Crazy Car Crash

Today Wes and I had quite a fright. We were on our morning run with Elias in the stroller. One of our main routes takes us down a narrow two lane road with sandy shoulders. Cars can go quite fast in this spot, up to 50 mph, so we run against the traffic and pull over when we see cars are coming. It is only a short quarter mile stretch and often deserted of cars, so we feel safe jogging here.

Today, however, we were surprised from behind. A car going our same direction approached the only curve in the road and lost control. Because it was behind us, I did not know the car was approaching. I was in the curve (off to the side, of course) and Wes and Elias were about five feet behind me. Wes watched as the car rounded the curve and lost control. He was so frightened for my life that he didn't know what to say or do and stood wide-eyed and mute. I heard squealing brakes and glanced over my shoulder.

A car was careening straight toward me. Silly me, all I could think was, "please, don't hit Elias". The car was still behind me and I couldn't tell what it was going to do. I felt impelled to freeze where I was and not move. As I stopped I watched the car skid toward me and then spin completely around twice. It then shot off the road backwards and got stuck in the sand about ten feet in front of me. We had to dig the sand away from the door to get the teen driver out.

After we ensured that a tow truck was on its way and everyone was okay, we went on our jog. I have to admit that I started to cry about a hundred feet down the road. Elias wanted to know why I was crying. He thought it was all pretty "amazing" (his word). I told him I just felt so blessed to be alive at the moment and my tears were tears of gratitiude.

I know some may say I was lucky, or life is all chance. Not so. I know God preserved my life today and felt His angels protecting me. The spirit is our guide and though He most often guides us away from temptation and sin, He also inspires our minds to protect us. I felt that protection and guiding voice today as I stood and watched that car spin toward me.

Sometimes we succumb to illness, death, or accident. Sometimes the wicked cause pain, suffering, or death. Sometimes our own follies can cuase us pain, illness, or despair. There is oppostion in life as part of our growth. Often it is troublesome to understand why some may suffer while others don't. I struggled with this thought frequently as we tried to love away the tortures our foster kids had gone through at such a tender age.

It often doesn't seem fair for God to allow some to die and some to live, some to suffer while some are left to ease. But I know that this is where we excercise our faith in the Atonement of Jesus Christ. All shall be resurrected. All shall be eased of their burden through the condescension of Our Lord. Those things that do not seem right shall all be appeased and the Lord will heal our hearts and sufferings if we let Him.

In the life beyond this one, we shall be reunited with those we love. Our sufferings and sacrifices will have been consecrated to our spiritual gain. Our joy will overwhelm any tragedy we knew in mortality and peace and forgiveness will overflow our being. This I know is true.