1.24.2009
God definitely shook me up a bit. A little less than one year before graduation, things began to unravel. My girlfriend and I had broken up. I had been going through things with the band, and my spiritual/emotional state was at least at terror level orange (or whatever the scale is at the airports & military bases).
On one particular evening a group of friends decided to carpool to a Connell's concert at Town Point Park in Norfolk. We met up in the Kempsville area of Va Beach and hopped on the highway.
While driving and following the car in front of us, everything changed. As we went to change lanes I lost control of the car. Life was spinning. It was I 64. 60+ mph. The car spun out of control as we flipped onto the middle concrete divider. We continued to roll. Roll. And roll.
We rolled about 4 times before sliding roughly 150 feet upside down on the interstate. We were the only car involved. Thank God.
There were three people in the back seat, a friend in the front (his car) and me driving. Our heads had hit the windshield. Our friend in the back seat who was in the middle didn't have his seat belt on.
We all got out of the vehicle before the paramedics arrived. No broken bones. No large cuts. No major bleeding. No one thrown from the car. No one lost a life.
Amazing.
As the paramedics arrived and got us into the ambulance- they began to check out everyone. Including my friend and I who had pieces of glass in our heads form sitting up front and hitting the windshield. As we talked with them. They couldn't believe we walked away. He said "In a normal car crash people tend to lock up their legs in the floor board and their arms to the dash to steady themselves. You both curled up in the fetal position (not normal) and if you hadn't- your legs on both sides of the car would have been severely hurt, if not crushed."
I just kept thinking of that the whole way to the hospital. In the ER, as I sat and listened to the glass pieces being pulled out of my head and hitting the metal tray, I thought, "God, why? Wat are you trying to tell me? What did I do that this is what you needed to allow in my life to wake me up? Couldn't you just write it out in the sky? Couldn't you mail me a letter signed 'from God.' Why this?"
My parents came to pick all of us up and drive us back to the college in NC. It was the longest car ride of my life. That next morning I woke up, turned to get out of bed, placed my feet on the floor- and stopped. Instead of jumping to my feet in excitement for being able to walk, I dropped to my knees. For the next hour I sang songs to God, thanked Him, and praised Him for the day. I knew I had been given a new lease on life. I recognized that God didn't have to save me or anyone else in that car crash. We don't deserve His grace, love and protection. But He did it anyway. Why?
Because He had a greater plan for everyone in that car, including me. Out of that car ended up being another pastor, a missionary to Asia, a wonderful musician & philosopher, and a dedicated mother & servant of God.
So yeah, God shook me up. I thanked Him and knew things needed to be different. I wasn't perfect heading forward, but I tried. My next adventure was just around the bend.
Leaving the confines of "Jesus College" and heading out into the world to be a youth pastor...