LEAD. February 2021 | Page 19

Thank God for Doors That Didn ' t Open By Jentezen Franklin

When our daughter Connar was seventeen , she had a horrible scare when she was in California . One night after youth group , Connar picked up some clothes at the house and drove to a friend ’ s , where she had planned to spend the night . By 10:00 p . m ., most of Orange County is closed . So when Connar was stopped at a red light , all was quiet . The only other car around was right in front of her , stopped at the same red light . When the light turned green , the driver of that car accelerated for a few seconds but suddenly slammed on his brakes . Connar tried to stop in time , but she ended up hitting the car in the rear . As a newbie driver , having had her license for barely two weeks , my daughter started freaking out . It was her first accident in the car we had just purchased for her . Connar was terrified of having to tell Cherise and me that she had hit a car . Panic and tears set in .
The other driver signaled with his hand for her to pull into the parking lot next to the street . Connar did , still shaking and crying uncontrollably . The parking lot was empty . And dark . The driver , who looked to be in his late forties / early fifties , got out of the car . As
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