Had a very interesting night last night.
The evening started as usual with me leaving in the church bus at 6:00 to
start the route. A quick check of the guages showed me that the bus had
almost enough gas to get to the gas station. The traffic light was green,
and I made it to the gas station. Only started the route 5 minutes late.
Many extra stops later, I arrived at the church with 30 + kids on the bus 20
minutes after church started.
The weather was beautiful! One of the classes went outside to work on
firecraft and camp setup. The other stayed in to help some of the newer
boys get past the powder horn advancement.
We started loading the bus kids back up at 8:25 - right on schedule!(This
night was going great!) About 8:30, I told the driver that we needed to get
going. "It looks like rain coming and I want to be home before it starts."
The first 4 stops went okay. We stopped, kids got off, and we went to the
next stop.
THEN ... it really got interesting....
We were driving down the street and heard a loud bang. The bus
driver(Richard) and I looked off to the right just in time to see a
transformer producing fireworks - white sparks everywhere.. Then, the
weather changed dramatically. All of a sudden, it was pouring down rain and
the wind was blowing very hard.
The kids started putting windows up on the bus. One window was stuck! It
had to be put up from the outside, but there was no place to stop at that
time. We turned the corner and I jumped out to put the window up. Now we
were driving directly into the wind and rain.
A few minutes later, the rain and wind slowed down as we turned onto the
street where the next stop was. The street was dark - no lights anywhere. I
was standing up front by the driver.
We both saw it at the same time! A light pole and power line had been
knocked down and was across the road right in front of us! The driver
slammed on the brakes. We stopped about 10 feet from the pole, sparks were
hitting the windshield, and the power line was on top of the bus.
I turned around and had all the kids move toward the center aisle while I
went to the back of the bus to check behind us. The driver backed the bus
up about 200 yards as I watched the back. We could still see the lines
sparking as we backed away and turned down the side street. After a few
minutes, my heart slowed down. I knew what had just happened, our bus was
in contact with a high voltage wire and we were able to back out from under
it without anyone being hurt - Miracle #1.
The kids calmed down and we continued the route.
Several stops later, I got out of the bus to walk some kids across the
street. As usual, I walked in front of the bus and looked around the
driver's side before stepping out.
I heard the bus horn and saw the headlights heading for me from around the
back of the bus at the same time. I jumped back and grabbed the two kids .
The car passed us about a foot away! Again, nobody hurt. The kids walked
over to their house and I got on the bus. -Miracle #2
We finished the route without any more excitement and I finally settled into
my recliner about 10PM to eat dinner, tell my family about our adventures,
and thank God again for His protection.
Twice within about 10 minutes time, God protected us from very real dangers.
Both times, we could have been seriously injured or killed if God had not
been watching over us.
Just wanted to share what God did for me last night. It is great to be
alive and a child of God!
In His Service,
Allen R. Cook - Cookie
Royal Rangers Senior Commander
Belton A/G -- Belton, Missouri
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