So, I may be posting new things, but I may also be posting old things. This one's an oldie. I called it "Wreckage."
So, the 911 call that the firemen heard was that there was a car hanging off a bridge. It wasn't exactly like that, but it wasn't far off. I would say that it was one of the scariest experiences of my life, but I didn't get scared until it was over. And then I was shaking. You never think things are going to go differently than you had planned. Until they don't.
I was just on my way to class (after a morning where I got so drenched on a walk that I was as soaking wet as if I had taken a shower – fully clothed) going around a corner on the highway, when there was water in my lane and another car in the lane next to me. I couldn't move over, so I just decided to power through. Mistake. When deciding to power through water, one must be certain that they know what to do in case they hydroplane. This person [me] did not. I jerked the wheel one way, and then whipped it back the other way, and was trying to do it again (apparently it's not like on a video game) when I realized I was doing a 180 turn on the highway. The back end of my car drove up a concrete piling. When things stopped moving, I tried to catch my breath and control the shaking.
Some amazingly nice people (one lady was named Carla) stopped to see if I was all right. Because my plan had been to go to class, and then come straight back to get work done, I had felt no need to take my cell phone with me. So I asked her to call someone to get help for me. So then the police came, and then the firemen, and then eventually the tow truck. Everyone kept asking me if I was hurt. I didn't get out of the car until the police got there and told me I could go sit in their car instead. I had managed to hold it together pretty well until I got out and turned around and looked at what had happened. No wonder people kept asking me if I was okay. The enormity of what had happened doubled me over. It helped that the policeman came back to tell me I could sit in the car, because I didn't want to cry in front of him, so I had to pull it together as best as I could. He, and everyone else at the scene, was very nice. The onslaught of rain that day had caused a lot of wrecks all over town, so I think they were just relieved that things went as well as they did for my accident.
You see, although the enormity of my wreck doubled me over, there was actually not that much damage to my car. Once the wrecker got my car off the concrete piling, only the left rear bumper and the exhaust pipe looked slightly amiss. Yes, there were a couple of other problems, but seriously, the back of my car almost looked as if nothing had happened. And I wasn't hurt! It was as though God had placed a big cushion around me and my car. Of course, because I tend to obsess, my next thought was that God must have something big for me if He was going to protect me that much. Most people probably get excited by that thought. I just kept thinking how inadequate that makes me feel. I suppose that's the beauty of being a child of God. We're not adequate, and that's why He chooses us – so that He can be enough.
It is days like that one when it is hard for me to live away from my family. I always worry about something happening to one of them, but I never think about anything happening to me. But my invincibility cloak seems to have fallen off. And I just wanted a hug from my parents and to curl up with my head in my Mom's lap. And of course my best friend now lives in Thailand, and it's the middle of the night when it happens (where she is) and she hasn't given me her cell number yet, so I couldn't call if I wanted to. And of course, I don't have my phone, so I can't call my friends in Tulsa, either. But apparently I'm an adult, so I tried to act like one – get the car towed, get the insurance claim filed, get the rental car, etc. I'd like to say that now I'm fine and the only remnant of my accident is a distant memory and an insurance deductible. But I'm not that strong. And I can't stop thinking of my family or my close friends without getting teary-eyed. People lose so much more and make it. I didn't really even lose anything, and I'm still freaked out. That's humbling. And yet, I'm so thankful for how God protected me. I'm so thankful to be loved, and I'm so thankful for insurance. Seriously.
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