On a recent winter night, it was very late, and I was tired. My cell phone rang. It was one of our daughters. The moment I heard her voice, I knew something was wrong.

“Daddy,” she barely managed to say, “I’m scared.”

“What’s wrong,” I asked.

She explained that she was on the interstate trying to get home, and had driven headlong into a terrible blizzard. It was very dark, and the snow was coming down so hard the lines on the highway were obliterated, as were the marker posts on the side of the road. She was driving blind, and terrified!

“I’m scared!” she repeated amidst her sobs. “What do I do?”

Now I have been in that situation many times over the years, and I understood her fear and panic. My heart went out to her. I would have come and rescued her in a moment if I hadn’t been 200 miles away.

“Okay,” I said, “this is what you do.”

And I explained all the tricks I have learned over the years – how to drive and stay alive in a blizzard, and how to stay on a road you can’t see. Even as I was explaining to her, a large truck roared out of nowhere obscuring in an instant all vision by the flying snow. She was so scared she cried out in terror.

As we talked, she became calmer. Though she was still crying – still scared, she felt she could make it. We closed the call, and I prayed for her. She made it home.

My dear Hannah reminded me of a powerful lesson – one not soon forgotten. Don’t forget, my friend, when you are in trouble, there is someone always there and always listening who can see you and help you. All you have to do is cry out, “Father, I’m scared; help me!”