Too close of a call

So I admit I'm not the best at keeping up with this blog, but I do so love reading *other* people's blogs. One of my faves is of my cutie Mrs. Kayla Aimee. She has such a great writing style and a quick wit that has me laughing almost every time I visit it. But last night was different. Last night, I saw a link on her blog to the talented Jody Ferlaak and I followed it. Let me preface this by saying that I am familiar with Jody's work though I don't know her personally. I had heard snippets of her story on layouts or through message board posts. And yet, I still had no idea of the breadth of her story and how much it would touch me.

You see yesterday was the anniversary of the death of Jody's daughter Teagan in a tragic accident. I got caught up in the story last night - reliving the horror with Jody and then getting inspired by her hope for the future and the way she chooses to live her life positively - for herself, her husband and her children. The minute I was done reading, I practically ran up the stairs to my own children's rooms and hugged them a bit tighter and kissed them a bit more in their sleep. I told them again how much each one of them meant to me and how much I loved them because Jody reminded me just how life can change in one brief instant. It was like she spoke directly to me and I wanted to make sure I was listening.

After I went to bed, I was lying there next to my husband and I tried to tell him about the Ferlaak's and the loss of Teagan (who incidentally was about the same age as my youngest when she died). He couldn't quite get it but I kept saying, "You just never know. You just never know."

I didn't realize quite how true that could be. This afternoon with my entire family in the car - all the boys strapped into the back - we headed into the city to run some back 2 school errands. As we almost reached our exit, the car in front of us braked suddenly to avoid hitting the car in front of him who had done the same. We veer off the interstate into the median to avoid them both and as we did, the car in front of us did the same and came sideways at us. We barely missed him at each point and then almost drove into the oncoming lanes. Surely God was looking out for us that not only did we not him anyone but that no one hit us. It completely shook us all up but we were all safe.

Life can change in an instant. I will try to never take that for granted again.