"As for me, I trust in You, O LORD; I say,
"You are my God." My times are in Your hand. -Psalm 31:14-15
Sometimes it takes for a big accident to happen in order
for us to realize that there is a greater, more powerful being that exists--someone
who protects us all of the time and someone who knows the timing and seasons of
our lives. God has the big picture in mind; and he definitely knows the plans
he has for you.
Yesterday, I got into a very big and bad car accident that
could easily take away the driver's life, or at least that was what I was told
by the highway patrol officer, my husband Jeff, Jerry (the guy who stopped to
help me), and many others. As the car rolled over, I closed my eyes and I
prayed harder than I would normally for God to take over and help me out. It
was the moment when I noticed myself actually letting go of everything...my
hands off the steering wheel, my foot off the brake pedal, my eyes closed. The
one thing, however, that I did not let go was my Faith in the Lord. I had full
faith in him and knew that he would take over the situation and will do his
best to keep me alive for my 6 year-old daughter and loving husband. All at the
same time, it was definitely difficult to even think that I would come out of
the accident alive. And maybe I'd be paralyzed like some young adults I took
care of after suffering severely from a motor vehicular accident. As the car
tumbled over, I knew I was going to die, there was no way I'd be alive. It was
so traumatic...feeling my body tumbling with the roll of the car. Amazingly
enough, when the car stopped moving I realized it landed on its wheels. I
opened my eyes, took off my seat belt, pushed the car door open, pushing it
even harder to try to get out as it was jammed. And when I was completely out
of the car, I literally jumped in joy just to feel some sort of confirmation
that I was still alive and it was the reality I was living in! I experienced
that kind of joy that you'd get when you look at the situation and say it could
be worse because it could definitely be worse, in fact, much worse. All of my
extremities were still moving, functioning like normal. I had no scratches,
blood, or bruises. I did have dirt covered all over me from head to toe and in
my mouth, my nose, my ears...
I moved on and dusted myself off and went after flying
papers, documents, shoes...doing my best to gather everything that got thrown
out of the car while trying to get help. I saw three trucks passing by,
screaming for their attention. None of them stopped to help me. I went back
into my car looking for my phone to make a call out to my husband. No luck.
Dirt was piled into mini hills on the floor of the passenger side. My purse was
thrashed and filled with about five pounds of dirt and pebbles. My lipstick was
buried in dirt on the floor mat and my wallet was under the passenger's seat.
My phone was nowhere to be found. I lifted my head up out of the passenger's
side and saw a gentleman yelling at me to see if I was okay. He told me he
thought I was dead because as he approached my car, he could not see me. I got
out of my car and he examined me from a distance, asking if I was sure that I
was okay. I told him, "I'm okay. Thank you so much for stopping to help
me." He then called CHP to get help and I asked him if he could please
call my phone. He did. I heard it ringing but could not find it. And I then
asked if I could use his phone to call my husband. He handed me the phone, I
dialed my husband's number...it rang..."Hello...?" my husband
answered. "Honey...I got into another car accident."
My husband came to my side, comforted me, helped me clean
up the mess, and brought me home...He kept telling me that he was extremely
thankful that I was alive because he would hate to raise our daughter on his
own and he would not be able to live without me. All at the same time, while I
was feeling guilty and kept apologizing to him and causing all of the headache,
he made me feel the complete opposite. He made me realize how important I am to
him and Jewelene. Not that I didn't know. But it was definitely a great
reassurance. Sometimes, we all need that as a consolation. He provided such
solace that I had never known before.
To make this long story short, I was saved. I was saved by
my saving grace, the Lord. It was like he threw a protective metal shield
around me from head to toe and protected me with all his might. There is no way
that this was by happenstance of pure luck! I am still alive, did not get hurt
or paralyzed. He chose this particular incident to remind me that Faith is a
powerful factor that leads us to the truth. My faith in God was what saved me;
he is my truth. I trust him with my time, my life, my being. Even the daughter
that he chose for me to have, and the man he chose for me to marry was all part
of his big plans for me.
