Random Acts of Grace

Yesterday I had one of those experiences where God’s grace was just unmistakable.  Maureen, Jonathan, and I set off for the capital city of Lomé early in the morning.  We had planned to leave both our boys with our teammates, but Jonathan is having a stomach bug and we decided to take him to the doctor.  I had a couple of other appointments as well.

The road that leads from our small town out to the main two-lane highway through the country is badly potholed.  Some work has been done recently, however, to patch some of these holes.  Crews “cook” the tar in barrels on the side of the road, and mix it with gravel to seal the holes.  The gravel on top remains loose for a while.

We were driving over some of this loose gravel, when we passed one of the big trucks that have destroyed the road, on their way back and forth to our local cement factory.  The truck threw gravel as it passed us, and apparently a pretty large piece hit our windshield in the upper right corner, right in front of where Maureen always sits.  The corner of the windshield shattered, but remained intact, except for glass splinters that showered the passenger seat where Maureen always sits.

Only yesterday, she wasn’t sitting there.  She had decided to sit in the back seat with Jonathan in case he needed attention.  If she had been sitting there, she may have just gotten a lap full of glass.  Of one of those splinters may have gone into her eye.  We just don’t know.  But we are thankful for God’s random acts of grace.