Tree by Susan L.

  Around five thirty last night a horrendous crash shook the house. It momentarily drowned out the howling wind that was rumbling overhead like constant thunder. I knew exactly what it was. The dead tree in my front yard, all forty five feet of it, had come crashing down.
  I went flying out to see if the road was blocked, wary of the wind and wary of the other big tree in the front that was swaying dangerously back and forth. The pavement was littered with chunks of branch and bark, blown outwards from the force of the impact. The main trunk had fallen sideways along the shoulder narrowly missing the small, green phone box that houses the connections for everyone who lives in my little community.
  My neighbours came out as well and we began to clear the road. Or should I say, they cleared the road with snow shovels while I kept an eye out for cars. It was quitting time for many so the traffic was constant. A couple of people didn't even see us even though I was waving my coat frantically to get them to slow down. They went flying by, tossing up debris in their wake. A couple of people hit their brakes only when they realized there was something on the road. They hadn't seen any of us.
  I am relieved the tree is down. I am relieved it fell away from the houses. I am extremely grateful no one got hurt by the tree or by a car. Thank You, Lord for answered prayers.
  What amazes me is no one stopped even when there was still a lot of good sized tree litter on the road. The majority only slowed down and drove over it despite the people (us) who were trying to clear things up. Nobody was willing to stop and wait for the ten minutes or so that it took to clear the roadway. Or maybe it was fifteen because we had to wait for the steady stream of cars to pass. I know everyone was anxious to get home after a long day but seriously, is a ten minute delay going to change things that much?
  Which leads into one of my favorite ponderings. God often puts things in our way to slow us down. A truck, a school bus, or red light after red light can be very frustrating especially when we are in a hurry (when aren't we?). The one thing we don't know is what He has protected us from. Maybe, had we been going as fast as we wanted, we could have been involved in a car accident. Maybe we wouldn't even be here to have supper with our family. Maybe we might have ended up in a wheelchair. The maybees are limitless.
  I try to be thankful when things derail my schedule because I'll never know the might have been.
  "You crown the year with Your goodness, and Your paths drip with abundance, they drop on the pastures of the wilderness and the little hills rejoice on every side." Ps 65:11-12