A Near Miss

They called it a near miss, but I called it a miracle. It was a warm August evening. Since the next day looked hectic, I decided to buy groceries that evening. I wrote a quick list and headed to the car.

While I shopped, it started raining. “Please Lord, stop the rain before I drive home,” I prayed. I drove home pleased that the rain had stopped and I had one less job to accomplish the next day.

I turned onto our road thinking, “Only five more miles and I’m home.” Suddenly, the car started sliding, and then spinning. I screamed, “Help me, Lord!”

Instantly, I saw the faces of my husband, my son, my parents, and my brothers’ reel before my eyes like a movie screen tape. I thought, “I’m going to die.”

I blacked out and awakened in the back seat. My head, neck and arm hurt, but thankfully, I was alive.

Water started seeping in. After trying unsuccessfully to open the back window, I climbed into the front seat. I leaned on the front door but it refused to open. I was trapped.

I fell onto the steering wheel sobbing. This caused the horn to honk. I decided to continue laying on the horn. Two cars passed by without stopping. The third one stopped.

A young man opened the door, pulled me out, sat me in his car and then called an ambulance at a house near by. Upon arriving, the paramedics wrapped my head, put a brace on my neck and put my body on a stretcher.

The car was totaled, but besides eight stitches in my head, a chipped neck bone and many cuts and bruises, I was fine. Many people told me, “You just missed a telephone pole. You almost died.”

They called it a near miss, but I called it a miracle. The policemen called it “a worm slide.” And after that, my church family called me “Crash Kingsbury.”

A Gift From God

“Did you hear about that Kingsbury baby?” asked one of the night nurses.

“What’s wrong with him?” asked the other nurse.

“His mom, the woman in that room is an insulin-dependent diabetic. They delivered her baby 7 weeks early. He’s one sick baby. They don’t expect him to live through the night.”

At two in the morning, I laid awake worrying about our baby born by Cesarean section at 8:30 that evening. I tossed and turned trying unsuccessfully to sleep. Now hearing what these two nurses said outside my room made me cry. Needing to talk to someone, I phoned my mother.

“Hello,” she answered apprehensively. With a call that early in the morning, she most likely thought the baby had died.

“Mom, they don’t think the baby will make it through the night. Two nurses were talking about him outside my room just now.” I sobbed uncontrollably.

“I think he’ll make it, Cindy, just trust God. You’ve been through too much for this baby to die now. He’s going to make it, I really believe he will.”

I felt better when I hung up the phone. I trusted my mother and the prayers she'd prayed for me and my baby. I spent half my pregnancy in the hospital. I also spent two days in Intensive Care, gone into labor at five months until they stopped it, had my blood sugars tested four times a day, and endured what seemed like a hundred other tests. “Please God,” I prayed, “after all of this, don’t let him die.”

Two weeks later, we brought our baby home. We named him Nathaniel David, David after my husband. We later learned that Nathaniel means, “gift from God.” How true this name proved to be.

Nathan learned to overcome many difficulties in life, yet he remained a happy, contented person. Among the difficulties was a slight learning disability caused by undetected hearing loss and possiibly his premature birth and the insulin he received before birth. One grade school teacher told me he most likely wouldn't graduate from college.

This statement which demeaned his intelligence caused a lack of confidence but no bitterness. Instead, it produced a determination to succeed. At twelve years of age, Nathan felt a call to the ministry. He determined with God’s help to succeed at graduating from high school and from college. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Christian Ministries from Indiana Wesleyan University in 2001.

Nathan’s determination and overall outlook on life taught me many things. He taught me to stay positive and to realize that a loving attitude instead of a judgmental one produces better results. He taught me forgiveness, conflict management and affection. He taught me the importance of fun and laughter. And he taught me persistence, no matter how far away a goal seems.

I thought about these things as I watched Nathan standing at the altar with his beautiful bride-to-be. He looked handsome, happy, and proud on this his wedding day. I thought, “Most mothers teach their children, but I learned more then what I taught. Nathan truly is a gift from God. Thank you, God, for this gift.”