The day dawned rainy and muggy; it was one of those Friday mornings in the summer that promised to be long and stressful. The early morning traffic made any destination even more distant especially to those who had to squeeze into a crowded bus.

On this day, Marianne*, an executive secretary of an international corporation in Sao Paulo, knew she would have two very complicated meetings and would probably have to sacrifice her lunch hour on account of so many to-dos crowding her schedule. After work, she still had to run across town and tutor a student in English, which was a little something extra she did to tie up the loose ends in her budget.

The route to the student’s house turned out to be more of a nuisance than anything. The bus was crowded so she had to stand up while carrying heavy books, dreading the beginnings of a terrible migraine. Despite her usual good humor, which she always seemed to have whenever she faced any type of adversity, a thought kept repeating in a whisper: “My God, what a day!”

After an hour’s bus ride and a ten block walk, Marianne finally reached her destination. Class went on normally, which was refreshing in the midst of so many difficulties. As she was leaving her student’s building to go home, Marianne was surprised when the doorman warned her: “Three burglars just robbed a person in front of the building. They threatened to kill me if I called the police and said they would return. It’s better if nobody leaves until everything calms down.” “This can’t be happening,” thought Marianne.

Half an hour later, she decided not to stay there at the mercy of the thieves and left. Marianne used her faith as a shield and prayed that God would ward off any danger and make her invisible to any enemies. It was October 31st, a day where many celebrate Halloween, a North American custom, unfortunately introduced to the Brazilian culture. People crowded the streets dressed in black, like monsters and witches, walking around with bottles of alcohol in their hands. It seemed like she was in the middle of a horror movie.

She was determined to get home as fast as possible and took firm steps toward the bus stop, when to her despair she saw the bus fly by. The next one would take more than 30 minutes. Despite all the setbacks, a headache accompanied by hunger, and so far from home, she couldn’t understand why she was so peaceful at heart. It was ridiculous to be feeling this calm after such a hectic day. But, Marianne was inexplicably calm.

When the next bus finally arrived, she sat down, opened a book and wished that the last few hours of that day would turn out a bit more pleasant. When she was approaching at her destination on one of the main streets of the city, Marianne saw some strange movement and flashing red lights. The traffic cops were up ahead waving over all upcoming traffic. That’s when she recognised, over on the sidewalk, the bus that she had missed earlier. The right side of the bus was completely destroyed after colliding with a truck.

At that moment, she understood clearly in her heart what had happened. It was as if God kindly said to her: “My child, I’m allowing you to see how I delivered you.”

Often our eyes only see the problems that surround us and we think we’re in the middle of chaos. We end up losing the opportunity of having the wonderful experience that is being in the warm and protective arms of the Father.

* This is a true story, only the character’s name was changed. Her identity doesn’t matter. What matters is God’s love.