Acrobatic Gallant

I was supposed to be filling in at the church for the youth minister, who would be away on this day. Being a bit of a procrastinator and having a lot on my mind-what with being engaged recently and having a bit of a disparage with my fiance during the week and my mom's temporary visit to the hospital-it was Saturday before I started digging for something to teach. I had thought some through the week, but nothing stood out to me. And then I remembered my outlook on purity and how firm I am in my stance on that and I decided to teach on that for this Sunday. So, I stayed up until around Midnight, making sure that I had everything I would need and the proper Scriptures. I then got ready for bed and read my Bible. I prayed that night, asking God for His will to be done in this lesson and telling Him that I had no idea what I was going to do, seeing as how this was only the second time I had ever taught a class on anything and the first time, I had to bribe them with some koolaids and some gummi snacks so that they would behave. I was nervous and I'm not too good at speaking in front of people, so who knew what would come of it...? But I needn't have worried, because He didn't want me there, anyhow.

I had to wake up at 7:00 the next morning in order to be ready for church by 9:00. (It's about a 45 minute drive or so). I texted my fiance and asked if he could drive me because I was too tired to drive and knew that it wouldn't be a good idea for me to drive being that tired. It had been after Midnight before I managed to fall asleep, having recently begun suffering from the occasional insomnia. There was no answer because, for the first time, he overslept and my text didn't wake him up. Usually, my texts will wake him up, but it didn't do so this time.

So-admittedly, a little annoyed that I'd have to drive being that tired-I got into my car and started for church. I reached a town between my city and church and stopped for some donuts. I'd bribe this class too, see, and then they might not be too chaotic.  Now, from this town to my church, it's about 20 minutes. As I got back into my car, I realized that it was 8:40 or so. I needed to be at the church before 9:00. So, a little panicky, I did a very stupid thing and decided to drive 5 miles above the speedlimit.

If you are familiar with Missouri roads, you'll know that this is never a smart thing to do in the country. But, I'm usually a decent driver and had never had a car accident before, so I thought "you can handle it". Bad idea. For one: I was breaking the law, which is wrong in and of itself. For another thing: It was sinning against God to break a government law that was not anti-Christian. And for another thing: It was dangerous. I shouldn't have done it and I won't do it any more.

Having not eaten this morning, due to the fact that I was in a hurry and had stupidly already brushed my teeth, I had a chunk of zucchini bread sitting in the passenger seat. I went around a curve and heard something slide across my seat. I looked at the seat to make sure that the bread had not fallen, which took all of one second. Whenever I looked back up, I had begun to go into the other lane. I quickly pulled back into my lane, which resulted in my back wheels going into a slide. A curve was coming up at the end of the straight, so I knew I needed to get control of my car soon, so I fought for control of it, knowing that you're supposed to turn into the skid, but it didn't work and it begun to swerve all over the road. The curve was getting closer and I was tired and so, not thinking in my exhaustion, I hit my brake.

My car didn't listen too well and it went off the road towards a fence, on the other side of which was a large hill with a pond at the bottom. I knew that this was a horse ranch, and accepting the fact that I was going to pay for my stupidity, I closed my eyes. My car hit the ditch head on, which flipped it in its momentum, carrying my car over the fence. I threw my arms up over my head, feeling the car flipping and having no idea how many times it was flipping, but not wishing for my head to hit the steering wheel or the window or anything.

This was it and I knew it and I had accepted the fact that I would probably not survive this. I have Jesus, so I know where I would be going, anyhow. Fear was definitely not an emotion I was feeling...which is odd, seeing as how I tend to be a bit of a coward in the small things.

My car landed and I felt it finish moving and I opened my eyes.

The first thing that I remember thinking was that my airbags had not deployed.

After that, I remember wondering where my cellphone was and trying to open the door. I had to get out of the car. It's never a good idea to hang upside down inside of a wrecked car in somebody's horse pasture. My door wouldn't open, though, but I didn't unfasten my seatbelt yet. Even though you shouldn't hang upside down for too long, I knew that-if I unfastened my seatbelt-it would be more difficult to see around my car and to figure out how to get out of my car.

After that, I thought of the window. So, I pushed the button, though it was far too dark to be sure of which of the four buttons I was pushing. I heard the inner mechanisms working, but it sounded too strange and the window wasn't moving. Then I thought of the sunroof. (Oh, wait, I'm upside down) And then I looked down at my finger that was still pushing the button and I wondered if I was pushing the right button. So, I felt around and pushed another one. I had been accidentally pushing the passenger window (which I later learned had been busted out completely)

Unfastening my seatbelt, I crawled out of the driver window and stood up. Some farmhands were nearby, asking if I was okay, but I needed my cellphone. I assured them that I was okay and got down to look inside of my car to find my cellphone. I called my fiance to let him know and to ask him to call the pastor to let him know that someone else would need to take the class. Afterwards, I called the police.

While I waited for the police and my fiance to show up, the farmhands stayed with me and I began to consider the situation. I was unharmed. I felt no pain and I wasn't bleeding or bruised anywhere. I was shaken up and my car was upside down and the horses seemed confused, but I was okay.

I should have died in that accident. My car didn't just roll over. It did somersaults. It was resting with the trunk on the fence and the fence was on the ground. Between the fence and the road, there were three trees, none of which were broken. Way up the road-I don't know how to describe it in distance, but it was a good ways-there were marks in the grass where my car had run off the road. I had no idea how my car got to where it did or how I survived however my car decided to get there.

The police arrived soon and then my fiance arrived. I answered a lot of questions and even admitted that I had been driving 60mph in a 55mph zone. The police officer didn't say anything about that and he decided to overlook it.

After a while, a tow-truck came and turned my car back over. I was shocked at what I saw. The windshield was shattered, but still in place. The driver's side was unharmed, other than the axles being a little bit broke. The glass on the sunroof didn't even crack. The driver mirror was hanging off, but the passenger mirror was gone. The passenger side of the roof was caved in and the window was busted out. But the driver's side appeared to be fine. Looking at my car on all four wheels, I knew for certain that I should not have walked away from that crash unscathed. Something on me should be broken, but I didn't feel hurt at all and I wasn't bleeding or anything. I did still feel tired, though, but I felt mostly calm. I was shaken, but calm. Does that make sense? I'm not sure I understand too much, but I didn't feel afraid...I couldn't stop shaking, but I didn't feel scared at all.

God wanted me in that car. There's no other explanation for it. My fiance very rarely oversleeps, but whenever he does, my texts always wake him up. He never sleeps through a text from me...I don't believe he ever had until that day...they usually wake him up. But God wanted me in that car so that, whenever it was totaled, I could walk away from it unscathed and Yahweh be glorified.

Yesterday, whenever I woke up, my neck hurt whenever I turned it and my legs were hurting and I ached in more places than I knew I had. Today, whenever I woke up, my neck just feels like I slept on it wrong and no other part of me seems to hurt unless if you apply pressure to it.

A little bit of pain is to be expected...and I will endure whatever comes because I know that I have Jesus and I can make it all be for Him...

But this was God. He kept me from being killed or even very seriously injured in that car accident. Glory be to God always and forever. Amen.