Last night as we drove to church, a car headed straight towards us in our lane, not stopping, not swerving …  just straight towards us. My husband swerved the car up onto the right shoulder and the oncoming vehicle raced past in the lane our car just drove. As soon as it passed, it went up the embankment behind us, without braking, careened across the road to go up over the curb on the opposite side of the road, and disappeared down into the ditch.

In an instant, all plans changed. My husband bolted down the embankment to help the driver and I grabbed my cell phone to call 9-1-1, and headed down behind him. An hour later, once the ambulance and fire department left, witness statements were given, we all three got back in the car and continued on our way to church.

One never knows what the next moment brings, do we?

Thankfully God spared our vehicle from being part of the impact of the oncoming vehicle and we were safe. But what one of the officers later told us about the dangers of helping people in an accident, startled me. He told of a recent incident where the injured was strung out on meth and lashed out violently at the one there to help. The officer explained when you approach a vehicle, you don’t know if they are armed or what danger waits when you open the door to help.

The thought had never entered my mind. What a different world we live in today.

In showing our daughter how sometimes things we want to do, like youth group, gets put on hold when we see someone in need, we also had to share with her the dangers.

As parents, our job is to teach kids how to live so when they become adults, they are equipped to stand in the world and live the life they are designed to live. Today’s dangers and pitfalls are far greater than when we were young, but it just means our job is that much more important. It’s our job to be there to love, support, encourage, protect, equip, and teach. How are we doing?