EDITOR'S NOTE: The Times Free Press is continuing a series of stories from readers about life experiences they attribute to divine intervention. We'll publish another each week as your stories continue to arrive. If you have a God Thing to share, email Life@timesfreepress.com, or mail to Life Department, Chattanooga Times Free Press, 400 E. 11th St., Chattanooga, TN 37403.
This week, B. Maddox of Chattanooga shares a series of blessings.
My blessings came in stages:
* Blessing No. 1 begins in the 1950s. My parents were married for 19 years before they had any children. My mother was having stomach problems (remember this is the '50s), so she decided to go to the doctor. He said she had a tumor. My mother went for a second opinion. To her surprise, it revealed a baby boy instead. Then a year later, my twin sister and I were born. Five months later, my twin died from failure to thrive. I, on the other hand, flourished.
* Blessing No. 2 begins in the 1970s. I was on my way to work on a snowy day. In the center lane of an interstate on-ramp, my car began to spin in place. In my rear-view mirror, I saw an approaching tractor trailer. I held onto the steering wheel and yelled, "God, please don't let me die!" Suddenly the car started moving completely off the interstate and down an embankment to the ground below. It stopped beside a fence, as if I had parked it there. There was not a scratch on me or the car.
* Blessing No. 3 begins in 2015. Years earlier, I was diagnosed with fibroids. So when I began having the same symptoms, I thought nothing of it. Until the Lord sent me an angel in the form of an 18-year-old girl. I was working with her one day when she mentioned that her mother knew a lady with the same problems who had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Because I am hard-headed, I didn't act immediately. Then up popped a lump in my breast, which I blamed on a new bra. Coincidentally, my daughter made me an appointment for a mammogram a month later. The tech saw the mass. She walked me over to the main hospital for a better look. We walked back to the breast cancer center for the doctor's diagnosis. He said it was cancer. I said, "It's my new bras causing it." The doctor left, and the tech told me, "Please follow up on this. Promise me." She walked me all the way to the parking lot, holding my hand. That began my journey through treatment.
* Blessing No. 4, 2019. Years ago, I had a kidney stone attack. With a history of stones, I knew what it was when my symptoms began. I proceeded to the emergency room, where the doctor performed tests. The CT scan confirmed stones. Coincidentally, I was scheduled for a routine checkup with my primary care doctor. I mentioned my visit to the ER. The nurse requested the test results. They showed I had cancer again, this time in my bones. I am currently in treatment. If it had not been for those stones, I never would have known until it was too late. I had no other symptoms.
That is God.
- B. Maddox, Chattanooga