I Have A Purpose?

So, while I was at Baylor orientation one of the videos they showed us was entitled "What's your purpose?" Basically this interviewer went around the Waco, TX area with a camera and microphone and asked, you guessed it, "What's your purpose?" Most of the responses were unsure or unclear at best, one man even answered "I just want to get through life without killing anyone." Wow! Talk about setting your standards low. Anyway, as far as I'm concerned I think I would fall into the "Unsure and Unclear" group as to what my real purpose in life is. However, I know I have one. How do I know? Well, let me continue.

Later that day my mom and I were headed home from orientation. We had decided to take back roads instead of the interstate becuase it would be faster and we wouldn't have to go through Dallas. It was around lunch time when we started our trip with me behind the wheel. We decided to stop at Sonic (the best fast food restaurant EVER!) to eat. Afterwards my mom said she wanted to drive; so, we swapped seats and started home. We were going great for the first 45 min. We talked about my cousin Misty's wedding and my mom put in my cousin Heather's CD. As we were trucking along at about 60 mph (that's actually 10 mph UNDER the posted speed limit) on a two way road, we came to the crest of a hill. Suddenly there was a huge 18 wheeler tire in the middle of the road. My mom didn't have time to swerve or brake, and we hit the tire full on at 60 mph in my Dad's little Honda Accord. Our car was airborn for a matter of seconds, in which my mom later told me she thought we were going to flip. By the grace of God we didn't. The airbags deployed, hitting my mom full on and me on the right side of my face. The car filled with chemicals (which are apparently stored with the airbags to ensure they don't deteriorate) and smoke. We could hardly see the dashboard. My mom let out a cry and prayer, "GOD HELP US!" as we landed in the opposite lane in oncoming traffic. I reached over, somehow instinctively knowing that my mom couldn't see the road as well as I could because of her poor eye sight and the smoke and chemicals being thicker on her side. I grabbed the steering wheel along with my mom, and together we pulled. We later realized that this effort was so hard because the accident had seriously srcewed up the alignment of the front tires. My mom frantically tried to press the brake but couldn't. At that time we didn't know that the tire had pushed up the floorboards of the car about six to eight inches, making it impossible to get at any of the pedals. We were finally back in our lane, thankfully at the moment we had been in the other lane there hadn't been any traffic. If there had been, there's no doubt in my mind that we would be dead. As my mom was fighting trying to find the brake pedal, she remembered the hand brake and started pulling. By this time the car was so filled with chemicals and smoke that we were burning our throats with each breath. Somewhere within the chaos I rolled my window down. We manuevered the car to the side of the road, I hit the emergency lights, and my mom pulled the emergency brake all the way up because we were still on the downside of the hill. We got out, and the first thing we did was hug.

Surprisingly, my mom and I both walked away with minor injuries. Although we totaled the car. We both had some redness and slight chemical burns; my mom's right ankle was soar and swollen, and I lost most of the hearing in my right ear for a day or two. But on the whole, we were ok, we were alive, we were given another chance, another day.

I was telling this story to one of my friends a couple days ago and she looked at me and said, "Your works not done here yet; you still have a purpose to fulfill." So, here I am. I don't know what my purpose is, but I must have one. Why else would I have walked away virtually unscathed from an accident that could have taken my life? My guardian angel must be working overtime. Thanks Madi!