As we drove into Virginia, we encountered some pockets of rain, but approaching our starting spot, it seemed to be clearing. We parked our van at the top while Mimi and Pop Pop took a shuttle from the bottom that dropped them off with their rented bikes. As soon as the shuttle drove away and we unloaded our bikes from the van, the first thunderstorm blew up. It wasn't like a downpour, and what were we going to do at this point anyway, so we set off down the trail. It was a light drizzle as we passed miles 1-6, some pigs, a couple deer, and rode through the woods, along a beautiful river. We were all smiles and complaining laughter as we stopped to take pictures on a few bridges and our backsides were covered in dirt. We were getting pretty wet and chilly, and Mimi was starting to have trouble gripping because of the arthritis in her hands.
After a few more pictures, we set out again, off another wet bridge, with me leading the way. I can't remember if I heard commotion behind me or what, but I turned around to see Mimi laying on the ground, having just come off the bridge, holding her face! As I hurried back to where she was laying, I could see blood pouring from her nose and face. Not good in the face of pressure or any situation requiring quick thinking, all I could do was say "oh my gosh! oh my gosh! What do we do?!?! We've got to get help!" But the problem was, where were we going to get help? We were 6-7 miles into our 17 mile ride, in the middle of NOWHERE, having crossed no real rodes, having seen no other people on the trail, no cell service. Due to blood thinners Mimi takes, she was thinking the bleeding would never stop. I assumed she was right and if we didn't get help soon, she was going to go into shock and die right there. We managed to get her up off the ground and onto a bench. Paul gave her the only thing we had with us, a diaper, to help stop the bleeding. But it kept flowing. Mimi was scared and began to cry. It was a hopeless and helpless feeling situation.
All of a sudden, out of nowhere, a family rode across the bridge. First the 3 kids, who noticed something was wrong and slowed down and looked back at their parents. Then the mom, who asked if everything was ok and offered their first aid kit. Allegedly, I replied that a first aid kit wasn't going to help. Again, I'm not great in situations like this and I was just thinking she needed more help than a bandaid could offer. The wife then nodded towards her husband and said "he's a doctor". Pop Pop said "well what kind of doctor? A psychiatrist?" He said he was a surgeon and there was an obvious and immediate relief that washed over us all. This angel had been sent to help. He immediately began working to stop the bleeding, not showing any hesitation about getting her blood on his bare hands. He spoke reassuring words, he bandaged her up. Meanwhile, Katie, his wife, noticed another dark cloud coming quickly, and suggested we go under the bridge to seek shelter. It wasn't much of a shelter; rain was still cascading through it, but it was the best we had. Pete and Katie pulled an umbrella out of their bag to cover Claire. We were all huddled pretty close together but Mimi was shaking like a leaf, which given her situation, made Paul and me very concerned. We put her in the middle of us. Claire was crying from being cold. So Pete took off his fleece and wrapped it around her. Next they pulled out a candy bar for the boys. It seemed that in every way that we were lacking, they had and offered what we needed without hesitation.
The storm eased up, blue skies were ahead, so we climbed out from under the bridge. I tried to return the fleece, but he said she needed it more than he did, and the wife and kids laughed about being glad to never see him wear it again. They took off ahead of us and we never saw them again. If they had not shown up at that moment, I don't know what we would have done. Heavenly Father's presence was immediately evident in providing these people to care for us at that time. There's no other explanation. What could the odds be that a surgeon would be the only person who would cross that bridge at that time when we needed help so desperately?
We had no other choice but to get poor Mimi back on her bike (actually she rode mine the rest of the way since hers no longer had functioning front brakes and my bike is the exact same as hers back home) to ride the 10 more miles to the car. I worried about her the whole way, praying for her safety getting down. And as I rode I thought about the miracle that had just occurred. I thought about why couldn't the miracle have been that she just didn't wreck at all? I'm not very good at deep thinking. I don't have God's mysteries figured out, but in this instance it occurred to me that if the accident had never happened, we would have never seen the miracle. I know that often times He works miracles in our lives that we are completely unaware of, that we just don't notice. But if He always prevented natural consequences of our actions (in this instance, Mimi turning her wheel off a wet bridge onto rocks, causing her bike to crash) we would never see His hand caring for us through our afflictions.
God is aware of us and he loves us. There are good people on this earth who are instruments in His hands. Of this, I am sure.
Mimi, at dinner after the accident:
Mimi, the day after:
1 comment:
This was utterly inspiring. Miracles really are everywhere.
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