True Thanksgiving

I received a call at school today. They announced it over the loud speakers: "Bethany Brubaker, there is an important phone call for you in the office." No one has the number to the school I'm student teaching at. I'll only be there for 2 more months, and anyone that needs to get ahold of me can call my cell phone. As I walked to the office, I was sure that someone must have died.
The secretary met me with a grim face, holding her hands primly in front of her and announced, "I must inform you...your husband has been in an accident."

He wasn't on the other line when I picked up the phone, and when I tried to call him back, he didn't answer. The secretary said that Jesse had made sure that she would let me know that he was ok, but not being able to talk to him myself terrified me. Finally, he called my cell phone, and the minute I knew where he was, I was in the car to go be with him.

Strange how things like this happen. We had had lunch together just an hour before. For the first time since I began student teaching, we randomly decided to meet for lunch and enjoy a little bit of togetherness on what is usually a very long day apart from each other. He was on his way back to the office.

I don't even truly understand what happened, but I saw both of the cars this afternoon--totaled. Jesse is crushed that his car is gone, but I'm just so thankful that he is alive!

Today was a reminder to me of how fragile life is. How precious! Jesse and I have nearly been married for 6 months now, and I don't believe that I take anything for granted, but I was reminded today how blessed we are to have each other, how wonderful it is to be in love, to have someone to depend on like I can with Jesse, someone to laugh with, to share every beautiful little part of life with...and how quickly it can all be taken away.

So easily. God really had His hand on the events of today. If I had seen Jesse's car before I saw him and knew that he was ok, I would have expected to be taken to the hospital--or to be told that it was already too late. I can't believe that Jesse came out unscathed--beside a small friction burn on his wrist that he got when the airbag deployed.

We can even be thankful that the other man involved in the accident was such a great guy. He and Jesse were sitting together in a restaurant waiting for me to come pick Jesse up, so I got to meet him. Apparently, he just got back from teaching in the Congo, and is headed to Thailand in January for two years. No sticky arguments or awkward situations. They were both so genuine and warm.

We have a houseful of people coming over tomorrow for Thanksgiving. There is so much to be thankful for! But tonight, what I'm most thankful for, is that my husband is safe, he's at home and unharmed, and that as soon as I post this blog, I get to go curl up in his arms.