No, My Deer!

(photo credit: gaudette-insurance.com)

When I was a young buck, I had visions of being a chick magnet.  Now, I didn’t use that terminology because it hadn’t been invented yet.  We had chicks, of course, and we had magnets, but we had not put those together in a phrase that means “he attracts all the girls”.  The girls I attracted were either in elementary school or in the senior adult Sunday School class, which doesn’t do a lot for your teen heartthrob image, but really does make you feel good and enhances your image as a really nice guy. Thirty years ago, I attracted the chick now known as Mrs. Sweetie, so it all worked out great.

Yesterday after church and lunch, we were headed home with visions of a Sunday nap dancing in our heads.  Mrs. Sweetie was driving.  Fewer than five miles from our house, a kamikaze deer decided that it must cross the road at that precise moment or it would be late for a very important date.  As I said something to the effect of, “No, you stupid deer,” Mrs. Sweetie tried to slow enough to avoid it without swerving off the road.  She missed missing it by about two feet.  A solid impact on the front driver’s side bumper sent the deer tumbling.  As my Mrs. pulled over to the shoulder, I looked back to see if the deer had landed in the road. 

I turned just in time to see the car behind us hit the second deer.

To make a long story short, we ended up with two dented cars and two apparently bruised deer that disappeared into the trees and got to their appointment with quite a story to tell.

Several months ago, while driving late on a rainy night, Mrs. Sweetie had to straddle a deer carcass on the road.  Her van is really low to the ground and it was quite an impact.  While recovering from the shock of the impact and trying to get pulled over, she didn’t see a red light.  To make a long story short, she got a ticket for the red light, but it was dismissed a week later when the police chief heard about the circumstances.

Life is full of adventures.  Some good and some … not so much. There is something about knowing that God is with us on the journey that helps keep it in perspective. “I am with you always.” (Jesus, Matthew 28:20).  Our lives matter so much to God that He does not want us to travel solo.  When we choose to follow Christ, He not only accompanies us, He leads us on the adventure. The path is not always smooth, but as Corrie ten Boom said, “When God leads us on rocky paths, He gives us strong shoes.”

I told Mrs. Sweetie that she is obviously a deer magnet. And then I told her that’s how she got me. I’m not sure what she meant when she said, “Yes, dear.”