thankfulness for God’s protection and good friends

So today on the way home from work, I got in a bit of an accident.

But the story really starts much earlier in the day, when I was driving in to work, and a ‘knocking’ started in my engine when I was about 5 minutes from work. At that time I pulled over, thinking it was a flat tire or something. No luck, everything looked fine. So I continued on to work, figuring I would call the mechanic later and then stop in after work.

I had a busy day at work, so I didn’t get a chance to call my mechanic shop until after lunch, and they asked if my oil was running low. I checked the level and it was still at the full mark (and I didn’t really doubt that it would be – my car has never had any leak at all when it comes to the motor oil).

I was reading my car manual at my desk, and my friend (and co-worker) Nikki asked if I wanted to come by her house and have her husband look at it after work. I said I would if it was still doing it when I left for work.

This is when the miracles start. She left work work at around 3:30, but came back b/c she had forgotten to do something. She was leaving again at four, the same time I was leaving, and said she would follow me down the hill in case my engine seized up or something on the way into town.

Well halfway down the hill, something definitely happened.

The thumping in the engine started getting worse, and all of a sudden, my front driver wheel was bouncing down the road in front of me, and I was headed for the shoulder. The car hit a snowbank (it’s Canada, lol) and launched off on two wheels, before coming down (hard, I might add) and ploughing into another snowbank farther down.

But you know what? I’m ok. The baby’s ok. One of Craig’s friends (another soldier) stopped to help and went down the road about 150 metres to where my tire had rolled to, and brought it back for me, and we found all five lug nuts. And after a tow ($60) and having one of Nikki’s friends (a mechanic) redo the threads on the nuts and studs ($40) I was driving home safe (in the same car!).

Today I am so thankful for a avoiding what was possibly a very bad accident (if it had happened on a busy highway, or if my car had actually rolled when it went on two wheels off the snowbank).

I’m thankful for coming out completely untouched. Both of us. :)

I’m thankful for a wonderful friend who is always looking out for me, and who gave me a long hug at the side of the road when the shock (and to be honest, the humour – we were laughing when we both got out of our cars immediately after) wore off and I started to cry just b/c it shook me so much.

The mechanic said that normally the wheel or studs are stripped bare or warped when this happens, but other than a smashed fog light, I think I was lucky. And blessed. :)

Have a wonderful night. I’m enjoying being home safe and warm.