by Rachel Hartley

I have a best friend named Nicole. This is her story of how God protected her.

Two years ago around Christmastime, Nicole, age 10, was getting ready to help a man named Wayne, a friend of her grandma’s, decorate a tree. She was going with her siblings Lindsay, 20, and Ryan, 12. Their mom was at work, and their dad was sleeping.

They were packed and bundled up, ready for a fun time out of town. Lindsay sat in the driver’s seat of their car and started the engine, but it didn’t work. She tried again and again, but—nothing. Lindsay told Nicole and Ryan to stay in the car while she went inside to wake their dad up.

After four minutes, Lindsay and their dad, named Ron, came outside. Their dad turned the key, but the car didn’t start. He tried a couple more times, but still nothing happened.

Their family had only two vehicles. The mom had the van, and the car wasn’t working. Ron told them, “You’ll have to get out of the car. You can’t go to Wayne’s house because of the problem with transportation.” So the disappointed kids walked slowly back into the house.

After they were all done unbundling their winter gear, they went to phone Wayne to tell him that they would not be able to come to his house. Ron called. He heard a message on the phone saying that the other line was disconnected. “Lindsay, do me a favor and try to call him later,” he said, and went back to his nap.

Twenty minutes passed. Lindsay picked up the phone and dialed Wayne’s number again, but she heard the same thing as before. She decided not to call again.

Hours passed. It was 10:00 at night. Ron was up getting ready for work. He is a
transport truck driver and sometimes has to work night shifts. Nicole and Ryan were in bed.

Their mom had just gotten off work and started driving home. On her way back, she went to Wayne’s house to check up on the kids and have Lindsay drive home behind her for safety reasons. When she reached Wayne’s street, instead of seeing her daughter’s car, she saw an ambulance taking off, and three police cars. She was very scared of what might have happened to her children.

She parked her van on the street, jogged over to a woman police officer, and asked what had happened at this house. The policewoman said, “There has been a horrible break-in. Wayne was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance. But we know who the robber was.”

Nicole’s mom called Lindsay’s cell phone. Lindsay answered and told her mother, “Our car wasn’t working, so we didn’t go to Wayne’s house.”

The mom drove home silently while she thanked God a million times for protecting her kids.

When their mother got home, Nicole and Ryan came out of bed. She told them every detail while all the kids had hot chocolate. “While Wayne was getting everything ready, a man broke in. He beat Wayne very badly, and Wayne’s in the hospital now. The robber had put Wayne in the basement cellar and
disconnected all of the phones.”

“Oh, that’s why,” Lindsay said. “We tried calling Wayne to tell him we couldn’t come, but the phone said that the line was disconnected.”

“That must have been the problem,” the mom continued. “Luckily, Wayne kept an emergency phone down in the cellar that the robber didn’t notice and didn’t disconnect. Wayne managed to get himself to the phone and called the police station. They immediately rushed him to the hospital. I’m glad you guys weren’t there when that horrible break-in happened. You could have been hurt really badly or maybe even killed.”

The next day the phone rang early, around 6:00. The mom is always up early, so she picked up the phone. “Hello,” she said.

It was Nicole’s grandma. She said that once she had heard about Wayne, she rushed to the hospital. “The doctors said he will be OK. He had a few broken teeth, a broken leg, and a few scratches and bruises. But he is going to be all right.”

That day Lindsay took her car to the mechanic. The guy looked at her car. After half an hour, he came to her and said, “I don’t know why the car didn’t work, because it is in perfect condition.”

Later on, Nicole turned on the TV, and the news said that the police had caught the robber.

That day Nicole and her family saw three huge blessings from God. Lindsay, Nicole, and Ryan weren’t there during the robbery; the robber was caught; and Wayne was OK. They feel sure that the Lord helped, because the next day the car was fine.