Last night on our way to school Chris was driving. It was misting outside so you couldn't really see real far in front of you. We noticed something on the right side of the highway but couldn't really make it out until we got right up beside it. We were in the left lane and we realized it was a car that had flipped over and looked to be drug apart a bit. Chris said he saw someone on the ground. We almost stopped looking at this site that must have happened right before us only the mist prevented us from seeing it. Two or three vans pull over to the side as we were making out the figure on the side of the road. Then I turn and look behind us and see a semi coming down our lane. I said we need to get over. Chris quickly checked the other lane and pulled over. The semi was driving as far off the left side of the road as we pulled over. I'm not sure how close it came because I didn't look anymore but I just remember saying, "We need to get over" and praying that we didn't get hit by anything. Wes called 911 to report the accident and then we slowly drove the rest of the way to school.
After seeing this we began to talk about car accidents we'd been in or heard about. It was a HUGE reminder to me that God is in control. One of my "worst days ever" was one of the experiences I shared. I'm going to retell the story just to show that God is in control.
We on our way back from a retreat a few hours outside of Caracas. Kathleen was driving. I was in the front seat. In the back seat Milagros was behind Kathleen, Amy in the middle and Jennifer behind me. It had been raining earlier so the roads were wet and in Venezuela that means you might not have the best traction. As Kathleen attempted to pass this car a truck came around the bend up ahead. Amy saw it coming and yells, "Oh, $#!+!" Then she follows that with, "Sorry!!" and about that time we are hit head on by the truck that I didn't even see coming. So the airbag was released on impact. The next thing I remember is I couldn't feel anything and all I could see was this foggy white so I thought, "Crud, I'm dead!" Then I hear someone open my door and ask if I'm ok. I wasn't sure what to tell them because I couldn't feel anything or see anything. Lots of people got out of their cars to come see if the Gringas were ok. In Venezuela they aren't just rubber neckers, they get out of their cars! After we all get out we begin examining each other and Kathleen had some bad chest bruises and Milagros and Jennifer have bruises on their arms from Amy but for the most part we're all ok. My biggest injury was from the airbag hitting my face. I had a cut on my eye lid and it busted my lip and face. So my left side of my face was in a lot of pain and stinging but other than that we were all ok. Praise the Lord! So then we had to all go to the police station. There wasn't enough room for all of us to ride in the other two vehicles so Roland was in charge of getting the r of us that lived in the same part of town home. So we walked from the police station to the main road to try to catch a bus but we were too late to get one so Roland tells us, "Don't ever tell Richard about this, but I think we're going to have to hitch hike." So here's a young man with 4 young girls (Amy, Jennifer and I who were in the wreck and Beth who lived at the same house as Jennifer). Eventually this man driving a pick up truck with his little girl stopped. Roland asked them about where they were headed to see if we could get a ride. We were all comforted by the little girl who made it feel a little safer to get in the truck. So the five of us get in the back. We're kind of laughing only I can't really laugh b/c I can't move the left side of my face. So we're sitting back there talking and then it starts to rain again. So now we're hitch-hiking in the rain. Then the man inside the truck reaches us a table cloth. So we cover our heads with the table cloth (I have pictures if you want to see them) to keep our heads dry in the rain. Who carries a table cloth in their truck? Only God could have arranged that! Finally we make it back into town. We're at this read light across the street from the metro stop where we'll get out of the truck. We look behind us and see Richard the team leader driving up behind us! We were like, "Oh no! Now we're going to be in trouble for hitch-hiking!" Luckily we weren't. I guess he was just glad we were safe. So we get out of the truck and go to the metro to head home. Then we all realize our pants are still wet from the water in the bottom of the truck. The metro was also cold. So now we have been in a wreck, we look like we wet our pants and it's cold! What a day! We're all laughing at our situation. Then we get off the metro and ride the bus home. Amy and I decided we would just walk up the mountain to our house rather than getting a taxi for the rest of the ride home. As we're walking up the hill/mountain we're beginning to recount our day. At this point we no longer found it funny and we both start crying. What a horrible day! We get home and we tell Suzanne, the lady we were living with about our day. It was no longer funny, but we were very amazed at how God had provided for us. Amy's quick reaction saved Milagros and Jennifer a lot of pain; the man having a tablecloth in his truck kept us from being drenched. It was a rough day, but God is in control.
