On February 23, 2019, I was hit by a drunk driver. Well, most likely, at least that's what the police told me. Here's some context. I was with my friend, Ashlyn, studying at Starbucks on a Saturday afternoon (I know, we're nerds). Around 6 p.m. we left and I was on the way home to drop her back off at her sorority house. We were just driving along, jamming to the Jonas Brothers, fully attentive and aware while going the speed limit, 45 mph. Out of literally nowhere, we felt a huge crash and slid to the side of the road. Looking back, it's almost a blur it happened so fast. All I remember is screaming "oh my god oh my god oh my god" and looking over at my friend who was starting to cry as I lost complete control of the wheel. Once we stopped sliding to the edge of the road, made sure we were both okay and called the police, we got out of the car to see that my front left bumper was destroyed, my window was smashed and all of the internal systems of the car had shut down (of all things though, the music was still playing LOL). What happened is, there was a car that drove across a concrete median with no lights on in the dark, hit the car in the left lane and then that car hit me in the right lane. The car without their lights on then drove away. Most likely the driver was either driving under the influence, it was a stolen car, they didn't have their license, or something else illegal. But because they drove away, we know no information. The wreck was so far from being my fault, I was the third car in the lineup, which made me almost more upset and scared. You really never know what will happen before you get into a vehicle, most of the time it won't be your fault. I'm thankful we're okay. It could have been so much worse, people die from these sorts of things. I'm a firm believer in using everything that the Lord gives you to grow and learn, here's what I reaffirmed and realized after my car wreck.

It still amazes me. We were on a road that had huge shopping stores around and little buildings close to the road but somehow, we ended up on the only grass patch on the road in the one spot where there were no buildings around. We could have crashed into a building, other parked cars, pedestrians...anything. Like what!!! I was blessed enough for me and my friend to not be hurt despite a little whiplash and some bruises. The other car that hit me had some minor injuries (concussion, injured knee) but nothing serious enough for an ambulance to arrive. As for the car that started the collision, I guess we'll never know. I've tried to wrap my mind around how any human could perform a hit and run. They didn't know if anyone was hurt, or even dead, and just drove away to save themselves for whatever they were at fault for. Even so, I have been praying for the driver in this car. They obviously have something serious going on in their life to make them perform something so terrible.

The Lord was near that night. He always is. It's sad that sometimes awful and not fun things have to happen for us to realize that he too is in the quiet, not just the chaos. After this night, I have just felt like I need to constantly be on my knees praising God for all He is. He's a good Father, during both the light and the dark. I just wanted to use this platform to give praise to God and provide some perspective for the next time you're on the road. I'm sharing this to give support to anyone who has been involved in a car accident and to those who take advantage of driving. The redundant lectures and warnings about getting into an accident became a reality for me. It is a privilege to earn your license, not a right. Please drive responsibly, because it could all be taken away from you in an instant. At the end of the day, everyone gets into accidents and sometimes, it's so out of your control. Be safe, be alert, be wise.