really great things to try and help solve this problem. It inspires me, and I hope it inspires anyone that reads this blog also. So, lesson learned from close call: Thank God for his protection on my kids, always be conscious of their safety, and remind myself every day that all kids need someone to look out for them too, and ask myself what more I can be doing to be a part of a happy ending for them.