Jeff's truck.
The other guy.

This day did not start well. Just as my kids were getting up and dressed, Jeff called to tell me he'd been in a bad wreck on I-65 North. His phone was rattling around in the console, so he reached down to pick it up and move it to the sticky pad. When he looked up, traffic in his lane had completely stopped and he barely had time to brake. He slammed into the back of the Honda Accord in front of him, knocking it into a fiberglass trailer, causing it to detach from the truck that was carrying it and turning it over onto the Interstate. As some of you might know from your morning commute, traffic was pretty backed up for a while.

We are praising God that everyone walked away. Jeff is suffering from whiplash, and was told by the EMT at the scene that he would be pretty sore for several days. The guy that he hit had some bruised ribs and a bump on his head from hitting the windshield, but was otherwise okay. He was so gracious, and assured Jeff that there was nothing he could have done. We are so thankful that things weren't so much worse.

When Jeff called me, I called Mom and Dad to ask if they could take Bryant to preschool for me so I could go pick Jeff up. When I was about to turn out of my neighborhood, I heard what sounded like a quick siren. I looked both ways and saw nothing. Since Bryant was playing his Leapster, I assumed what I had heard came from the video game. I actually thought to myself, "That is way too realistic. They shouldn't use that sound."

I went up the street about 50 yards and turned left into my mom's neighborhood. As I turned, I heard the siren again. This time I looked behind me to see some furious blue lights. I was completely confused and trying to figure out where in the heck he came from. So I pull over about two houses away from my parents' house. The police officer walks super slow up to the car and kind of introduces himself from behind my window and asks for my license, like he's afraid I'm going to make a sudden move.

"Officer," I say, "I don't understand what I've done." I explained that I had heard a siren, but didn't see anyone and thought it was a video game.

He said, "Ma'am, didn't you see me pull out behind you at [an intersection in my neighborhood]? What's wrong is that you completely ran that stop sign." I swear I have no memory of this and I never saw him.

I told him that I honestly didn't and explained to him what had happened and where I was headed. Luckily, he could tell that I was being honest and he was gracious enough to let me go with a warning to slow down and pay attention to what I was doing.

When we got home from picking up Jeff, Bailey discovered that her fish had died. Things were not going well.

While the specifics of this were unexpected, trouble was not. We leave in a little over a week on a mission for Christ. I know the Enemy hates that and will do everything in his evil power to mess things up for us before we go. His attacks are as predictable as they are relentless.

Please pray for Jeff's muscle soreness to go away before we get on a plane for all those many hours. Please pray that the truck is considered totaled. Please pray for Joe, the guy Jeff hit, that his soreness will be relieved soon. And I'm soliciting your prayer for our physical and spiritual protection as they day of departure draws near. I'm so grateful for you!