Beyond Grateful

Let me start this blog post by saying that Grace and I are COMPLETELY OKAY. With that said, our morning yesterday started out normal but didn't end up normal.

After dropping Garrett off at preschool (Grace stayed home from school because she needed one more day to get over having strep earlier in the week), we ran a couple quick errands before heading back home. We drove up onto a highway we have been on a hundred times. This time though, as we went up an overpass hill, I saw a ladder laying completely across my lane. Being afraid to hit it straight on and flip our car, I swerved into the right lane next to us. Once I swerved, our car went into a spin and we spun back across three lanes to the left. Our spinning ended with us hitting the retaining wall and the airbags flying out. After a second of realizing what really just happened and continually telling Grace that we were okay, I was able to get Grace out of her car seat and get both of us out of the car.

From that point on, things were pretty chaotic. God provided three specific people to help us right after the accident. One woman had a two year old herself and was great with Grace, who was such a brave girl through the whole thing. Two men called 911 for me and then helped me look all over the car for my phone so I could call Jeff. Some of my high school friends can confirm that math and physics were never my strong suit, but after yesterday, I understand the principles of centrifugal force completely. Things were all over the car and not anywhere where they started before our car started spinning. Those three people were such a blessing as they waited with us while the fireman and policeman got there. The woman actually read Grace a book that was in the car while I talked to Jeff on the phone and the other people needing to ask me questions and check to make sure we were okay. It seemed like forever but honestly wasn't too long before they needed to clear the highway. Grace and I ended up riding in the back of a police car (yes, my two year old has taken that infamous ride at such a young age!) to a parking lot off the highway where they hauled the car and we were able to wait for Jeff and my parents to get there.

Being in that parking lot and sitting in that car with my daughter sitting next to me without a scratch on her, it is hard to explain how beyond grateful I was and am today. It was a flat out miracle that we weren't hurt! No question in my mind! I told someone last night that it was as if God "parted the Red Sea" all over again for us on that highway. We went into and across all five lanes of a busy highway and never once hit another car. Not one even close. The way we ended up facing on the highway, it could have been life altering if we would have been hit after the fact. Not a car in sight except in the two lanes we weren't in right then. Cars had stopped and were already merging into the other lanes. Our car was crushed in the front and in the back. The middle of the car was perfectly intact, especially on Grace's side. The wrecker kept telling us that to hit the retaining wall spinning at that speed to the point of actually scooting the wall over a few feet, it was a miracle our car wasn't damaged more. Inside the car, Grace's car seat never budged an inch and my seat belt held perfectly. People were there immediately to help us. They were loving and kind to us. The fireman and policemen were calm and gentle while trying to make sure we were okay and take care of the mess of the accident. We were protected even more by a person who didn't have to do what he did; when I looked back down the highway towards where traffic was coming from, a Coca-Cola 18-wheeler truck had cocked his rig across the three lanes we were in to block the traffic. The accident also happened only a few minutes from Jeff's office, so he was able to get there quickly. So many amazing things God did for us from beginning to end! One thing after another!









Today, Grace and I are both pretty sore and she keeps getting excited to say, "Mommy hit a wall! Oh, our car has a booboo! The trucks were really loud!".

But, even with those things being true, we are grateful! Beyond grateful!

P.S. For those of you who are A-types and remember the detail of the ladder that started all this, please know the construction guy who dropped it out of his truck was actually u-turning up the highway a ways to come back and get it. When he saw the accident on the other side of the road, he had a choice to keep driving or not. Most people would have never looked back, but he decided to come back, find a police officer to give his information to, and then come and check on us in the parking lot. We couldn't believe it. The police officer working the wreck said that in two decades of police work, he'd never seen a man so honest.