Bambi Meets Buey
It was the moment I'd been waiting all month for. After many postponals and delays, and after a long day of church and sanctuary, this was finally it. I was finally making my way back to Kansas City for a little while.
I was travelling with Joel, Christina and Steph, though in my car by myself. We had a bit of a late start, but when I jumped out of the Sanctuary doors and did my little "we're going to Kansas City" jig, I didn't care what time it was. I was finally gonna see people who are near and dear to my heart, and I was gonna spend some good much needed God time soaking in the PR.
What the night had in store was not a welcome detour...
I make it to the border. Since I'm currently unemployed and not in school, and because I was there for an extended period of time at the beginning of the month, they hassled me. I sort of half expected it but was praying it wouldn't happen. Anywho, it wasn't as bad as I thought it could've been and within 15 minutes I was on my way. Yes, hurdle crossed!
Everything was smooth sailing and I was feeling the excitement in my bones. It really was happening, I was going to be there by noon on monday!
I made it through Grand Forks (2 hours down, 10-11 more to go). The last sign I saw said 72 to Fargo (miles, not kilometres Canucks). Then the one thing that always crossed my mind but I dreaded happened. Before realizing anything (and i'm still not 100% sure what happened), and going at 75 MPH, all I saw was a cute little deer jump out of the boulevard on my left side.
All I remember is yelling "O MY GOSH" and then hearing a huge thud. Next thing I know, my car is swerving all over the highway, tires are screeching and then I find myself on the shoulder. It took me at least 5 minutes to shake myself out of initial shock and figure out what happened. It took me about 10 minutes to actually walk out of my car and look at what happened. By this point, the people I was with were a few miles ahead of me and it finally dawned on me that I should call them and ask them to turn around. Once they turned around, after a few minutes of processing I call my folks. Praise the Lord that they're calm and collected and not yelling in my ear (not that they're usually like that but it would've been understandable). They advise me to call 911 and figure out some of the basics. 911 transfers me to highway patrol and a guy comes out and meets me.
He was really great and even bended my metal and plastic, deeming my car driveable and let me know that it would probably make it back to Winnipeg. So after some quick hugs and prayers, my friends continued their journey and I made the trek back home.
Canadian border was friendly too. They saw my car, thought I got sideswiped. Once I explained it was a deer and I hadn't been out of the country for more than 5 hours, they let me through and wished me a good and safe trip home. My parents ended up meeting me at the border and my dad drove my car home (it was scary enough driving back to the border...everything that flashed through my side mirrors was a deer in my eyes). Sitting in our van, I started crying. More so because I was reflecting on the fact that I a)made it out alive and b)made it out without a scratch. That situation could have been VERY different and I know the Lord's hand was upon me at that time.
So to try and wrap up the story, I'm home and quite obviously didn't make it to Kansas City. My car is fixable for a crazy amount of money (Praise the Lord for insurance).
I have no clue why I wasn't meant to be there at this time, and it hurts a lot that I'm not. There hasn't been a night that I haven't cried myself to sleep and asked why. Things are blurry in that sense but I'm still learning to trust His perfect leadership of my life and know that there's a reason for the entire thing; even if I never know.
There's much worse things that can happen in life and have happened to others, so I'm counting my blessings. My apologies to all that were anxiously awaiting my arrival. Words on a page will never do justice to the deep regret I feel.
PS - Here are a couple pictures from the wreckage. It's not the scope of the damage but it's as much as I could fit in a couple photos.
I was travelling with Joel, Christina and Steph, though in my car by myself. We had a bit of a late start, but when I jumped out of the Sanctuary doors and did my little "we're going to Kansas City" jig, I didn't care what time it was. I was finally gonna see people who are near and dear to my heart, and I was gonna spend some good much needed God time soaking in the PR.
What the night had in store was not a welcome detour...
I make it to the border. Since I'm currently unemployed and not in school, and because I was there for an extended period of time at the beginning of the month, they hassled me. I sort of half expected it but was praying it wouldn't happen. Anywho, it wasn't as bad as I thought it could've been and within 15 minutes I was on my way. Yes, hurdle crossed!
Everything was smooth sailing and I was feeling the excitement in my bones. It really was happening, I was going to be there by noon on monday!
I made it through Grand Forks (2 hours down, 10-11 more to go). The last sign I saw said 72 to Fargo (miles, not kilometres Canucks). Then the one thing that always crossed my mind but I dreaded happened. Before realizing anything (and i'm still not 100% sure what happened), and going at 75 MPH, all I saw was a cute little deer jump out of the boulevard on my left side.
All I remember is yelling "O MY GOSH" and then hearing a huge thud. Next thing I know, my car is swerving all over the highway, tires are screeching and then I find myself on the shoulder. It took me at least 5 minutes to shake myself out of initial shock and figure out what happened. It took me about 10 minutes to actually walk out of my car and look at what happened. By this point, the people I was with were a few miles ahead of me and it finally dawned on me that I should call them and ask them to turn around. Once they turned around, after a few minutes of processing I call my folks. Praise the Lord that they're calm and collected and not yelling in my ear (not that they're usually like that but it would've been understandable). They advise me to call 911 and figure out some of the basics. 911 transfers me to highway patrol and a guy comes out and meets me.
He was really great and even bended my metal and plastic, deeming my car driveable and let me know that it would probably make it back to Winnipeg. So after some quick hugs and prayers, my friends continued their journey and I made the trek back home.
Canadian border was friendly too. They saw my car, thought I got sideswiped. Once I explained it was a deer and I hadn't been out of the country for more than 5 hours, they let me through and wished me a good and safe trip home. My parents ended up meeting me at the border and my dad drove my car home (it was scary enough driving back to the border...everything that flashed through my side mirrors was a deer in my eyes). Sitting in our van, I started crying. More so because I was reflecting on the fact that I a)made it out alive and b)made it out without a scratch. That situation could have been VERY different and I know the Lord's hand was upon me at that time.
So to try and wrap up the story, I'm home and quite obviously didn't make it to Kansas City. My car is fixable for a crazy amount of money (Praise the Lord for insurance).
I have no clue why I wasn't meant to be there at this time, and it hurts a lot that I'm not. There hasn't been a night that I haven't cried myself to sleep and asked why. Things are blurry in that sense but I'm still learning to trust His perfect leadership of my life and know that there's a reason for the entire thing; even if I never know.
There's much worse things that can happen in life and have happened to others, so I'm counting my blessings. My apologies to all that were anxiously awaiting my arrival. Words on a page will never do justice to the deep regret I feel.
PS - Here are a couple pictures from the wreckage. It's not the scope of the damage but it's as much as I could fit in a couple photos.
