ApologetiX Keyboardist Thankful to Still Be Alive
Thu., Jan. 26. 2023 10:38pm EST
ApologetiX keyboardist Rich Mannion and his wife are thankful to still be alive this week, and we join them in thanking God for that. We asked Rich to share what happened in his own words:
My wife and I were planning on driving Monday to see friends in Georgia and stay for a week. A much-needed break for my wife, Danette, who is a nanny of a five-month-old for 60-plus hours per week.
The Friday before, the blower motor in our Buick quit working, leaving us without heat or defoggers. Our other car has been waiting three months for parts to fix three recalls which has made it impossible to get the car inspected in Pennsylvania. But we decided we were still going to Georgia.
On Sunday morning, my wife woke with a stomach virus and we noticed a winter storm was moving into the tri-state area Sunday evening and into Monday morning. Knowing that we were going to be driving through the mountains of West Virginia where they were expecting icy weather and my wife was not feeling well, we decided to delay our departure until Tuesday morning.
Then came Monday morning ...
The winter storm came and went but it wasn't really that bad yet we kept our decision to leave early Tuesday. I had to run to the store. I finished my shopping and on the way home, I felt a very strange shimmer in the rear end of my car. Kinda like when there is a massive gust of wind, but there wasn't any wind that morning. Plus I was only going 35 mph.
It happened over and over again. I was starting to get worried, when about a mile from my home the shimmer became violent fishtailing, and I began to lose control of the car.
Suddenly the car lurched into a 360° spin. and I went off the road into slush and snow, unable to stop. I stomped on the gas pedal and miraculously the car straightened itself out … somewhat. It was then that I realized that I was driving straight but had the steering wheel turned to the left, and the rear end was coming forward.
That's when I remembered that I had received a notice in the mail on Friday of a recall on the rear suspension toe links on the Buick. That's right; the toe links snapped while I was driving, making the rear wheels … steer, without control.
There were a lot of signs telling us to not go on this trip. Many.
I truly felt the presence of our Lord Jesus when that car suddenly straightened out from that violent spin. There was no doubt. He saved me from a much worse fate that Monday morning. After I limped the car home, it was then I realized what the Lord saved my wife and I from.
Had we not delayed our departure due to all the "signs," we would have been driving on a mountain highway in West Virginia going 70-plus miles per hour when those rear suspension toe links snapped. We most likely would not have survived the outcome. In fact, I'm pretty sure we wouldn't have.
Our lives were saved this week by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Praise Jesus!!!
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