It was summer break and we had just
visited our close friends in Utah. My whole family and I were a little bit
upset that we had to be on the road for the fourth of July.
We ate dinner with our friends, said our good-byes
and got ready for the long trip home. My dad drove and my mom helped with
directions. My youngest sister, Lily, and I fell asleep. Audrey, my other
younger sister, played on my dad’s ipad. Three hours into the drive I woke up.
Lily still slept soundly and Audrey listened to music. I was rested and now
truly ready for the trip home.
After being awake for a short while my dad and I
saw the Watch for Deer sign. I closed
my eyes and prayed for protection. A few seconds later we saw a blur of brown
and felt something hit the car with great impact. My mom and I lost our hearing
for a couple of seconds due to the airbag explosion.
My wonderful dad had not panicked and slowly
drove to the side of the rode. Lily who was still asleep when we hit the blur of
brown, knocked her head on the seat in front of her. I yelled her name and made
sure she was okay. I looked at everybody in my family. A couple of us started
to cry. Everybody in my family just sat in the car for a while and started
shaking with fear and shock. God answered my prayer. We had been driving
eighty-five miles per hour. We all could have easily been killed, but God kept
us safe.
Once we relaxed my parents got out
of the car to see the damage. Because the front of the car was completely
smashed in, mom thought it would be totaled. The two of them tried to get
service to call towing and insurance companies.
While my parents were getting help, Audrey
continuously looked at the pile of brown fur and told Lily and me that one of
it’s legs were missing. I didn’t want a thing to do with the poor deer, so I
didn’t look at it and I made sure Lily didn’t look at it either.
I had to tell Lily what happened. Lily startled,
confused, and half asleep started to cry.
When she got over her confusion and tears she began to understand what
happened, which made her cry again. This time she cried thicker, faster tears.
The three of us waited in the car, worried, and prayed for more protection and
help.
Two hours after we hit the blur of brown my
parents had everything set up. We now waited for a tow truck. A man pulled over
and made sure we were okay. He said he felt that God told him to pull over. He
didn’t know why, but when he saw the dead animal and our car he then
understood. My mom and the man talked about Mormonism and Christianity. He said
he grew up Christian and then converted to Mormonism. They had a friendly
disagreement about if they worshiped the same God or not. My mom blessed him
and shared the love of God with him.
Finally, the tow truck arrived. We took our
important things out of the car and got into the huge truck. The tow truck man
towed our car and helped us figure out where to
go.
We decided to take the two hour trip to the city of St. George. My parents
discussed God with the tow truck man (a Mormon). He told them about his life.
He seemed to be a very open, kind man. During the two hour drive I never took
my eyes off the road and country around us. I didn’t want to go through all the
fear and stress of hitting an innocent animal again. I felt terrified, but I
tried not to show it.
The tow truck man dropped us off at a hotel and
took my dad to get other business figured out. The four of us got our luggage
and checked in to our hotel room. I was relieved to finally be able to just
relax. My dad came back and he told us that we would be stuck at the hotel for
the fourth of July and we could do nothing about it. With no rental car places
opened, we would have to wait. I felt glad we were safe and that a warm bed
waited for me.
The next day we all struggled to be
kind to each other. Nobody was in a particularly good mood. All of us
experienced soreness. I wanted to lay in bed forever. Since we didn’t have a
car we walked everywhere, which seemed to make everything worse. The whole day
we laid around and rested for the trip home. Instead of just celebrating our
country we celebrated our safety and our wonderful God.
On July fifth we packed everything into a rental
mini van and took off! My dad drove extremely careful. We didn’t hit any
animals, but we did drive into a huge dust storm! God kept us safe through
that, too. I was happy to be at home and to have my family with me.
This experience helped me to fully trust God
that He will always protect and provide for me. God allowed this experience to
help us share His love with two people. I now know that I never have to worry
or wonder if God will show up and help me. He always comes to the rescue!
First Autobiographical Incident
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