The Crave Coffee Bar & Bistro in Arlington, Tennessee was packed with teenagers drinking coffee and studying for exams when the unthinkable happened – a car plowed through the building.
I was alerted to the story by some of our listeners in the Mid-South.
The driver had suffered some sort of medical condition, blacked out and lost control of the car. The vehicle smashed through a wall of glass, plowed through tables and came to a stop inside the coffee bar.
First Responders Prepared for Worst
“The SUV did not just go through the window – it had been all the way through the coffee shop,” David Peel said on The Todd Starnes Radio Show.
There were as many as 30 young people inside the popular hang-out spot and First Responders surely imagined they would be facing a mass casualty event.
But it turns out only four teenagers were hurt. No serious injuries, just cuts and scrapes and bruises.
Some would say the young people were lucky, but Lana Hickey, the owner of the coffee bar tells me there was divine intervention.
Mrs. Hickey tells me that after watching the surveillance video of the crash she has no doubt that what happened inside her coffee shop was nothing short of a miracle.
“You see absolutely nothing but God’s hand moving these kids,” she said. “Every child in there was moved maybe by an inch of being completely plowed over by this vehicle. It was unbelievable.”
Coffee Shop Owned By Christians
Mrs. Hickey is a Christian and her faith flavors the atmosphere of the Crave Coffee Bar & Bistro. Local residents gather to hold Bible studies and there’s always Christian music playing in the background. It’s a place known for giving back to the community.
So maybe it was not that much of a surprise when several dozen folks showed up a few hours after the accident to help repair the damage. And there was a lot of damage.
“The SUV did not just go through a window. It had been all the way through the coffee shop,” Peel told me.
Within a matter of hours local construction crews had installed a new wall while volunteers swept away the broken glass. A professional cleaning crew offered their services and a local sign guy hung a new banner letting folks know the coffee shop was open for business.
“It was the most unbelievable feeling that I’ve ever had,” Mrs. Hickey told me. “They all have a giving heart just like we do. It’s very humbling. It’s a little bit of a tear jerker. I cried a little bit.”
Neighbors helping neighbors — that’s what folks do in the Mid-South. It’s the kind of story that doesn’t get much media attention.
“We need more good news in this world,” Peel said. “Mainly the Good News of Christ.”
Amen.