There but for the grace of God, go I

Friends, we need to talk.

I was slapped into reality this morning when my friend called to tell me what happened to her son.

He was hit by a car yesterday on his way to school.  He’s okay. Praise God.

The really weird and crazy thing is that her other son was hit by a car a year ago. Same situation.  By the grace of God, he’s okay too.

She called me wondering why this happened twice to the same family.  She wondered all day yesterday if she should tell people about it just as a reminder to be aware, go slow, drive carefully.  She questioned out loud if this was God, with a message. She drove her son to school today and was struck by all of the people driving while texting or looking at their email or talking on the phone in a school zone.

Here’s where this gets tricky.  I have done that.  No wait…I do that. UGH. I’m sitting here with my heart beating fast thinking…I could have hit her son.  That could have been me.

I think of the poor woman who was pulling out of her driveway and couldn’t see maybe because of the fence, maybe because we live so close to each other, maybe her baby was crying in the back, maybe she was in a hurry…there are so many maybes.  But here’s the sure thing…NONE OF US WANTS TO HURT A CHILD.

This is not a condemnation of moms or dads or big cars or cell phones.  This is a reminder for all of us to WAKE UP and LOOK UP and SLOW DOWN.

This is a reminder for me.

Remember when Oprah asked us to sign a petition not to text while driving?  I was so gung ho at the time…all in…stoked…responsible.  But as time has gone on, I have been careless…in a hurry…selfish…self important…forgetful…distracted.  My kids have yelled at me to put the phone down.  Let me repeat that because it’s so awful but it’s the truth and I need to bring it to light…my kids have yelled at me in the car while I was driving to put the cell phone down.

I’m mortified and embarrassed and so, so sorry.

The last thing I would ever want to do is hurt a child.  Not the kids outside the car and not the kids inside the car.  I think of the kids walking and riding bikes and skateboarding and laughing and playing and trusting the adults in their lives to make good choices and keep them safe.

Let’s not disappoint them.