The Accident

Hay Daizee Loves,

I wanted to share one of my first testimonies with you all. Keep reading.

The summer before 11th grade, my dad returned home after a year in Afghanistan. I turned 16 that summer and could not wait to get a car. I got a Chevy Malibu and I absolutely loved that car. My dad really outdid himself! It came off the showroom floor at the dealership. It was blue (my favorite color) with glitter in the paint and had a peanut butter/chocolate, leather interior. 16. SPOILED & FANCY. You COULD NOT tell me anything. Just writing this is bringing back so many memories. So, when it was totaled, you can imagine I was devastated.

I do not remember EVERY detail about the accident but I remember enough. When I left the house that morning, I remembered to grab the visor clip my grandma had given me. The clip was an angel holding a banner that said, “Never drive faster than your guardian angel can fly.” Every time we talked, she would ask if I had put it in my car. I was going to get it all situated that evening so I sat it in the passenger seat so I would not forget.

I had cheerleading practice after school that day and I remember I was arguing with the boy I was in love with at the time. I do not remember what we were fighting about but that was normal for us. I was having a relatively NORMAL day. I remember my phone being on 2% after practice. I had an android and the battery would be dying even when I was not on it. Between us arguing and barely having a battery, I decided to turn my phone off. I did not want to waste my last 2% arguing with him JUST IN CASE I needed it. However, with that phone, it was a chance it was not coming on again anyways because it loss percentage when it was off too. SMH.

I was driving to my mom’s school (she is a teacher) to meet her for my little sister’s basketball game. We were going to ride there together. I remember looking at my visor clip and smiling. I reminded myself to call my grandma when I got home later that evening to let her know I finally put it on the visor.

Alright… I remember noticing that the car behind me was following way too close at times. However, they fell back when we were driving through the neighborhood by the school. As I rounded the curve before the school, I started slowing down and turned my signal on so they would know I was turning up at the school. I checked my rearview mirror and did not even see the car. I figured they turned somewhere in the neighborhood. I thought everything was fine. NO. I was in front of the school waiting for traffic to clear in the other lane so that I could turn into the parking lot. I was sitting at a complete stop with my turning signal on I know for like 7 seconds. Then… BAM!

It all happened so fast! My whole entire life flashed before my eyes. Next thing I remember, I am crying hysterically. I thought I had died. I knew I had been hit hard and I thought that was just the end. I thought I had left this earth without telling anybody I loved bye and that I loved them. Like y ’all, when I say my WHOLE ENTIRE LIFE flashed before my eyes… it was crazy how fast it happened. So, I am sitting there and I hear my name being said repeatedly. I thought it was God. My mom always laughs when we talk about it now but I really thought it was Him calling me to heaven. Turns out, it was the dispatcher from OnStar. I do not remember his name. But, I do remember him telling me not to call my mom until we got off of the phone. YEAH RIGHT! I grabbed my cell phone and thought about how I had been fighting with the boy all day, immediately regretting it because I did not want to die with us mad at each other. Look, I was 16 and he was my world. DO NOT JUDGE ME. Anyways, I turned my phone on and it said 0%! I prayed that God would let me get my call through to my mom. Meanwhile, the OnStar dispatcher was still saying my name and I was ignoring him. It is important to note that my mom NEVER ANSWERS HER PHONE. Thank God, she did that night. I told her I was in accident and that I was in front of the school.

I absolutely love OnStar and recommend everyone having it. But, the dispatcher was killing me. I was trying to think and he kept saying my name and asking questions. I kept ignoring him. After I knew my mom was coming, I tried to see how bad everything was. I looked in my rearview mirror and did not see my back seats. So, I turned my head a little and noticed my trunk was right behind me… in the back seats. I could not see the car that hit me. I was not dead but I knew it was bad. I noticed cars were still driving by in the other lane and started to worry that someone could hit us while we were just sitting in the middle of the road. Me being me, I decided to move my car. I was not thinking. I was just scared. She hit me so hard, my car ended up pass my turn after the impact. At this point, I was so close to the next turn that it just made sense to me to go up a little bit and make the next turn so that I could park behind the school. I had a little bit a relief once I was “out of the way of oncoming traffic”. I could then answer OnStar’s questions. He asked me if I was okay and I told him I was fine and that my mom would be there any second. He asked me more questions and told me the EMTs and police were on their way.

