IN TIMES OF TROUBLE

On a beautiful sunny day last August, I was driving home from our local supermarket. I was intending to turn left from Route 29; the light was green, and nothing was coming. I started to turn, and as if from nowhere – yet in slow motion – a Ford truck was coming toward me.

He hit me head on, and my car went totally out of control. My airbag went off, and the car was full of smoke. I couldn’t breathe, and my chest felt as if it were on fire as I fought to get the door open.

I am not sure whether I lost consciousness for a moment. I just remember starting to pray. I said: “Lord, if this is my time, please look after my husband and loved ones.” I just continued to pray, telling Him how sorry I was that I had not been spending enough time with Him in prayer and that I was sorry for all the things I had left undone. That I knew I was His from the beginning of time and that if I were to survive this, I would devote my life to Him.

I looked up, and there was a woman at my side. She told me she had seen everything, and that the truck was going very fast and there was nothing I could have done to avoid being hit.

I don’t remember this, but I managed to give her my husband’s phone number, and she called him. She introduced herself as Maria, explained the situation, and let me speak to him. I just remember praying, and I think she joined in holding my hand. I remember thinking that the Lord had promised to be with us when two or three are gathered in prayer, and that He would never leave us or forsake us.

I have never felt such a peace as I did at that time. I remember thinking about angels as I told God I was His, that I came into this life with one breath, and if this were to be close to my last, that I loved Him. I just kept praying.

The next thing I remember was being strapped onto a stretcher and placed into an ambulance, and I lost sight of the woman. I just continued to pray that whatever happened would be God’s will. I remained calm and was not afraid. I knew God was with me. I could never put into words the feeling of complete safety and peace.

I survived the accident with little more than very bad bruising and sprains.

I will keep my promise to God. Every breath is a gift, and life is as transient as the cherry blossom. One moment we are here and the next we are gone. I just know that God was with me in my time of trouble, and He sent me one of his earth angels to comfort me. I can never thank God enough for Maria’s gift of compassion.

— Suzy Donaldson

Courtesy of The Church of the Good Shepherd United Methodist