This Miracle Was No Accident

By Ross Greenwood

There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.

~Albert Einstein

It was just another typical Canadian winter day; the falling snow blocked out the sun creating a dark, drab morning. The wind challenged the car to keep its course and, in the end, joined the other forces of winter — slippery roads, poor visibility and slush to take our little Neon off course.

"How's my driving? Do you feel safe? Should I turn back?"

"No," my wife Jennifer replied, "I really want to see this show in Toronto. I have faith in your driving."

We were coming down the hill at Cookstown, southbound on the four-lane 400 highway, notorious in winter. Suddenly there was a noticeable increase in the force of snow whipping against the windshield. Inside, the car began to fog up, so I ran my finger down the side of the windshield to see if defrost was needed.

It was just a couple of seconds but that's all it took.

When I turned my attention back to the road, I felt the car stagger slightly to the left and then to the right. As if watching from a distance, as if shock had removed all emotions, calmly I said to Jennifer, "We're going to hit that bus."

We were in the far left lane; the bus was in the middle. Our little Neon slid into the side of the bus about midpoint.

Suddenly Jennifer was cheek-to-cheek with the side of the bus. She screamed in horror. Bouncing off the bus, our car then ricocheted onto the barrier in the middle of the highway. I hung on to the steering wheel and waited for whatever was to be our fate.

From the barrier we rebounded back to the side of the bus. Jennifer shrieked. Then back to the guardrail again.

On our third return, the bus had moved far enough ahead that we just caught the rear bumper, which caused the car to spin 180 degrees so we were now facing oncoming traffic. All I could see through the snow were the headlights of a transport truck bearing down on us. There was nothing I could do but wait to be demolished.

Jennifer whispered to herself, "I guess this is how it feels just before you die. I wonder if it hurts."

In that instant, before I could panic, I heard a voice inside my head. "Relax, let go and everything will be alright." So I took my hand off the steering wheel, took a deep breath and just sat there.

By the grace of God, we somehow ended up on the side of the road facing in the right direction in our now beat up Neon.

Since the car was not completely off the road, I restarted it and moved us safely onto the shoulder. It then stalled again, never to restart. We were not hurt at all.

A tow truck driving by stopped and after hooking us up, brought us back to town.

I don't know how the transport truck missed running us down, and I don't know where that voice inside came from, but to both Jennifer and me it was a miracle. It was some force from somewhere that looked down at that moment and, after telling me to relax and let go, somehow rearranged the traffic on that cold, snowy day so we could live to tell this story.

Those two minutes of our lives changed us forever. Now when stress or danger confront, I simply let go, relax and know that everything will be all right.

http://www.chickensoup.com