4 Years Ago

Four years ago you flew to Korea to visit me.

Four years ago we ate Korean pizza and we went to the Busan Tower together.

Four years ago we said goodbye and you flew across the ocean, back to America.

Four years ago you told me you were driving from Kansas back to Oklahoma.

Four years ago my phone rang a 5am and my best friend said, "David is alive but did you hear what happened?"

I will never ever in my life forget that phone call. People always talk about those dreaded phone or Skype calls and when they come your way they are so so scary.

                                              

Let me explain this story.

Dave came to Korea to visit me in August of 2012. A group of us went to Taiwan and then we spent a few days in Korea together. He flew back to Kansas and was going to rest for an extra day or two to get over jet lag but he felt good enough to drive back to Oklahoma for work.

In Korea, I had a phone that hooked up to the Internet and it rang at 5am. Phones don't ring at 5am you guys unless something is wrong. My good friend Shenel told me that Dave was alive and okay but that he had been in a horrible car wreck where his car had flipped. There aren't really words to describe the emotions you feel when you get news like that. It's scary.

I immediately hung up the phone and started calling David over and over. Finally he picked up and told me he was okay.

How exactly did Dave wreck his car? Well, the road to Oklahoma is straight forever and ever and ever, except for this one turn in the road. Dave was going around 80mph (speeding!) and while he glanced down to change the music, that turn came, and he couldn't correct his car in time and it rolled several times.

You can see by the pictures that there is no way he should be alive. No way. The car was completely smashed except where his head was. Here are some other factors that could only be God. Dave didn't always wear his seatbelt and that day he did. He also had 3lb.weights in his car that he would lift for a long period of time while he drove that boring drive and somehow those didn't hit his head. There are little poles on the side of the road and he didn't hit one of those. Basically, God spared his life and I'm sure the guardian angels in the car that day got smushed. I am also glad I was in Korea as if I were in that car I doubt I would have lived.

Here are pictures from that day and the captions underneath each picture is what Dave wrote with his FB caption when he shared them. 

Still amazes me I got out with just a few small scrapes and didn't even go to the hospital. Praise God!

Now its a convertible

My head was in the only part of the car that didn't get crushed.

trying to figure out how/why I survived and how i was walking around and feeling perfectly fine.

Glad and shocked to be alive and well! God wants me here for some reason...

What else is only God is that Dave walked out of this. The only injuries he had were a cut around his eye and a cut on his elbow. His Mom was a doctor and sewed him up. He didn't even go to the hospital for it.

Dave and I used to drive that road all the time and I would always joke and say, "You're lucky to be alive but not really lucky at all because God spared your life."

I share this story for several reasons:

1. Life is fragile and we could go any day. 

Seriously, if it weren't for God that day Dave should have died. If he had died that day I know for sure where he would be because he has trusted Christ as His Saviour. I share that to ask you if you know for sure where you would go?

2. Life is precious

Seriously, you never know when something might happen or when someone might be gone so appreciate each day God gives you.

3. Don't be a distracted driver

I will admit I am not perfect at this but I will tell you that this wreck changed Dave and I both forever. We don't speed much more than 5 over, we always always always wear our seat belts and we try to put our phones away. Granted, I'm obviously not perfect at this because I backed into a pole while I was in a parking lot because I texted. Fail on my part. But I do think it is so good to be intentional in being alert on the road.  

So this is my reminder for you ( and me) to be alert on the road. Buckle up. Put your phone away. Drive smart.

It's interesting because Dave has no emotional trauma from this wreck. He isn't scared to drive. He isn't scared to get in an accident. Me? I was horribly terrified and am still working on it. I am overly adamant that Dave's seatbelt be clicked right away and honestly, I'm sometimes just super tense in a car. It is interesting to me how we each reacted to that situation. I mean, I wasn't even there, I was in Korea.

Dave and I still laugh because he went back home to Kansas and he looked in the bathroom and his Mom was in there dying her hair black because Dave had given her more grays. I think she got the biggest scare out of everyone. The authorities called her to tell her that her son was in a wreck and Life Watch (the helicopters) were being flown out. She immediately left to go to the wreck, which was about 1 1/2 hours from Wichita. Then the authorities called back and told her Life Watch had been cancelled, and they only cancel that if someone dies. She was horrified and then they said, "Oh and here is your son on the phone." Poor Carol! They cancelled the helicopter because Dave climbed out of his car and was fine. I felt terrible for her and if I were her I'd probably die my hair black, go to the spa followed by therapy and then I would have given my 27 year old son a darn good spanking. ha ha!

We only get to see a few sunsets and we never know which one will be our last.