Quite frankly, I did not know why they were sending an ambulance. I felt fine and was not worried about the person who hit me. I was mad. They should have been paying attention! My car… my baby was hit. So, my mom finds me behind the school and she is freaking out. She told me the after school care workers saw the accident and saw me drive around to the back. She also told me I should not have left where I was hit BUT HEY, I did not know that. I tried to get out of the car but my mom said I could not until the police and ambulance got there. They got there FAST. The police asked me a ton of questions.

“No sir, I wasn’t texting. My phone was off” (Thank God).

Then, the EMTs start doing the absolute most. At least it felt like it to me. They kept saying how I should have died and I just was not trying to hear that. I wanted them to fix my car, right then and there, before my dad saw it LOL. They also said that had anyone been in the back seat, they would have died. That freaked my mom out even more because my sister was only allowed to ride with me if she sat in the back. Thank God, she was not with me. They also said that it was good I had on a seatbelt because I could have easily flew out the window. They told me I was a lucky girl. Well, I did not feel lucky at all. I was so upset about my car. I really thought my dad was going to kill me for being in an accident...

Big Boss arrived on the scene and he was livid. He was upset because the woman who hit me told him she was running late for work and in a hurry. She was not paying attention and by the time she saw me it was too late to do anything. Remember now, I was braking and signaling WELL BEFORE I got to that turn. So, who was texting? She did not even attempt to brake. She just slammed into me going that fast. It was not my fault. My dad reassured me that it was not and I promised him I was not texting. I do not know why I thought he would be mad??? Of course, he was just happy I was okay.

The EMTs finished examining me and let me get out of the car with all of my important items that I could grab. They told me I had to go get checked out at the hospital and for the life of me, I could not understand why. Everyone was treating me like I was bleeding or had a bone sticking out and didn’t know it. Everybody was so worried about me and I was so worried about my car. My mom had to take me to the hospital and my dad had to stay to do all of the insurance stuff and finish talking to the police. As we are walking away, the men towing my smashed up car asked me how I got my car around to the back. I was so confused. Clearly, I had drove it back there! They could not believe I drove it 3ft, let alone around to the back of the school because they tried but could not start it...

I was cleared at the ER. I escaped my accident with only bruises. The doctor said I would probably always have back problems though. (He also said that my X-ray showed that I had scoliosis. LOL guess who has never had that checked out!? I feel like I’d know if I had scoliosis???) Nevertheless, the doctor also said I should have been way more hurt than I was or even dead. I was so annoyed. I heard that 50 times that night. And yes, initially I thought I was dead but then it was like once I realized I wasn’t, I took it as “oh yeah, 16 year olds don’t die”.  I did miss school and cheerleading for like a week. I was so sore the next few days! I guess your adrenaline is so high after an accident that you do not feel what it did to you until things have settled down.

I would say the magnitude of it all did not hit me until I was older, like in college. I remember being asked when I fell in love with Jesus/God. I honestly did not know how to answer. I had always had love for Him because I had been learning about Him since I was a little girl. However, I could not pinpoint the exact moment I fell in love with Him. NOW I KNOW that it is our own personal encounters with Him that ultimately shape our relationship with Him. Looking back now, I see that God was all in the mix during my accident. He protected me from all harm. Yeah, 16 year old me was devastated about her car but 23 year old me understands that the car accident was one of my first BIG encounters with God. Everything that happened was a miracle. Placing that call to my mom at 0%... was a miracle. Not being significantly hurt after being hit that hard… was a miracle. Being able to move my car out of the way afterwards… was a miracle.

I just did not see it back then the way I see it now. My mom gave her testimony in church the following Sunday of how God spared her baby’s life… and her baby was only worried about getting a new car. I will not say I did not understand it AT ALL back then, because I did… it just did not mean as much to me. I was just so young and my focus was not on things that truly mattered. But, I am oh so thankful God showed me it was Him. I am thankful He loved me even when He was the last thing on my mind. How do you not fall in love with someone who loves you that much? I am just thankful y ‘all. He is so good and faithful. He brings everything FULL CIRCLE. He turned one of the scariest things I have gone through into a beautiful testimony.

Purchasing a Chevy Malibu for myself at the age of 23 meant the world to me. When I look at my car, it reminds me that my life is purpose-filled. It reminds me that God loved me then and He loves me now. It reminds me that His angels are continuously protecting me from dangers seen and unseen. It reminds me of His restoration. It reminds me of how far I have come spiritually since then.

I understand that I really could have died and that there is no reason I should not have other than the fact that it simply was not in God’s plan for me to die that night. HE BLOCKED IT! He loved me enough to save me that night… I was not driving faster than His angels could fly that night.

This is MY testimony.  

Thank you for reading.

Love ALWAYS, Megan