A True Christmas Miracle Today

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son[d] from the Father, full of grace and truth… 

16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. John 1:14 & 16

Christmas is enough of a miracle just by delivering mankind from darkness, sin, and bondage, but just to let me know He is still in the miracle business, the Lord sent me my own miracle on this busy Saturday before Christmas.

I had a happy get-together with three friends after lunch. As the gabfest wound down, my dear friend Wanzie said, “I want to pray for Casey before she goes.” I actually thought she would pray for me to get my strength back from COVID, but instead she prayed, “Lord, help Casey get to her destination safely.” I was a bit puzzled as I was staying in the neighborhood, but I appreciated the thought.

Five minutes later, I was sitting in a long line of traffic, when a young woman pulled out from a shopping center on the right and tried to make a left turn across several lanes. I really didn’t think she could squeeze in front of my car, but she proceeded. With cars in back of me, there was no place for me to go. I was stuck. As she pulled into the oncoming traffic, a large Mercedes van hit her. That set in motion a chain of events that led to a multi-car accident. I had no option but to sit and watch the wreck as it happened all around me.  At one point, two cars were completely out of control and one flying through the air, winding up behind my car. The policeman said the van must have hit the smaller car just right to flip it that way.

I watched as the young woman tried desperately to get her car under control, but it hit hard and proceeded down the entire length of my car before she ground to a stop.  

So here is the miracle. We all walked away from our mangled cars. Sure, we were bumped and bruised, but we were all standing. If you could see the roof smashed down on the driver’s side of the van and it lying on its side (the driver’s side), you would have been sure that the driver had not escaped serious injury or worse.  I took a very hard hit and the entire driver’s side of my car is deeply bashed in, but once the police pried my door open, I realized I had no broken bones or cuts. No one was seriously injured in this chaotic chain reaction. Again, if you could have seen the damage to the cars, you would have said, “Impossible!”

I immediately thought of Wanzie’s prayer. Sometimes we don’t know why God puts someone on our heart to pray for or why we are prompted to pray a certain prayer. I hope  am always obedient in the future as Wanzie was to pray for whom He wants me to pray for and to pray what He lays on my heart—even if I don’t know why.

And here is the fun extra miracle that happened. The young woman who had been trying to make that left had immediately wanted the police to know exactly what she did, and she behaved with great integrity throughout the entire aftermath. As the police finally got me out of my car, this dear young woman came running up, terribly concerned that I might be hurt. As she walked up to me, she looked shocked and  said, “Mrs. Hawley!”

I was still stunned and hesitated. She said, “You taught me at Georgia Tech, and you even helped me with my resume before I graduated. Are you hurt? I am afraid you are hurt.”

I looked at her and said, “Yes, I remember you and have kept up with your career on LinkedIn because you made such an impression on me. And the God who brought us through this wreck so we can both be standing here like this is going to bring you through this. Do not let this spoil your Christmas. He has brought us through.”

She said, “I believe like that, too.”

So then I opened my trunk and gave her my book Adventures in Christianity. I said, “I am giving you this to encourage you. Do not let this accident spoil your Christmas.”

The delightful part of this little miracle is that the four or five policemen, several firemen, the tow truck drivers, and quite a crowd that had gathered were witnessing this and looked in complete disbelief as we “preferred one another” (Romans 12:10) under trying circumstances.

Because that is what Christians do. They pray for each other. They prefer one another. They act with integrity. They love each other in the worst of circumstances. They respond differently from the way the world responds. And all this because our Savior came to earth to deliver us from the nature we were born with to make us more like Him every day we walk with Him. He replaces our selfish, dark thoughts and motivations with more and more of His nature with each Christmas that rolls by. Surely, “…from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.” John 1:16