march 4, 2015

Whitey jerked to the left and then to the right. I completely lost control of the vehicle. Before I knew it, Whitey was careening into a ditch and the car spun around and did a 180. As I was spinning, I closed my eyes out of fear, but I felt everything in the car swirl around me. Books, my laptop, jacket, pens, stuff in the glove box and on the backseat were all being jostled around. Something (I later suspect my Shakespeare textbook) hit me in the head. The next thing I knew I was in the ditch right in front of some kind of auto repair business. 

On Wednesday, March 4, 2015 I remember waking up late. Wednesdays were my longest days that semester. I was still a student at DBU and I had chapel from 10-10:50, then work at my on campus job from 11-5. After work, I had to rush to my Latin American History class on the other side of the campus which lasted from 5:15-7:45. This was my roughest semester because of the hectic scheduling and the grueling academic load. Most days I didn’t even want to get out of bed. This day was hardly an exception.

Even though I was running behind I can remember taking extra care with my hair and make up in hopes of improving my mood. The weather was abysmal and had been that way for several days. Prior to that Wednesday, we had already had two snow days! That morning it was raining heavily, but I felt pretty confident as I had driven in the rain many times before. I begin my journey to DBU and was maybe 20 minutes away from campus when something terrifying happened. I drove into a massive pooling of water that at the time felt like a small lake. As soon as I hit the water my car hydroplaned.

I completely lost control of the vehicle and it spun around for what felt like hours, but was only seconds. My car eventually came to a stop and landed in a ditch on the side of the road. The accident really wrecked my nerves. I couldn’t stop shaking and in my shock I couldn’t even figure out how to turn my own car off. I wasn’t in pain at the moment, just dumbfounded. I remember sitting there for a minute, then for some reason I turned my head to the left and was shocked to see that I had hit a brown UPS truck.

 

From the driver’s seat, I could see that Whitey’s bumper was completely knocked off and that the truck had a large hole in the side of it. I could literally see the packages inside. My car’s back tires were completely out of alignment and it was so bad that I couldn’t even remember what they were so supposed to look like. A man (the UPS driver) and a woman (who worked in a nearby business) appeared and asked me if I was okay. I don’t know if at that point I realized that the accident was my fault or not, but I remember panicking because I knew how serious the situation was. I found my phone (thankfully it had been in my coat pocket, which I was wearing) and called my father. He wasn’t too far away, as we only live 20 minutes or so from where I crashed.

 

While waiting for the police and my dad to arrive, the woman from the nearby business led me inside out of the downpour. The other employees showed me the surveillance video as it had caught the entire accident on film. What I saw actually blew my mind. I hit the water, skidded, spun and had the UPS truck not been exactly where it was, my car would have flipped over! Thankfully, the UPS truck was large enough so that when I careened into it, the impact knocked me back down. I had been in the air! I couldn’t believe it.

The police determined that I wasn’t speeding. I had been driving the normal limit, which was too fast for the weather condition at the time. Thank God no one was seriously injured and that I didn’t get a ticket. He even worked out the insurance and on top of that I was able to get another reliable car the very same day. I thank God, I really do. He’s good. All the time.

On the anniversary of the accident I found it helpful to share my story. What it taught me more than anything was that I’m meant to be here on this earth and my time has not yet come. There is still work that needs to be done that only Andrea has been created to do. My purpose has yet to be fulfilled. It is a humbling feeling.

I hope my story reminds you that you are loved, you are important to God, and He has great plans just for you if you’ll surrender to Him.

Xx,

A

Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you a part and appointed you as my prophet (or representative) to the nations.” (emphasis added in parentheses)

Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you”, declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future”.