Tender Mercies- The Minivan Edition

 image from commons.wikimedia.org

I never saw myself as the Minivan Mom sort.

In fact, those of you that know me from way back when may recall a few "I will NEVER own a minivan" declarations.

Um, I am now officially eating a bit of crow.

With baby number three rapidly on his way, we started looking for a larger car for our growing family.  In February, we started the hunt in earnest, realizing that we were headed down the minivan path.  SUV's were out of our price range and guzzle too much gas.  We had outgrown our sedan, so the only choice we had was a minivan.  We found an '04 silver Honda Odyssey in our price range, and took the plunge.  I have to admit, it was actually fun to drive.  It handled so much like our Accord and it was easy to get the kids in and out of.  It had some little cosmetic blemishes, but it had decent fuel economy and a cold ac.  It wasn't perfect, but it met our needs.  Plus, it was silver and, apparently, we gravitate to used silver Hondas (this is silver Honda number three...).

With all three kids and husband in tow, we were headed to pick up our other silver Honda from the shop.  In the late-afternoon-heavy traffic, we were hit from behind by a large full size truck.  Hit with such force that we ran into the car in front of us, despite my attempt to slow and swerve out of the way.  We were in a car wreck sandwich.  After coming to a stop, Mike and I rushed to the back seats to check on our kids.  Thankfully, everyone was OK.  Mr. One and Mr. Three were a bit rattled, and Mr. Two kept right on sleeping.  My worst fear as a mother is to be in an accident with my children.  Relief rushed through me as I could see that everyone was just fine.

After moving our car to the roadside and having the fire department pry the sliding door open so we could get our children out of the car, I surveyed the damage.  It was not pretty.  The whole back end was crushed and part of the front end as well.

How very blessed we feel that we were protected.

And we know we most certainly were protected by our Heavenly Father.

Our car is totaled, but my family is safe.

I  never knew how truly grateful I'd feel to be a Minivan Mom.  Our minivan (and three properly installed carseats) helped save my family.

I will not take lightly again my petition to Heavenly Father to keep our family safe from harm.

Sometimes happiness is being a Minivan Mom.  Lesson learned.