I knew I was a dead woman

Y'all...the craziest thing happened to me Saturday.

On the highway.

The interstate to be exact.

Interstate 40 on my way to Nashville to be even more exact.

Just 30 minutes away from Nashville.

And....I was all by my poor little lonesome.

Here we go....the tragedy that almost was on I-40 and how God chose to reveal His sweet self.

Saturday was a gloomy kind of day here in West TN and I was scheduled to travel to Nashville to help celebrate THE ONLY GIRL IN THE FAMILY 1st birthday. This is my brothers very first child and he is the lovely age of 43. Don't you love that? Of course I'll be there.

So...I'm boppin' along and life is great. I stop in Dickson to get gas at a lovely (ahem) gas station whose bathrooms were "temporarily" out of order and then I was back on my way.

As soon as I got back on the interstate, my tire pressure light came on and then the screen where it shows all the tire pressure numbers came on. I didn't really panic until I saw the back left tire numbers.

The other tires are in the high 30's and this back left tire started off at 20, then 16, then 11, and then 6 and then I'm pulling over.

My first thought was (and being a bit dramatic in my mind) SHE'S GONNA BLOW AND I'M GONNA FLIP!!!! GET THE CAR OVER BEFORE I FLIP! FLIP FLIP FLIP!!!!!

So, I pull over, open the door, and just stick my head out to look at the dang tire. FLAT AS A PANCAKE.

Big dang.

Ummm, excuse me, but I had no idea what to do next without my husband. Oh, maybe I'll call him and see what I should do. Good idea. Thank you Lord for cell phones.

He doesn't answer. Oh, yeah, he's coaching a baseball game. That's why I'm going alone. He is not answering.

Next, I will call my brother and other family members and tell him what's going on. I'm still calm. More ticked than anything. But, I'm ok.

Finally, hubs calls back and he gives me the number to Verizon roadside service and that's when I noticed my hands starting to shake a little. Maybe in the back of my head I begin thinking about the I-40 strangler that sees me from the trees and is about to come kill me.

I get the dumbest woman alive on the planet who helped me. I couldn't have been more clear with her on where I was. I imagined her to be in South Dakota so I gave her every last detail under the sun. She asked me if I was past Briley Parkway and I know I screamed "THAT IS IN NASHVILLE WOMAN!" That's probably when she decided not to help the poor stranded woman on the side of I-40.

After 20 dreadfully long minutes, she came back on the line and told me that a wrecker/towing service would be there to help me in an hour and a half. EXCUSE ME ??????!!!!! I'm sorry, I thought you said you'd be here to help me in 90 minutes???

Ok, that is when I'm certain my first near panic attack began to show itself. From this point on it got really ugly. And, I mean emotionally ugly. My cute little birthday outfit wearing self was sweating, bawling, and trying to be nice to people on the phone. It's not so cute any more.

When the wrecker service lady called me, I bawled and squalled to her and told her that I couldn't possibly wait that long, she felt a tiny bit sorry for me. I might have told her that I was certain that I read about the I-40 strangler in the paper that morning. She called me back later to tell me that they would be there in 20 minutes. I think I was trying to catch my breath and act like I had it all together and that surely I could wait 20 minutes.

I somehow managed to find the Tennessee Highway Patrol number via google via my cell phone and that would be *847 and I HIGHLY SUGGEST EVERYONE PUT THAT IN YOUR PHONE.
They sent a state trooper about the same time the tow trucker wrecker guy showed up.

Could he be the I-40 strangler that I'm thinking about??? I'm seriously checking him out.

Let's just say that when I saw a woman sitting in the front seat of his truck I almost ran out and gave her the biggest hug possible. Because I knew she would be safe and they couldn't be the I-40 couple stranglers. They had to be safe. HAD TO BE.

As a matter of fact, did you know that you can stay inside the car while they change your tire? And, the sweet woman in the truck was the one I talked to on the phone. She was the precious lady who listened to me lose it.

So, they fix me up after a whopping 5 minutes and I'm on way. I'm driving 60mph on this full-sized spare. I don't care. I'm scared. Let's just driving 60mph takes you a little longer to get home too.

I happen to be behind the state trooper who casually waves "crazy woman" as he speeds away and then I'm behind wrecker truck guy and family and I know I'm waving like crazy and mouthing "thank you thank you thank you thank you" as they skidaddle away.

I get right behind them as I get off the interstate to turn around and head home. I almost died and am beyond wiped out so the birthday party is going to have to carry on without me. And, I'm certain my head will split open at any time. So, I'm behind wrecker dude and his wife and guess what sticker is on the back of their truck??

Got Jesus???

OH I PRAISED HIM RIGHT THERE IN MY CAR!!!!! I've never cried so hard in my life.

Yes, I got Jesus. And, yes, He sent some precious family to take care of my whacked out self on the side of the road.

God provides for us all day long. Sometimes we can see it clearly, but sometimes we can't.

My prayer is that you look closely for Him. Thank Him. Praise Him. You never know how God is going to show Himself to you. You never know how He'll reveal Himself to you.

Thank you Pruitt wrecking service in Dickson TN for being there for me. Thank you God for them. I saw Jesus through them. They were beautiful.

Love you all!!!