Faith in the Fog

By Trish Castro

And whatever things you ask in prayer believing, you will receive.

~Matthew 21:22

My job delivering newspapers seven days a week was tiresome and I relished the idea of a mini-vacation. A relative of mine who lived in Nashville, Tennessee invited me to her house for the Thanksgiving holiday, and wanted me to arrive the week before so that we could spend some extra time together. The day I planned to leave I took the usual four-hour nap that I took every evening before delivering my papers. But instead of going to the paper station when I got up, I headed to the freeway. It was around 2 a.m. I decided I would drive as far as I could, and when I got tired I would stop somewhere in Georgia for the night.

he ten hours from Boca Raton to Atlanta were fairly uneventful, but heavier traffic slowed me down on my way to Chattanooga. After about fourteen hours of driving I knew it would be prudent to stop for the night. But I had reached Chattanooga, and I had only three more hours to go. Since I wasn't tired, I continued.

What I didn't know about was the fog on I-24, in the area of Monteagle, where the highway crosses the Cumberland Plateau. There hadn't been any fog at the lower elevations.

I had gone a few miles before the fog set in thick, and it was getting worse by the minute. Before long, I could barely see in front of me. It felt like I was coasting down a hill but unable to reach the bottom, where I hoped it would level off. I had shifted into second gear to keep my speed down, and my old Plymouth was fighting to maintain a safe speed around curves and what seemed to be a never-ending slope. My hands had begun to perspire as I gripped the wheel and worked the brakes.

I wanted desperately to find a place to pull over and rest, but all I could see out the window was guardrail after guardrail. I prayed aloud. "Oh, dear God, please let this nightmare end!" Almost immediately, and out of nowhere, there were taillights in front of me. Hallelujah, I wasn't alone! Luckily, the car was going the same speed as I was and I could easily keep up with his taillights leading the way. I breathed a sigh of relief and thanked the Lord for allowing me to catch up with what appeared to be the only other car on the road. Curve after treacherous curve we drove, down, down, mile after mile and then finally we came to a level stretch. It was still very foggy but the car in front of me continued to be my beacon and my savior. I decided that as soon as we got off this mountain, I was going to roll my window down and thank that person from the bottom of my heart. Maybe I could toot my horn to get his attention as I passed in front of him. Whatever it took, I would do it.

As we neared the bottom of the pass and with the fog lifting, I could see the mountain in my rearview mirror. And to think I wanted to pull over to the side of the road when there were no sides to pull over on! I shuddered to think I might have gone over a guardrail if it hadn't been for the car in front of me. But now I began to wonder where my fearless leader had gone. The car had been there a second before and there were no exits, just the road in front of us that would take me to Nashville. I sped up a bit and although I could see cars in the oncoming lanes, I was the only car in my lane. No one was behind me and no one was in front of me for as far as I could see.

It took me a few minutes to take it all in. When I finally did, I pulled over to the side of the road to gather my wits. My eyes filled with tears when I realized what had just happened. If I never believed in guardian angels before that day, I certainly did from then on! A car had suddenly appeared in front of me when I needed it the most, and when danger had passed, it disappeared as quickly as it had arrived. I strongly believe that God sent someone to the mountain that night to calm my nerves and take away my fear so that I could keep my car under control around those curves. I have never once doubted it! Praise the Lord for safely guiding me through that dangerous foggy mountain pass!

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