Yesterday, I dropped X. off for his tap-dancing class. The sun was scorching so I decided not to let Em. play at the park outside the school but to get into the car. I didn’t park perfectly anyways as the rear wheel was touching the curb (I have an obsessive objection to that), so I thought to re-park the car.
Since we had a lot of time, I put Em. in the front passenger seat with me, just to relax a little. Almost as soon as I got in after her, with one leg almost still sticking out, I heard a man shout. He was mowing the lawn about 10 feet away from my car. I realized that the tree next to my car had about 1/3 of its trunk chipped off by the strong winds and had collapsed, almost completely dislodged from the main tree.
He rushed over and told me to get out of the car and drive off. I had no idea why he was so desperate. But, as I picked Em. up to move her to her car-seat in the back, I saw that his lawn-mower is half-way off the lawn, almost tipping over to the road side. He had stopped it in a hurry to rush over to me. He kept shouting “go, go, go” as he pulled the tree back holding on to some branches. As I drove off, he released his grip on the branches, and the tree crashed down onto the spot I was parked.
I drove out of the parking spot and walked back to see what had really happened. It was a huge trunk with lots of chunky branches. Definitely enough to cave my car in. Maybe not enough to kill the person inside, but surely enough to cause injury.
That man saved my car and me and Em. I thanked him. But, more importantly, I believe God was watching over Em. and me. Thank God.