Today, Ray received a call from our daughter Rachael. I heard his voice go low for a second, then he said, “Are you all right?” It didn’t take long to ascertain that she had been in a car accident and was calling her Dad as she cried. She was turning left at a light when a car going through the intersection hit her car on the rear passenger side. All of her airbags deployed and she said she had to throw on the emergency brake to stop her car as it hurled forward. Sarah and Gregorio’s dog, Chula, was with Rachael. Luckily, neither Rachael nor Chula nor the young man and teenager in the other car were hurt. The cars got pretty banged up, however.

Rachael’s boyfriend, Andrew, left work and drove to where she was so that he could help. Rachael said she couldn’t stop shaking. “It was so scary, Mom,” she told me afterward. She has bruises from the airbags but, hopefully, all else is well. She is resting this afternoon.

Of course, the good news is that no one was hurt in this accident. That alone is worthy of a huge hallelujah. With all of our kids, their significant others, and grandkids traveling from hither to yon all the time, I am always aware of the possibility of traffic accidents. So far, we have all been exceedingly lucky in that regard. However, Rachael’s phone call helped me to remember not to take life for granted. I have lived long enough to know all too well how a shift in the status quo can occur when you least expect it and create a new, unexpected path I am grateful today is not one of those days for Rachael, the people in the other car, or for our family.

This also helps me to remember to not sweat the small stuff in life because those things truly don’t matter. The only things that really matter have to do with the people you love. Everything else is replaceable.

With that in mind, I will shout one more big hallelujah.