I have been avoiding this blog like the plague. I have
wanted to post something to show just how much GOD SHOWED UP,
but without having to write it. This is a story that needs to be told though to
give God all of the glory, so here I am.
I have been avoiding it because reliving it still causes me
to cringe at how horrible things could have gone. But as my amazing squad
leader Lia Bia pointed out to me this morning, we cannot focus on the bad, what ‘shouldn’t
be’, but we should instead focus our energy on what ‘is’, what we are growing
into, how AMAZING our God is. So that is what I am going to do.
November 21st, 2010, at around 4pm the scariest
moment of my life took place. I really recommend looking at the blogs of my
teammates (Tommy, Caleb, Woody, Kimberly, Juliette and Melissa), and also Dan.
Here’s my version:
were all on our way to Salima. Our team was headed for a much needed break at
the famous Lake Malawi in one of the local transport mini-vans. About an hour
and a half into the drive, I have my ipod in with my eyes closed attempting to
shake off my car sickness I am feeling. We are about 40 km away from our
destination when I hear the tire underneath me go. The car begins to shake like
it does when your tire pops and for a few seconds we are headed straight and
slowing down. We were going somewhere around 70-80mph (100-120 kmph). All of
the sudden the car took a sharp left. The second we swerve I know we are going
to flip. I immediately grab for the chair in front of me, duck my dead, and
start praying furiously.
please protect us!” I remember having such a peace about me and thinking, ‘this
really could be it, this could be how I go’. “Lord protect us. Please God protect us all.” We stop flipping and I
realize only by the mighty hand of God we landed upright. “Oh my gosh I am alive.” Miraculously my ipod is still in and I
hear my music going. I was in such shock that I slowly took my earphones out,
turn off my ipod and stuff it in my bag. I then here Melissa yell “We have to
get out of the car NOW!” I grab for my bag and leap over the chair in front of
me. After that I don’t really remember getting out of the van.
from other the car and he is motionless and a bunch of my team is surrounding
him. Dread fills my body and I scream his name and begin crying. I think he’s
dead. Still in shock and heading towards complete panic I start walking the
opposite direction in hysterics because I think one of the people I have lived
life with every day for the past 4 and a half months is dead. Not to mention, Tommy and my younger brother Zach, who is also 21…well, they have VERY similar personalities, so you can probably gander why this hit me that much harder. In more than one way, that’s my brother under there. I then here Woody
crying and calling my name and telling me to come to her. I turn around and walk
to her, we hug and hold each other crying. Somehow Juliette, Caleb, and Dan
lift the mini-van enough for Melissa to pull him out. HE’S ALIVE! I look
around, everyone on my team and the Malawian’s are all alive. It’s not until much much later than I even begin to start feeling any pain; thank you adrenaline.
I immediately head over to him. He is bleeding from his side from a deep cut.
Thankfully I am wearing shorts under my skirt (clothe wrapped around my waist),
because I immediately take my skirt off and use the wrap to apply pressure to
his side. Dan comes over with the video camera and Tommy gives him a big thumbs
up and says “That was intense”. After Dan leaves I begin to pray with Tommy
while holding his wound while the rest of my awesome team takes charge of
things. They rush off to go collect our scattered stuff. Within a minute we are
surrounded by literally hundreds of Malawian’s. They start trying to move Tommy
and Melissa and I start yelling at them to back up. I hear Kimberly and Woody
somewhere near trying to push them back as well. Our group came together and
got what needed to be done, done. It was amazing how during a crisis we worked
together to find order within the chaos.
and are ready to take Tommy to a nearby hospital. I was so confused because we
had just crashed and had no way of knowing how to contact anyone for help.
Apparently they had been driving by and stopped to be our saving graces. They
didn’t have a neck brace, so I steadied Tommy’s neck while the Malawian’s and a
few of my teammates tried to get him into the back of their truck. Juliette and
I go with Tommy to the hospital.
The hospital only has the absolute basics, just enough to
wrap Juliette’s arm (which ended up being ‘buckled’ they called it), and stitch
up Tommy’s side and leg. They turn Tommy over and see that his back is quickly
turning purple and he is coughing and spitting up blood. It was at that point
that I decided I was not leaving Tommy’s side until I knew he was out of the
woods.
up, so we got him in another ambulance and headed to the Salima District
Hospital (ironic, we had been on our way to Salima). That hospital looked
straight out of the Cold War era, with patient’s lining the room with various
diseases…and the smell, oh the smell. Josh and Sami show up at this point.
