Thankful Thursday

I have just one thanks for this week, because it is a big one.

I am thankful to be alive.

Joe and I were on our way home from work on Tuesday. There was a bad storm that had been brewing all day. Thunder, lightning, and heavy rain.

He was late picking me up because of it. It was raining very heavily when he finally showed up at my work.

I gathered my things, got in the car and we were on our way.

As we got on the toll road that we take to get home, we were talking about the weather, how crazy people start driving when it rains and how we really needed to get new tires for our car.

Suddenly out of nowhere, Joe lost control of the car. We had hit a flooded area of the road. We swerved across three lanes of highway, fishtailing and zig zagging. The front of our car hit the cement center divider, hard. The car zig zagged back across the three lanes. I felt the car start to tip. It seemed we were going to roll over.

I thought we were going to die. I distinctly remember thinking that. This is how I die. The whole thing lasted probably only a couple of minutes or so, but it seemed like it lasted forever, like it was in slow motion.

The next thing I knew we were stopped on the shoulder of the road, safe.

Joe demonstrated some very defensive driving that day. He knew what to do if the car hydroplaned. He never touched the brakes. He simply steered the car, never letting it lose control completely. After we hit the divider and the flooded area was passed, he guided the car to the shoulder of the road.

We both flew out of the car on the side of the road, hugging and crying in the rain. There was not a scratch on either of us. The only damage to the car was a cracked rim on the left tire where it had hit the divider. He changed the tire on the side of the road in the pouring rain while I held an umbrella over him. We were both soaked and cold and shaken, but otherwise perfectly fine.

I am thankful God was watching over us that day, and for Joe's driving skills.


The outcome could have been so much worse.

I am grateful that it wasn't.