When I arrive home from Bible study, I look at the weather report. Yes, the storm is supposed to hit on Wednesday, but it should be clearing out by Thursday afternoon. I am excited. "Oh good! I need to travel on Thursday to make my Friday morning appointment. Praise be to God, the storm should be gone by the time I arrive in the late afternoon." I check the weather report again on Wednesday evening. Again, the news has not changed. The storm is moving as expected. There should only be isolated showers on Thursday afternoon.
Thursday morning, I pack up the car. I am happy to see the sun is brightly shining. It is going to be a good day to drive. When I am two hours from the medical center, I notice the clouds are thickening up. I think to myself, "This is odd. I wonder why there are all these clouds since the storm is supposed to be clearing out of the area." I continue to drive; the cloud density increases.
About an hour from the medical center, the skies in front of me are BLACK!!! The western, eastern and northern skies are thick darkness. My heart sinks. I see a bright flash of lightning straight ahead of me. I know I have made a grave mistake. I should have stayed home. The storm has not left. It is roaring away. I could turn around and go home, but I an only an hour away from my destination. I am extremely tired from driving. I long to go to sleep. I do not have the energy to drive five hours back home. Besides, maybe the weather is not as bad as it looks. Maybe the weather would hold until I am closer to my hotel. If I was not supposed to have come on this trip, I am sure God would have put some stumbling blocks in my way. He will take care of me.
A few minutes after thinking these thoughts, rain begins to fall. It changes very quickly from a light sprinkle into a downpour. I want to cry. For the next 25 miles, there is road construction. The highway turns from an interstate into a two lane make-shift road which haphazardly meanders along a frontage road and over badly torn up old freeway lanes. The next 25 miles is extremely dangerous to drive during ideal road conditions. Add the slightest amount of water and the roadway pools with water and floods. I want to pull over or stop, but there is no where to go. The construction has shut down most of the exits. Concrete barriers keep the traffic moving in two narrow lanes. Not knowing what else to do, I continue driving into the darkness.
As I drive and the rain impedes my ability to see the roadway, I decide to implore my blizzard driving skills. I find a semi truck with bright tail lights and follow him. When he breaks, I break. When he swerves, I swerve. I follow the semi, keeping a small stopping distance between the two of us. I pray the man driving the big rig can see the freeway. I cannot see anything but sheets of rain flowing down my windshield and the tail lights in front of me.
Suddenly, the semi slams on his breaks. I break as hard as I can without hydroplaning. A foot of water covers the roadway. The semi manages to make it safely through. I step on the gas and pray I can make it through the water. As I am attempting to cross, a large pickup truck speeds pass me in the next lane next to me through the interstate lake. Water flies up over my car. I cannot see! I hang on to the steering wheel with all my might as the impact of the water against my car threatens to pulls me off the roadway and into the flooded ditch. I pray, "Jesus, help me!" Somehow, I stay on the road and make it through the water.
Several more times, 6-12 inches of water cover the roadway. Every time, I slow up to allow the semi to safely pass. I then step on the accelerator hard, hoping I will not get stuck in the water. I keep praying for God to get me through this weather fiasco without an accident or injury. As I am nearing the end of the construction zone, about two feet of water covers the highway. The flooding is hidden. The road dips down. I can see the semi in front of me panic as he hits the flooded roadway. I am not sure my low-riding vehicle can clear this flooded area. I follow the semi closely, allowing his vehicle to push the water out of the way and into the ditch. The wake which his vehicle makes allows me to safely pass through the water.
When I think I cannot endure another moment more of driving in this incredibly dangerous construction zone, the roadway veers back on to the regular freeway route. The lanes widen and expand to three lanes. Although there is still construction, the freeway is now riding high above the flooded frontage roads. As I continue to drive, the rain lessens. I am rejoicing to have made it through that nightmare.
Link to Part Two click here)
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