Coyotes, Coincidences and Car Wrecks

I've been thinking about life and death quite a bit since a shooting near our house ended in someones death on Saturday evening.  I'm not scared of death.  At all.  That's for another post.  Monday afternoon, I was driving in town and wondering where my kids are at with death.  I determined to have a good conversation with each of them about it.

Tuesday, the kids and I were driving to the school.  At 70 mph, I skimmed the back end of a coyote that jumped out of nowhere right in front of me!  Heart stopped for a second, adrenaline hit me and my legs went spaghetti.  The interstate was busy and if I would've hit the thing head on, I'm not sure what would've happened.  Car wreck was on my mind.

On the way home from school, a giant black bird almost flew directly into the front of my car on the same interstate.  That's when I took note and just said, ¨What is it with animals trying to hit me?¨

Abiel needed books at the library so I dropped the other kids off at home before going.  I had a free drink at Starbucks that I always save for Abiel, so we swung by before hitting the library.  Unfortunately, we got hit before we hit the library.  Going 40 mph through an intersection, I didn't even see the SUV until it was hitting the front end of my Prius right before my driver door.  I didn't even have time to hit the breaks. I woke up with a pole too close to my shattered windshield and someone saying that the ambulance was on the way.

I was never afraid.  It didn't even cross my mind that I might die or be dying.  There were many miracles in our accident.  Many people were thinking of us, praying for us, sending us healing and love.  We felt held, carried, and healed over the 8 hours we spent in the ER.  From the diagnosis of broken sternum and ribs to ¨You're CT scans are all clear! I guess you can go home tonight,¨  and nurses saying, ¨I talked to the EMT and you should not be going home tonight.  You are very lucky.¨

I never imagined the death conversation would be on the heels of my own brush with death.  I'm beyond thankful that I'm going to be snuggling up with them on the couch and having this discussion with only whiplash and some big bruises.  I'm grateful that my time isn't expired.  

Thank you for all your love and prayers.