Saturday, June 7 began as a fun-filled day. The women I am teamed up with this month decided we should have a girls’ day. We began the afternoon by hitting up a market and then treated ourselves to a manicure and pedicure. It was followed up with a café, Mexican food, and a night market. We ended the evening with going to the movies to see Million Dollar Arm.
It was a fabulous day! We headed home around midnight. I shared a tuk-tuk with 4 other women. We were enjoying each other’s company when I noticed that the other tuk-tuk was no longer in view. The streets of Phenom Penh were empty and we seemed to be alone. I began to think “Maybe we shouldn’t be out this late” when our tuk-tuk driver stopped at a round-about to ask us which direction to turn. That is when I saw them…
tuk-tuk in Cambodia
I stared at 2 headlights of a car swerving and heading right at us! I tried to say something but couldn’t get it out. I heard my teammate, Stephie, let out a blood-curdling scream. The car was RIGHT there! I closed my eyes and waited for the impact as I thought about how I was going to die before I saw my husband again. I heard the cries and screams of the other women and opened my eyes to see the car scrape the side of our tuk-tuk. It was so close that the mirror came off of it and it broke the very small step of the carriage.
Folks, I cannot tell you how close this car was to taking us out! It was headed straight toward our tuk-tuk about to t-bone us. There is absolutely NO way that car could have swerved to miss us, especially when the driver appeared to be drunk. It was as if an angel had physically come to stand between us and the car and protected our lives!!
After the car scraped us, it sped away. Kagan’s foot had been hit by the car mirror as it fell (or something) and she started screaming with panic. She was afraid that her foot had been severed off and was terrified. (I have never seen anyone panic like that, and I never want to again. It was scary to see all her fear and not be able to help much.) After we convinced her that her foot was still there she screamed that it was broken. The next few moments felt like hours as people began to gather around our tuk-tuk to watch Kagan have a panic attack. Our poor driver (I’m sure he was also in shock and scared) came to check on us and we practically had to scream at him to just keep driving.
The four of us tried to keep Kagan calm to no avail at first. Stephie seemed to begin to panic as well and I had to ask her to calm her voice as I could feel the fear rising in me. Colleen began praying and Laura and I held Kagan, trying to help her breathe. It was scary because Kagan was the only one who knew exactly how to get home and she was in no place to be able to help us. I tried my best to point our driver, who knows no English, the way home. I was getting anxious when, I believe, an angel appeared.
A random man, whom we had not seen before, suddenly drove up beside us on his bike. At first, I wanted him to go away. I thought he was just there to see the show. But then I realized that this man spoke English and was translating to our driver. He never gave us his name or said any word to us… he just translated. He would leave every few minutes to go ahead of us and make sure everything was safe and then he would return. I looked over to him and heard myself say “thank you.” He just replied with a nod and smile. When we turned onto the street our house was on, he disappeared. I don’t remember him being there when we got out of the tuk tuk and entered the gates of our home for the month.
After trying my best to ask the driver if he was okay I retreated into a room to be alone. I just began to cry. “God, I was so scared! We could have died! What would have happened to Cody? What about my family back home?” My prayers were indicative of the fear that I had been holding in for the past 10 minutes or so. I began to shake uncontrollably as adrenaline flowed through my body. I just cried for a few minutes. Having to stay calm in that situation to help others reminded me so clearly of the day my brother died. Even though I was only 8 and alone, walking around the scene of the accident, I knew I had to stay calm to keep the fear from taking over and panicking.
Slowly my prayers changed and I found myself thanking God for protecting me and the other women, just as He did on that day 16 years ago. I thanked Him for sending His angel to stand between us and the car and to guide us home safely. As scary as this story is, I am blessed to see how faithful our God is in protecting my life. He has now spared my life twice allowing me to walk away from both accidents almost scratch free. It just reminds me that He has a plan for my life and He isn’t done yet!
Be blessed!
