My wish is that as you read this collection of real life experiences, you will feel as though you have unexpectedly run into a trusted, long lost friend who confided in you and shared some incredible personal moments. I hope this book will bring you comfort, a few chuckles, some inspiration or possibly all of these.
-Carol
“Carol Baird has discovered the real secret... that there is no secret. God's messages are there for the taking - we just have to pay attention long enough to see them. A Swift Kick to get that attention is what this book delivers, in a heartwarming and human way.”
- Linda Gerber, Author Now and Zen, The Finnish Line, Death by Bikini(2008), Puffin
http://www.lindagerber.com/
“I had an opportunity to read the chapter and I thought it was great. I felt like it really captured everything that happened that day in Columbus…”
- Adam Taliaferro, former Penn State football player
http://www.taliaferrofoundation.org/
“Inspiring and uplifting, … a true testament to the power of prayer… stories that are both entertaining and enlightening. My favorite is “Surprisingly Spiritual Speaker”, the beautiful Violet Moon story… please enjoy Carol’s spiritual and compassionate stories, keep them near by because when you read them, you will know, that everything is going to be alright.”
- Rattlesnake Annie, Country-Blues guitarist, singer, songwriter
http://www.rattlesnakeannie.com/
“This little book is a blessed reminder of how the Holy Spirit is connecting us and guiding us in so many ways throughout our lives.”
- Ruth Gilmore Ingulsrud, Author Kidsermons
http://www.kidsermons.com/
“I appreciate your willingness to include the story of “Violet Moon” and how God can work in mysterious ways. Thank you for undertaking this book as a labor of love."
- Justice Evelyn Lundberg Stratton, Supreme Court of Ohio
Carol Baird
was born in rural western Ohio in Darke County. (Where Annie Oakley was also born and raised.) She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering from The Ohio State University. Work experiences for Carol have included production supervision, tooling engineering, purchasing, contract negotiation, supplier management, inventory control, and many other areas of responsibility. Her employers have varied from an American Fortune 500 company to the first U.S. manufacturing facility of a large Japanese corporation.
Carol has been married to a wonderful, patient husband of twenty-five years and they have three amazing children (currently one is in college, one is in high school, one is in middle school). Her family has lived near Tokyo, Japan on two different occasions with her husband’s job (October 1994 to April 1997 and February 2005 to June 2007). The first time they moved to Japan they had two preschoolers who attended Japanese yochien (preschool) and Japanese shogakko (elementary). The second time, they took one high school, one middle school and one elementary school student to an English speaking international school. Carol was very busy both times with the many daily tasks of Japanese life, great sight seeing (often enjoyed acting as a tour guide for visiting family and friends), shopping (favorites are flea markets and antique shops) as well as various part time jobs (consulting, teaching, speaking and writing).
At present, Carol greatly enjoys training, speaking and writing about many experiences and passions in her life. She has spoken nationally and internationally on a wide variety of topics including gender differences in communication and negotiation, leaving your comfort zone, ethics of procurement, ergonomics, sexually transmitted disease education (for students, parents, teachers, youth leaders), violence in the workplace, sexual harassment, and will talk about almost anything she feels is important.
Chapter Two - Headlights Dead Ahead
My degree from the Ohio State University is … in … Engineering. I have spent most of my career in manufacturing facilities…. I was a workaholic department manager… a working Mom with three small children who was too busy to go to church … My equally-stressed husband and I needed Sunday morning to sleep in and relax with the kids. Sound familiar?
One very early, dark and extremely foggy morning, I was leaving Logan County, Ohio traveling to an automotive supplier in Georgetown, KY. I picked up a co-worker before sunrise … “I don’t mind driving in the fog, but what worries me are stupid drivers who try to pass…,” but I couldn’t finish my statement. My throat closed. My heart dropped. I was gripped with fear. Suddenly appearing from nowhere I saw two sets of headlights a few feet in front of us… one in the oncoming lane and… one in our lane! It was totally silent in the car. I held my breath. I took my foot off the gas pedal then felt as if being held in suspended animation. I was not able to move anything as the next few seconds seemed to take forever. We heard screeching tires as the headlights continued closer. At the last instant before certain impact, the pick-up truck that was heading straight for us swerved into the ditch to our right … We soon smelled the pungent odor of burning rubber …where the truck had first seen us and slammed on the brakes. A quick glance … showed headlights of a car following closely behind us. For a few seconds we had been in the middle of three other vehicles, … but miraculously not one of us touched another.
When I started breathing again, I was trembling and wanted to stop… But there was no safe place to stop … I drove very slowly … finally … a safe place to pull off of the road ... we could not get back in the car until the sun had risen … we would need to delay our meeting’s start time. The co-worker who had been riding with me, and who I did not consider to be church-like or spiritual, said “God must not be done with me yet.” For some reason, that comment hit me hard. It echoed in my head and heart. It made me speechless. It scared me a little and made me wonder what it was that God wanted me to do, because I felt I had clearly been surrounded by His protection and He clearly kept me around that morning. It was the first time that I had ever pondered ... “What am I supposed to be doing with my life?”
Recently this memory rushed back to me when I heard the song by Carrie Underwood called “Jesus, Take the Wheel” (Arista). The first time I heard this song, it gave me chills and goose bumps and tears welled up in my eyes. It not only talks about Jesus taking control of the wheel during a dangerous time on the road, but also taking over the wheel of her life. Before I became involved in the process of writing this book, I don’t think that I had ever admitted to anyone that I did not have control of my vehicle that morning. … During those brief, yet excruciatingly slow moving moments, I had a very strong feeling that someone else had taken control of the steering wheel and gas and brake pedal that morning. (It is very difficult for me to admit this because I am a person who has to be in control of everything.) …