by Jill Ragar Esfeld
jill.esfeld@theleaven.org
LENEXA — Terri French has a theory about road rage — if you rain enough grace down on the people around you, God will overcome.
So far, it’s working
As a workers’ compensation case manager, this Holy Trinity, Lenexa, parishioner is often on the road.
“When I have injured workers,” she said, “I have to go to their appointments with them.
“There are days I drive to Topeka, Independence, Overland Park, Kansas City and back home.”
French read an article once that talked about how graces are showered down on the people around you when you pray.
She liked that idea.
“I thought, ‘You know, that’s kind of a neat thing,’” she said. “So then I just stated my intention to pray while I drive.”
French pays attention to everything around her as she drives — knowing her prayers are helping.
If she drives by an accident or sees someone speeding, she offers up an intention for that person.
“And those people that are impatient and they have to get around you?” she said. “I pray they get where they need to be because they’re obviously in a hurry.”
French was in an accident last December when a man entering the highway merged into her car.
Though her car was damaged, she wasn’t hurt at all.
“I was able to stay calm because I was praying,” she said.
When the insurance adjuster called to investigate the claim, he asked French if she was on her phone or listening to the radio when the accident occurred.
“I said, ‘No, I was praying the rosary,’” she recalled. “He said, ‘Well, I guess we’re buying this one then.’”
In addition to the rosary, French prays the Divine Mercy chaplet, the chaplet of faith and the Memorare.
“Why wouldn’t I want to do something that uplifts me as well as the people around me?” she said.
