A Brush with Death...Grateful to be Alive...

When people say life is fragile, it is so true. But sometimes it is not until you come face to face with death that you realize just how fragile it is.

Yesterday was my birthday. I felt so grateful to God for giving me a new year of life to live for Him. I had hopeful dreams of what the new year would bring. Little did I know that just as I had started this new year of life, it almost ended as soon as it began.

In one of my very first entries regarding life in Canada, I took pictures of a section of road going to the nearest town called the “Big Slide.” It is a section of road that narrows from two lanes to one because there is a sheer cliff up the mountain on one side and then a sheer drop-off on the other side. The road is just carved along the cliff face. Periodically the slide is closed due to avalanches. Along other sections on the road to Lillooet, there are other avalanche slide areas that periodically have rocks the size of small pebbles to huge boulders come sliding down the mountain onto the road.

This morning, Shanuk ran out of food, so I had to take a trip into Lillooet. (Interesting side note here…Before I left on Christmas break, I had bought Shanuk 5 bags of dog food. I knew that should be plenty to last her through break and then some. But when I returned from Christmas break, she was on her last bag. I wondered at how much food she had been fed while I was gone and was shocked she had eaten so much… More on this later.) I really didn’t want to go to town since it had been raining all morning. But I knew I had to. I prayed earnestly before I left that God would keep me safe from falling rocks on my way into town. When I got to the slide, it was fairly bad. There were quite a few rocks on the road but at least it was passable. Small rocks and stones continued to fall from the cliff as I crept my way down the mountain. I got behind a snow blow along the way which was pushing huge fallen boulders off the road and into the ditch. I chuckled to myself that the snow plows here probably do more boulder pushing than snow plowing.

After running my errands in Lillooet, I once again prayed that God would keep me safe on my return. I had barely left Lillooet, when I came to a section of road that was literally covered with large rocks (6-12 inch boulders) all over the road. (They had fallen since I had driven through there a little while before.) I tried to go around them but there were too many so I drove slowly over them trying to not completely tear up the underside of my car. Then all of a sudden, I heard this absolutely horrifying blast right by my head and realized I was completely covered in glass. A large boulder (I am guessing it was anywhere from 6-12 inches across) fell from the cliff and completely shattered my driver’s side window. Knowing I couldn’t stop for fear more would come down, I crept through the remaining debris and kept driving towards home.

Since my windows have a darkened tinted film on the inside of the glass, it acted almost like tape on glass and kept part of the shattered window in the opening rather than all on my lap. (I really think this is one thing that protected me from getting more glass in the face. If that hadn’t been there, the impact most likely would have sent the entire window into my face.) To prevent it from all falling in on me, I had to hold what was left of the shattered window in place for the remaining 30+ km back home.

To make matters worse, I still hadn’t gotten to the Big Slide yet. When I got to it, larger boulders (these about 3 feet across) had fallen onto the road almost blocking the one lane. I was able to squeeze through them and prayed so hard all the way through that God would just at least get me home safe. (I am so grateful it wasn’t one of those boulders that hit me. I can almost guarantee it would have killed me.)

When I got home, I tried to shake the large quantities of glass off me (I had it all in my lap, my coat hood was filled with glass, it was down my sleeve from holding the window up, in my hair, in my shoes, and even in my mouth. Thankfully none in my eyes.) When I stepped out of the car, I realized then how God had spared my life. Along the top of the door frame was the huge dent that had taken the brunt of the boulder’s impact. Because it had hit partly on the frame and partly on the window, the boulder had bounced off the frame and back onto the road. If it had hit merely 3 inches lower, it would have come right through the window and hit me in the side of the head. Considering the size of the boulder, I either would have been dead, seriously injured, or had shards of glass all through the side of my face.

Though I tried to shake most of the glass off in the car, I kept dropping shards of glass all throughout the house. (The glass was so imbedded in my coat, I had to vacuum clean it to get it all off.) So I went to get the vacuum cleaner (in an obscure room of the house I never go to) and behind the door I saw the three left over bags of dog food from break. Someone had put them there and never told me they had done so. (So now I have six bags of dog food, a shattered window, and a very shook up psyche!)

I was very shaken by the event and when talking to my dad on the phone, I burst into tears. I realized that I very easily could have been dead after that event. It was only God’s mercy and protection that I am still here. I still am not sure what good God wants to come from this all. I know he must have some reason for allowing it to happen. If it is to help remind me of the fragility of life, it worked. If it was to challenge me to live for Christ more earnestly this next year of life, then I’m glad it happened. If it was to help my students realize that we have no guarantee about tomorrow, then it was worth it. If it was to help family and friends rededicate their lives to Christ and serve him more fully, then it was necessary. And most of all, if for some reason it was to bring glory to God in some way, then I will be grateful for it.

Whatever the reason is, I am just glad to be alive. A new year, a new lease on life. I pray I will live it for Christ.