We needed to find another way in. I could see through the sidelight window that the front door had been barricaded with furniture. The two story house sat somewhat isolated in a wooded neighborhood and had a narrow deck that wrapped around the second floor of the house. I followed the second story deck with my eyes which was silhouetted against the summer night sky. I ran to the left hoping it would lead me to a back staircase and a secondary entrance. My partner ran to the right and did the same.
A call from a frantic woman screaming about being attacked by her boyfriend and the sound of breaking glass in the background had brought us there. I was still pretty new at this whole saving the world thing. Simply driving there with lights and sirens on had my adrenaline going like bilge pumps on the Titanic.
Laser Focus
I continued looking up at the second story deck while running around the house to find another way in. My laser focus overhead was suddenly stolen by the sound of my feet splashing through water and the sensation of my weight suspended on the surface of a trampoline. After a few soggy steps I stopped and shined my flashlight down at my feet. I was in ankle deep water. “What the …?” I looked around me and realized I was standing in the center of an in-ground pool. The only thing between me and the bottom of the deep end was the pool cover — not the floppy float-on-the-surface pool cover, but one of the nice ones that fasten around the pool just like a trampoline.
If it hadn’t been for that type of pool cover, I would have been like Bruce Willis in M. Night Shyamalan’s movie Unbreakable after Willis’ character got knocked into the pool. His desperate struggle to get out of the enveloping pool cover only further served to disorient him and drown him.
But I wasn’t. Drowning, that is.
I walked off that pool cover with nothing more than wet socks and soggy boots. We were able to get find the back staircase, get into the house, sort everything out, and clear the call. Even though everything had worked out, I was left with a sinking feeling.
Divine Intervention
When we think of miraculous occurrences, guardian angels, or divine intervention, we may think of badges that stop bullets or chin-whisker-near-misses of oncoming cars. At least I did. The truth is, if we think about it, God has protected us in lots of ways.
I could have been at the bottom of that pool, wrapped in the pool cover, anchored to the pool floor by my leather gear. And what would they say at my funeral? “We gather here today to honor an officer killed in the line of duty. He wasn’t paying any attention to where he was going, ran into a swimming pool, and got himself wrapped in the pool cover like an oversized blue burrito, and drowned.” Not exactly what I call going down in a blaze of glory. But I was spared from that. My family was spared from that tragedy (and a ridiculous eulogy). And sadly, I didn’t give God the credit.
Pay Attention
It took me a while to realize that God isn’t always overt, in your face, super dramatic, or uber magical. There won’t necessarily be lights shining down from Heaven through silver lined clouds while the Hallelujah Chorus crescendos in the background. He does amazing things in small ways that we will fail to notice if we’re not paying attention. Let’s not overlook the small things so we can appreciate them and give credit where credit is due.
Oh, and watch where you’re going.
____________________
- What near misses have you had in your career?
- How has God protected you?
- Have you thanked Him?
Spoiler Alert: Bruce Willis survived his encounter with the pool cover, but maybe not so much if he had been wearing a 25 pound utility like we do. Just saying.
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