The Bliss of Freedom (Part 2)

The Bliss of Freedom (Part 2)



Here is where the story ended last time…



Suddenly there was the sound of someone blowing their horn loudly and often.



“Who the heck is playing with their horn?” she said angrily. “Some people are so rude!”



Putting her foot on the accelerator she shot back to leave the parking, but felt the car come to a sudden halt with a loud bang. All she heard was the sound of broken glass and crunching metal.



Now for the conclusion…



Turning around to see what had happened, she saw that she had reversed into a huge truck that was behind her. “Oh Lord, no!” Sarah cried. “What have I done?”



She pulled forward quickly again, switched off the car and sat there shaking for a moment. It was as though her whole body froze in fear and she couldn’t move for a few seconds.



Colleen took control and said, “Come, we’d better go and see what damage you caused.” Then looking at Sarah with love and concern for her she said, “I’m sure it’ll be okay. Just keep calm.”



They got out of the car and walked around to see what had happened. As they got to the back of the car they were met by a big, well-built man, who was glaring angrily at them.



“What were you thinking lady?” asked the man angrily. “When you hear car’s honking their horns don’t you pay attention? I could see you reversing and I tried to stop, but I could not do it. You had reversed into me already. This is a brand new truck! I hope for your sake that you’re insured!”



“I’m terribly sorry sir,” Sarah said weakly. “I don’t know what happened. I honestly didn’t see you. Is your car badly damaged?”



They examined both cars together to see what damage had been caused. The front right-hand bumper and light on his big truck was smashed, and part of the grill next to it was dented. Allan’s car had the same sort of damages, except it was on the back right-hand side, and the bottom of the trunk was dented in too. Sarah’s heart sank as she saw the mess that she had caused.



“We are insured,” Sarah said, very thankful for that fact. “I know that it’s a horrible inconvenience to you, but we’ll make sure that all the damages are repaired. I am so terribly sorry Sir, I really didn't see you." Then she could not contain herself any longer and the tears began to flow freely.



The owner of the car ignored this outburst of emotion and said abruptly, “I’ll have to call the police to get all the details and file an official report.” Looking through a phone book he retrieved from the glove compartment of his car, he found a number and picked up his cell phone to make the call.



Sarah went back to the car to find some tissues to wipe her eyes. Her stomach felt like it had been pulled out, her heart was beating fast and hard, and she felt like throwing up. She didn’t say a word to Colleen, but just sat there waiting anxiously. Suddenly she remembered that she had their cell phone with her.



“Perhaps I’d better phone Allan,” she thought. “He’s probably going to kill me anyway. Maybe I’d better let him know that I’m okay, and tell him what’s happened. He was right! I should have listened to him! Why am I so stupid?” Then the tears began to flow again as she thought of how stupid she had been.



She dialed the number, waiting anxiously for his response on the other end. But to her frustration all she got was a recorded message from the cell phone company to say that she had run out of money on the card. She could not get through to Allan.



“Argh!” she said, frustrated. “Everything is going wrong today! Nothing is working out! I can’t take this anymore! I’ve just really messed up so badly. Colleen, what am I going to do? Allan’s probably going to want to divorce me! I don’t know how to make it right.”



Tears welled up in her eyes as she realized that she was in deep trouble and that it was her own fault that she was in this situation. She felt convicted and totally sinful, and could see what Allan had been trying to get across to her earlier in the day, but she hadn’t listened to him.



“Why am I so stupid?” she cried. “Oh Lord, please help me. I realize that I’ve messed up, but I don’t know how to make it right. Please give me favor with Allan too, and help me to make it up to him. Thank you Jesus.”



After a few minutes she got out of the car again, and went to go and talk to the person whose truck she had hit. He was waiting outside until the police arrived. He looked at her as she came towards him, and she looked so pitiful that he softened for a moment towards her.



“What’s your name?” he asked.



“Sarah. Sarah Bradley,” she replied. “And this is my friend Colleen,” she said pointing to her. “What’s your name?”



“I’m Craig Ferguson,” he said, then he put out his hand to shake their hands. “Pleased to meet you – although it’s not in the best of circumstances,” he said with a half-hearted smile. “Anyway, the police will be here soon, then we can put this matter to sleep. If I didn’t want to get the insurance company to repair the damages I wouldn’t even worry about calling the police. But they will need the details. Hey,” he said encouraging them, “the damages aren’t as bad as they look. It’ll be easy enough to fix.”



Sarah smiled a little for the first time since the ordeal and said, “Thank you for being so understanding Craig. I feel like an absolute idiot!”



Many silent minutes went by before they saw the blinking lights and siren that signaled the arrival of the police. Then followed the usual red tape of answering questions and being interrogated which normally goes with events such as this.



Sarah was fortunate that everything she needed was in the car, and she didn’t have to get hold of Allan for anything. She was relieved when it was all over and they could finally go their separate ways.



When the police had left, Craig turned to her and said, “Now you take care!” Then he scribbled something on a piece of paper, and handing it to her he said, “Here’s my telephone number if you need anything else from me.”



“Thank you!” Sarah said. “You’ve been really gracious. I hope that I can somehow repay you for all the trouble I’ve caused you.”



He just smiled and said, “It’s okay. Just be careful and don’t mess up again! And I also need to be careful not to come forward too quickly when a car is reversing.”



As he rode off, Sarah and Colleen got back into the car to go back home. Sarah just had one goal in mind now – to get back to the safety of her home and to the comfort of Allan’s arms. He was always there for her, even when she messed up. As she thought about everything that had happened, she realized that she had just taken his love and care for granted.



