I’m going to show my age here. Back in the 80s, Tim’s sister had an Atari video game system. One of her favorite games was “Freeway.” The aim was to get a chicken safely across a busy road to the other side. Each time I played; the poor little chick got squashed. Well, Tim and I felt like that chicken one evening a few years ago.
It was the Sunday after Thanksgiving. As we walked out of my mom’s door that evening, she told us: “Be careful. It’s the weekend after Thanksgiving.” Tim and I shrugged it off with: “Okay. We will.” We didn’t think anything about it since neither one of us had ever traveled more than a few miles to get to a family Thanksgiving. My great grandfather, Papaw Janeway, lived in Union County. If he wanted to join us, he would drive down to my grandparents’ house. Tim’s family was mainly in Knox County as well.
So why did Mom tell us that? Because we were headed out to follow Sara back to college that Sunday. She attended the University of Cumberlands in Williamsburg, Kentucky. We were very blessed when she received a scholarship. For those who are not familiar with that area, Williamsburg is the first exit in Kentucky, but it is eleven miles past state line.
When we followed her up, we noticed the traffic was heavier than usual, but not too bad. We helped to carry in Sara’s laundry and room supplies. It was dark when we finally headed back toward home. We merged on to I-75 Tim got into the left lane as usual. After we were out of the city limits, he got up to 70 MPH, which is the speed limit away from towns and out in the country.
Soon cars were passing us like we were sitting still. That’s no exaggeration. They zoomed passed us and were out of sight in seconds. Tim eased back over into the slow lane, but he maintained the same speed. Cars still raced past us. There were a couple of times when cars drove up on us so quickly that we thought they were going to ram us. There instances where people swerved by us at the last second and then almost hit the front of our car so they could get ahead of the car running in the fast lane. This wasn’t an instance to two. It happened to us several times. Even Tim became uneasy and he doesn’t do that often behind the wheel of a car. We got off at the Rocky Top exit. Yes, it was a longer drive home, but we were relieved to be away from the crazy traffic. I was almost in constant prayer on that trip.
“But of that day and thar hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. Take ye heed, watch and pray, for ye know now when that time is.” Mark 13:32-33 (KJV)
Why were people driving like that? Personally, I think they waited until the last minute to leave because they wanted to spend as much time as they possibly could with their families. I wonder if many people are doing the same thing with Jesus in that they are putting off accepting Him as long as they can. But nobody knows when their time here is up or when He is returning.
Have you ever seen people kiss the ground when they stop off of an airplane or ship? That’s what I felt like doing when we finally got back home that evening. Instead, I went straight to the kitchen and got in my chocolate jar.
Brooke Cox is an author, speaker, and storyteller. She was a 2016 Selah Awards Finalist for Debut Novel. Her children’s book: “Dinosaur Eggs,” is now available. It is based on Ephesians 6: The Armor of God. Her novel “Until the Moon Rises: A Conniving Cousin Mystery” is also available. Also, she has two books out in her storytelling series: “Saucy Southern Stories.” The Amazon links for her books may be found on her website: brookecoxstories.com. Please feel free to contact her. She would love to hear from you.