Crazy Day!

I wasn’t going to blog about this as to spare the poor family greater embarrassment, but as it was on the news I figured it was ok. Plus, the experience was a reminder to me that the Lord uses us in small ways to be His hands.

Yesterday I stayed late at work to get some homework done. I had a meeting later and knew I wouldn’t have time to make dinner and I was starved so I decided to order take out from Olive Garden. I never order extra breadsticks but thought I would this time to share with my sister and boy. Around 6:00 pm as I arrived to pick up my meal, I noticed commotion around the Shade store that shares the parking lot. I looked over to see this:


That’s right, a minivan inside the store. The vehicle was not intended as a display if you know what I mean. A teenager was practicing driving with her mother and when she went to park she kept hitting the gas instead of the break. By the time she realized what she was doing, she was in the back of the store. Miraculously no one was hurt. My boss’s wife owns the store and he sent me the picture. When I got there they were just starting to back the car out.

Curiosity led me to check out the scene and as I was leaving I noticed the distressed mother sitting to the side on the lawn. I stopped to see if she was ok or if she needed anything and she asked me to sit with her. I stayed with her and chatted for quite a while and helped her calm down while her husband cleaned glass off the car and dealt with the authorities.

When he was able to sit with her and I was able to get my meal, I realized why I had ordered extra breadsticks. (Oh, and in Olive Garden I ran into a bunch of old friends which was fun and also unexpected.) I took the poor couple some breadsticks to hold them over until they could go home. It wasn’t much but I’m grateful the Lord was able to provide her a friend and food when she really needed it.

After that craziness, I went to a neighborhood safety meeting because there have been shootings right by my house. It’s quite unnerving to think that we live in a warzone. We don’t really but there were three houses shot within a month in drive-by shootings. Once again, thankfully no one was hurt, but we are all on edge in the area. Hopefully they will solve this one soon.