Potentially Fatal Accident Reminds Me Again of God's Great Faithfulness, Grace and Mercy <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
By Brannon Howse
October 19, 2010
On Monday, October 18th my wife and three children were returning home from four Worldview Weekend Rallies that included two in Milwaukee and one in Duluth and St. Paul.  Incidentally, all the rallies were filled to capacity and we had the privilege of equipping and encouraging 3,500 people over the four days these conferences were held. We were about an hour from our home in Tennessee when a front tire blew out on our motor coach. I had just had all the tires checked by our service company the week prior to our trip and they even replaced one tire.
We were traveling south on Interstate 55 when the left front tire blew out and pulled the motor coach directly to the left and down a steep embankment that separated I-55 south from I -55 north. The embankment was so steep I was certain the motor coach would flip over. I was working hard against the blown tire that was pulling us hard to the left. I was fighting to pull the steering wheel to the right with one hand over the other as fast and as hard as I could in an attempt to stop our projection to the left and into the oncoming traffic of I-55 north.  The motor coach went up the steep embankment on the other side and onto I-55 North. However, by this time, by the grace of God, the coach was going straight and the Lord allowed me to keep the coach in the lane closest to the median so oncoming traffic could go around us into the next lane. If the coach had not straightened out and continued to cross both lanes, oncoming traffic would have had no room by which to maneuver around the motor coach and we would have had a collision.
I continued to pull the steering wheel as hard and fast as I could to the right so I might get back down in the median and off I-55 north. Now that we were going back down the steep embankment, the opposite direction from which we entered, we were at risk of flipping the coach again for a second time.
When the coach finally came to a stop in the medium I let out a loud sigh and expressed my thankfulness to the Lord. The family sat in silence for a few seconds in utter amazement that God had protected us from numerous potentially fatal situations. I 55 north and south is known for being a high traffic interstate for not only cars but for a large number of semi-trucks coming up from the south down from the north and coming or going from I 40 that runs east towards Nashville. Yesterday was no exception as semi-traffic was brisk. If our coach had hit a car as we were going south in the north bound lane the potential for a fatality would have been high but if we had hit a semi-truck it would have been guaranteed. We are thanking the Lord for his protection and grace in our lives.
The responses were all the same whether from the state troopers to the towing company that replaced our tire and got us out the ditch, to the mechanics and auto body workers at the company that service the coach and are now assessing the damage-they all cannot believe the final outcome. We have been quick to tell them that it was the grace and mercy of God that protected our family and the other travelers on that interstate. Through this incident, we are once again reminded that life is a vapor and that each day is a gift from God to be used to serve Him and pursue His will for our lives for His ultimate honor and glory and the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Thank you to all of you that continually tell us via e-mail, facebook, and in person that you are praying for our family and our safety; your prayers were answered again yesterday. We will use this incident to speak of God's grace and protection so He might receive the honor and Glory for His great provision in our lives. Please join us in that proclamation.
God's mercy in this situation reminds me of one of my favorite hymns that includes this chorus: Great is Thy faithfulness, Great is Thy faithfulness, Morning by morning new mercies I see: All I have needed Thy hand hath providedGreat is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me!
 
Amen!