Pull Over

Why so rushed? When the sirens wail, it is actually the law for drivers to pull over and allow an emergency vehicle to pass. So many people don't. I just don't understand it. 

The temptation is always great to follow the engine and see what is going on - but I learned long long ago not to be so nosey. "People that do that just get in the way of what emergency personnel have to do."  Guess who said that! 

"If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem."   - Oh the little quotes Roger could insert at just the appropriate time. 

I did not follow the engine, but I did pull over.  One car passed me and looked over like I was crazy, but the next one pulled over.  I wonder how many accidents happen because people are hurrying around. 

Roger could sit in his chair, or out in the swing, and hear sirens and tell us exactly what vehicle was heading down the road. (Police Car, Engine, Bone Box......) 

Sirens are one of the things in life that always have caught my attention. Sometimes I am not even aware that I heard one, yet I can stop randomly, and I know I did.  Many years ago I began to stop a moment and pray when I heard a siren. It may be a simple thing, but I would always just stop and ask God to give comfort and assistance to those involved in the emergency situation. I always pray that someone will come into their lives to point them to Him as well. You never know the need, but God does. 

Even that day on Feb 10, I can still feel and see it as clearly as if it had just happened. I was looking out the window, thinking how beautiful the day was. I heard the siren and remember thanking God for His goodness in our lives and asking Him to provide what was needed to those involved in the emergency.  There is no way at that moment that I knew that I was praying for us. 

Only moments later the phone rang and life changed ....forever. 

Glimpses of that day come back to me from time to time. I am certain that only as time passes will God reveal it all to me. A little at a time is all I can take anyway. 

Roger's Lesson:  "There are people who know what to do in emergency situations........and you are not it." 

He would say it while chuckling, of course.  He knew me well. Nancy nurse, I am not. 

He also knew that I prayed when I heard sirens and he would tell me that I did the right thing and that I should keep doing it. He would tell me that praying for those in that emergency situation is the kind of "solution" that is needed - not my ability to be 'physically' on the scene.  

I may only ever be able to point people toward help, and I am so thankful for people who have that special calling as first responders, nurses, and all who are ready to answer the call in an emergency. What a gift. 

God answered that prayer that day. He provided someone the very second Roger was in trouble and kept sending people who could help. And they never stopped. 

Never in a million years did I ever think that pulling over for an emergency vehicle would hit so close to home. Never did I think that I would just be hoping and praying that no one stood in the way of Engine 39 and it's Rescue Vehicle when it left First and Main that day. 

You never know what is going on when those sirens sound. But God does. And He is always there to help. What a blessing to be a part of "calling in the troops' when they were greatly needed.  I just know that the actions that took place that day were a blessing and reward for all those calls and whispered prayers over the years.  It is so powerful, this thing called prayer.  How does anyone live without a relationship with the Living God in Heaven?

This, I do not know.