Sunday Miracle

The Lord really blessed me today and I thought that I should share my experience.

It started snowing today when Katie and I where at church and by the time we got out the roads where covered in about an inch of snow. We headed home and had lunch. During lunch, I received a phone call from a ward member informing me that it was our ward's month to be in charge of snow removal and he asked me if I could come shovel the walks. I actually like to shovel snow. It was my favorite service activity while on my Mission in New York. We used to drive around with a couple of snow shovels in our trunk and stop and help people - older ladies in particular - shovel their snow if they were trying to do it themselves. There is something satisfying to me about shoveling snow, and if I can do it at the Lord's house, that's all the better.

After my lunch was finished, I jumped in my trusty pickup truck and headed down to the church. The roads were pretty slick by this point, so I was driving cautiously (no joke. I think that I annoy people with how slow I drive in the snow). It was during my drive to the church that my miracle occurred. I was sitting at a 'T' intersection waiting for a break in the traffic so that I could make a left hand turn. While I was sitting there, someone tried to execute a right-hand turn onto the road where I was sitting. Trouble was, the guy was going too fast for the slick conditions and he wasn't able to execute the turn, but instead barreled into the side of my truck.

I saw him coming and realized that he wasn't going to make the turn, so I did my best to get out of the way, but there wasn't much that I could do. I think all managed to do was get my wheels spinning and move forward a couple of feet when he hit me. I heard a sickening thud; the sort of sound that is produced when two heavy objects collide. I was jarred in my seat as the truck spun sideways.

When my truck came to a rest I immediately jumped out. The driver of the other vehicle was exiting his car at the same time and we made sure that neither of us were injured. Once I was satisfied that neither he nor his passenger were hurt, I turned to survey the damage to my truck. The first thing that I noticed was that my truck box was ajar. Then I looked down at the back right panel where his vehicle had struck mine... I couldn't tell where he had hit me, but there were some pieces of car strewn about the immediate vicinity. Upon closer inspection I noticed a small area where some clear coat had been transferred to the area where his car had collided with my truck. The panel that he struck was bent in a little, but there really wasn't any major damage at all. I closed my truck box, we exchanged information, and I proceeded on my journey.

When I was done shoveling the walk, I showed an acquaintance of mine the damage that my truck had received. At that point, I grabbed ahold of the affected panel and gave it a tug. I heard an audible "pop" as the panel snapped back into place. I then proceeded to rub the offending clear coat off of my truck's paint job with my thumb.

So there you go. I was t-boned by a guy going five or ten miles an hour. He hit me hard enough to spin me sideways and pop my toolbox open (and smash up his bumper pretty good in the process), and you can't even tell that my truck was in an accident accept for a little bit of clear coat that I haven't rubbed all the way off yet (maybe I'll leave it on there. Heaven knows my paint job won't suffer from having a little extra clear coat).

Needless to say, I'm pretty happy about the whole situation. I feel bad for the guy who hit me and all, don't get me wrong, but I truly believe that the Lord was looking out for me in this situation and I'm so grateful that no one was hurt and my truck wasn't totaled or even damaged significantly.

Katie and I were headed back up to the church for tithing settlement a little later. I was still talking about the incident and I mentioned to her that, "The Lord throws us a bone every now and then." Of course, Katie informed me that it probably happens a lot more often then we realize, to which I had no choice but to agree.

So there is my story. I should also mention that I was wearing a seatbelt at the time. I hope that you all do the same. No matter how safe a driver you think you are, you never know what could happen.

Anyway, that's probably enough from me. I hope you all have a nice Thanksgiving, and please travel safely.

Love,

Martell