“You know Colleen,” Sarah said after a while, “I thought that escaping from the house and running away for a few hours on my own would be so awesome. But what a deception it was! All it did was produce a huge amount of pressure – and for what? I’ve been so stupid! I’ve taken Allan for granted and not submitted to him. I just thought he was being a dominating, horrible husband, but he was taking the lead for my good! That freedom I desired just put me into bondage!”



Colleen sat thinking for a moment, and then she said, “You’re right you know. I think I do the same with Paul. I also rebel and kick and scream at him, but if I think about it, it has also caused me problems. Wow, this is scary stuff! I guess we need to change our ideas a bit and let our husbands be the boss.”



They said nothing more until they reached Colleen’s house and pulled into her driveway.



“There you go,” Sarah said. “Hope you have a great evening. Please keep me in prayer that Allan doesn’t slaughter me! Hey,” she said, “don’t forget your stuff in the trunk. Can you bring mine out too at the same time please.”



Colleen took the two parcels out and passed Sarah hers.



“Be blessed,” she said. “It was great going out. Next time though, we’d better do it with our husband’s approval.”



Sarah waved good bye as she drove off and headed for their home. As she got closer and closer she became more and more anxious. By the time she arrived at their garage and used the remote control to open the door, her heart was pounding and she felt ill again.



“Lord,” she said, “I don’t care how much Allan moans at me and rebukes me. I make a resolve to listen to him from now on. I can’t undo the mess I’ve made. I just ask that you give me favor with him. Thank you Jesus.”



The door opened up slowly and she pulled carefully into the garage. As she looked around she could see that Allan had been working again. There were piles of boxes, trash bags and bits and pieces everywhere. He wasn’t anywhere to be seen now.



“Oh good,” she thought. “He’s obviously upstairs. Maybe I can just delay telling him about the dent until he’s calmed down about me being late.”



However, as she was about to get out, she looked up and he was almost right at the car. He had a mixture of anger and concern on his face, and he looked at his watch as he walked towards the car.



“Where the heck have you been Sarah?” he asked loudly.



“I um… got a little bit delayed,” she said weakly as she got out. “I’m sorry honey. Did you sleep well?”



Avoiding her question he said, “You got delayed with what? Good grief, it’s almost five o’clock! What delayed you for almost four hours? You just wanted to go and quickly get some bread!”



“Well, I got it,” she said casually as though nothing was wrong. She realized that she hadn’t taken it out of the car yet, and went to get it off the front passenger seat. Then her heart sank as she realized that like a fool she had left the clothes packet there too.



“Oh no, please don’t come to the car with me,” she thought frantically, as Allan came with her.



He glanced into the side window and saw the bread and the parcel there.



“What is this?” he yelled. “So this was your delay! You deliberately went to town even when I said you couldn’t, didn’t you? You deliberately rebelled against me even when I said that I didn’t want you to go! What has got into you?”



He shook his head in despair, and Sarah began to sob loudly. She couldn’t keep quiet about everything any longer. He was yelling at her anyway, so she thought she would just let everything out and get it over with.



“Allan, you’re right!” she said, as she tried to gain her composure again. “I’m sorry. I did rebel against you. I thought that you were being so controlling and I just wanted some freedom. But you know what? That freedom just got me into a mess! I didn’t listen to you when you said you felt a thummim about it. And… I don’t know how to tell you this, but…”



Then she really began to sob, and she signaled to him to follow her to the back of the car.



“This happened while I was backing out of the parking at Markham’s… I should have listened to you… I understand if you want to divorce me. I just don’t know what to do. I’ve messed up so badly. I’m just terrible! Please forgive me...”



She blurted everything out quickly as though it would make it easier. Then she put her head on his chest, hugged him and just sobbed and let all the tension out.



Allan was speechless! He wanted to have a fit about the damage to his pride and joy, but he had also never ever seen Sarah so broken. Never before had he seen her acknowledge that she’d failed. Before she had always justified herself and made excuses. Now, when she was in this tight spot that she couldn’t escape from, she was seeing her failure and acknowledging it.



He put his arms round her and held her tight, then after a few minutes he said, “Of course I forgive you! I’m just pleased that you’re okay. I was really worried about you! I tried to call you on the cell phone, but it gave an error message and said that the card had expired.”



He then looked at her seriously and said, “I think that you’ve really learned a hard lesson here, but the Lord still had His hand on you. Now, let’s go upstairs and you can tell me the whole story. I want all the details please!” he said firmly.



They went to the kitchen and he made her a strong cup of sweet coffee to calm her nerves, then they went and sat on the settee in the lounge to drink it. For the first time in their marriage, she told him everything! And for the first time too, he really listened to her!



When she had finished he turned to her and said, “I’m so pleased you shared all this with me. I understand what happened now, and I realize that I’ve also been so wrong. I just don’t listen to you enough. You try and cry out to me when you’re under pressure, and I just think you’re being stupid. I’m always so busy with work and other things, that I’m not really there for you. No wonder you want to escape the pressure! I’m not meeting your needs properly. Honey, please forgive me for not being there enough for you. I really want to try and change it now. What a fool I’ve been too!”



A faint smile broke onto Sarah’s face and she said, “Of course I forgive you! Can we make a fresh start and just leave the past behind?”



“Why not,” Allan responded, then he put his arms around her and held her again.



“Love you Allan,” she said. Then softly she whispered, “Thank you Jesus! Thank you for answering my prayers and washing me clean!”