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title: Encounter with a Stubborn Tree
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Winter, 1997
It was our family tradition to enroll our older children in early
morning Seminary. This is an hour of religious instruction before the
start of public school classes. My wife and I were quite happy when our
oldest daughter, Emily, obtained her driver's license. This meant we no
longer had to get up at 5:30 am to drive them to the church to attend
the class.
One icy winter morning, we were quite suddenly awoken when our son Ryan
banged on our bedroom door to announce that he and Emily had smashed the
car into a large tree on the way to Seminary. The road was very slippery
from the ice, causing Emily to lose control of the car. That stubborn
old maple tree had no intention of moving out of the way for a wimpy
little Ford Fiesta. Consequently, the Fiesta was transformed into a
mangled mass of metal and broken glass. Fortunately, Ryan was unharmed
and Emily sustained painful, but not serious injuries.
When all the fuss and anxiety had calmed down, my wife and I gathered
our little family back into our family room. We knelt in a circle and
offered a simple prayer of gratitude that our family had been spared
from the calamity of death or debilitating injury. The words of the
prayer were brief and heartfelt, but the choicest moments came after the
prayer. It was always our pattern to conclude a family prayer with a hug
and a kiss for each child. On this occasion, I lingered a few precious
seconds longer than usual with each hug, relishing the privilege of
embracing a child who was still very much alive and healthy. Our hearts
were very tender as we rejoiced together as a family that morning.
I call them "focus moments", these experiences that remind us with such
brilliant clarity what things matter the most in this life.
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