And The Traffic Parted

As I sit in the Okaloosa airport (Destin/Ft. Walton) waiting on a flight I hope gets me to Memphis around the storms they're calling for, I started thinking about something that happened Monday night at the Move event in Florida I'm on the way home from.

At the venue we used, the hotel was on the opposite side of the street from where the sessions took place. As a result, all 400 people had to cross Front Beach Road 4 times each day (over and back, morning and evening). In order to help with this, we hired off-duty members of the sheriff's department - who proved to be really helpful and very willing to help however we needed them to.

On Monday night as the group came out of what once was the the Fives Family Arcade, the sheriff's deputy pulled into the street, got out of his car and began to signal for the busy street to come to a standstill. Prior to him moving into place the street was noisy and bustling with partying adolescents and adults. But as soon as the students started making their way across it got eerily silent. Not only did the traffic stop, but people stopped honking and yelling at one another. The only real sounds were a breeze blowing through the trees and the murmur of students discussing what they'd just experienced in the session they were leaving.

When the last student cleared the street, the sheriff signaled traffic to resume and everything went back to the way it had been.

It was an amazing thing to watch. I had no idea that it could get so quiet on Front Beach Road in Panama City Beach on spring break. Perhaps this was a coincidence. Perhaps God was working in the lives of the students and didn't want them distracted. I'm not sure, but I know it was a moment I'll remember for a long time.