Juliette finds us a hospital in Lilongwe that does have the medical equipment we
need. We then get him in another ambulance and head the two hours to Lilongwe
(crazy enough, we get there in about an hour).
Forgive me Jesus, because I did yell at, and smack the hands
of at least 5 EMT’s/nurses who tried to move him by picking him up by
the neck. Did I mention that neither of the first to hospital had any form of neck brace,
so they appointed me neck holder? Oh, no pressure, you screw up Natalie and
Tommy is now paralyzed. Great. But if that’s what it took, that’s what it
took. During this, Juliette managed to
crawl into the ambulance holding his IV, with one arm in a sling. Juliette, you are a rockstar.
This entire time all of us have been in constant prayer, thanking
God that He saw us through the accident. We pray for healing for Tommy, for the
rest of our group, for the Malawian’s, for everything. But it wasn’t until that
ride to Lilongwe did it really hit me JUST how fortunate we all really were. We
rolled three times. How did we not land sideways or upside down? How was the
mini-van not more crushed on top? How did we stop before the tree that was
maybe one more rolls length away? How are we all still alive? How did not more
people get ejected? Woody didn’t know we were about to flip so she didn’t brace herself, how is she not more injured? Dan and Juliette were in the front, how did they stay inside? How do I only have a few cuts on my knee? The answer: God.
Seriously, there is no other explanation other than Him. The peace I felt while
rolling, the fact that we are all alive, that a truck that could take us to the
hospital drove by when it did, that Caleb’s phone worked and could call our
squad leader Josh, that my team was able to lift the van and get Tommy out…so
many things came together that normally would not during what should have been
a fatal accident.
all, and they discovered there was no internal bleeding, no broken bones…just a
lot of scratches, his neck needing to be in a neck brace, and some stitches.
The doctor looked at him and said “I have seen many crashes like this and they
do not come out of it with no broken bones or anything wrong like you are.”
(Picture from the next morning when Dr. Lee was examining him…yes…less than 24 hours later he’s sitting up!!)
a few cuts on my knee, and found out the rest of the group was at a nearby
hospital getting looked at for their bumps and bruises but nothing too serious,
he shook his head in disbelief. He looked back at Tommy and said “You should be
in Heaven right now. God was protecting you. The Lord has protected you and your friends tonight. There is no way
that all of you were so unharmed by such a serious accident.”
could not have been more right.
up thinking how much God took care of all of us.
receives a text from the driver of the mini-van.
times as a group and talked about the accident, and all of us are baffled by it all. I
have watched God show up throughout my life, in other people’s lives, and just
seen His works happening in the world. But never has He showed up so mightily
in my life and so many lives around me. It is almost as if you can see how God’s
guardian angel’s held us and moved the mini-van during the roll. You could
almost physically see God healing Tommy’s body has he moved from hospital to
hospital, until finally being fully examined in Lilongwe where we stayed there with him for two nights.
Through all of
this, God gave me a divine perspective. What is truly important?… loving
people. Holding grudges; not important. Getting caught up in the details; not
important. Holding onto my rights, my expectations, my assumption of ‘how
things should go’; not important. What is important is to love those around
you, not matter what. Yes we will have fights, disagreements, and even deep
hurts, but at the end of the day, if someone you care about last heard you say
words of hate instead of words of love, how wrecked would you be? We should be
kingdom focused, determined to not letter another soul pass without knowing
they are Heaven bound. Here’s the thing though, I am screwed up. The more I learn about myself this trip, the more I realize just how many things I need to work on. The beautiful thing is, God does not care. He loves me JUST as I am. He wants me to be more like Him to bring Him glory and because He knows my life would of course be better if I exemplified Jesus, but God loves me just how I am, this very second. Even with all of my crap, God chose to step in and save me. Not only me, but 7 other Americans and 4 Malawians. Aww, God you never cease to amaze me!
your faith, and your fears will.” – Max Lucado
up in our lives, God wants to show up in your life. Don’t wait until a crazy
accident to let Him.
will give you rest – Matthew 11:28
The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
my God is my
rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. – Psalm 18:2
So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am
your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
you with my righteous right hand. – Isaiah 41:10
your healing powers to continue to touch our bodies, our emotions, and
our spirits.Thank you for giving me the privilege of witnessing a miracle, of experiencing your power. All of the glory to you, because you deserve every last bit of it. I love you God, I cannot thank you enough.
