It seemed like any other Sunday afternoon. That was until Sara and I hopped out of the car.

Down the back driveway, my stepfather Dick came barreling toward us in his truck. He and my mom lived behind us on top of the hill. I realized he had been watching and waiting for us to arrive back home from chirper choir. That told me something had happened.

The first thing I noticed was that my mom wasn’t with him. Fear and uncertainty slowly crept up my spine. Had something happened her? And if so, why wasn’t Dick with her?

He came to a screeching stop, throwing up dirt and dust. My heart pounded and I silently prayed as he opened his door and stepped out. “Tim had a small accident, but he’s okay.”

I looked back to see Tim’s blazer sitting inside the garage and it seemed to be okay. “What happened? He didn’t have an accident in his blazer.”

“Well, yeah, he did,” Dick answered. “He was working inside it and fell out. When he fell, a piece of metal was jutting out and stabbed him in the leg. But don’t worry. It wasn’t that bad and your mother drove him on to the Emergency Room. They haven’t been gone too long.”

I shook my head. If anybody had a crazy accident around there, it was usually Papaw or myself.
Sara was scared, but I assured her that her daddy was in good hands: The Lord’s and Mimi’s (my mom.)

As the evening went on, I tried not to worry about Tim. Every time I thought of him, I prayed. Really, that is best thing to do when you are worried and uncertain.

“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” Philippians 4:6 (KJV)

A few hours later, Tim came back home with a big grin on his face and a huge bandage on his right thigh. Once Sara and I gave him hugs and kisses, I had to ask, “How in the world did you fall out of the blazer while it was sitting still in the driveway? And how did a piece of metal stab you in the leg?”

“I pulled one of your stunts,” he answered.

Here’s what happened: He was cleaning while sitting in the back seat of the blazer. After he finished, he pushed the driver’s seat forward to climb out. Being in a hurry, he lunged forward and lost his balance. As he stumbled out the door, a piece of metal that was sticking out dug into his leg.

Mom later told me that she and Dick were outside when she heard Tim yell up at her. She looked down and saw him pacing outside the garage. She knew he was hurt and ran down to him. In fact, she got to Tim before Dick, who drove down in his truck.

Well, Tim was right about him pulling one of my stunts. I have accidents all the time. You see, my brain is always a few seconds ahead of my body, no joke. That’s one of the reasons I have so many “stunts” where I trip, stumble, and walk into things. Tim has teased me about it for years. I think the next time he points to a new blue spot on me and asks, “How did you get that bruise?” I am going to point to his right leg and say, “The same way you got that scar.”