Something Else

I was flat out of groceries yesterday; that's the one disappointment of returning to college - an empty fridge. Me and four other friends planned to drive out to the best grocery store I've ever found (it's called Wegmen's and the hour drive to get there is worth every minute). It becomes a sort of mini-roadtrip; we put on music and forget about school and the lack of viable groceries nearby.

It had started snowing but I didn't think much of it until we had gotten about 15 minutes out. Turning a curve, the car was no longer in my control. Now, I've done the whole 360-degree fun turns in empty snow-covered parking lots, but I was always the passenger. As I felt the car sliding, I went blank and almost numb; the car whipped around too fast for me to think of anything but 'should I...' and then we were going backwards towards the metal barrier. That's when I pressed the brakes, yelling out 'No! Not my car!!' I'm a little ashamed that my primary concern was the car's safety rather than the people inside of it.

Fortunately for all of us no one else was on the road. A semi passes a minute later, which I didn't even think about until driving home how lucky we were. We were able to drive the car to the other side of the road, facing homeward. In my head I was picturing major damage to my car, killing all chances of me staying in Buffalo or going to med school....my future had flashed before my eyes, not my past. Is that bad? The flashlight showed me no damage; I was shocked. In my head the metal barrier had created a noisy scraping sound, puncturing my tires and turning the left side of the car into scrap. Sort of like when you try to park in a Vancouver underground. There was only a small scrape, so we headed back to Houghton, stopping at the tiny local grocery store, and I spent the rest of the night thinking about the 'almost-accident'.

Stuff like this is significant to me; for some reason I am intrigued by emergencies and I always want to know how I will respond. Thinking about my unexpectedly calm reaction to the car incident, I realize emergencies aren't in our control until after the event happens. Things happen too fast to ensure our top logical choice is acted upon. Something else kicks in. The obvious answer to me is God. I called my Dad that night, who spoke confidence to my ears with good advice and calm reassurance. He said the 360 was like a lesson, and not something to make me afraid to drive again, but also a reminder of God's protection. The 'something else' I can trust.