Category: The Long Drive Chronicles

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I Am Okay

After a 2-month hiatus from blogging, I am here to tell everyone that I am okay. I was planning to write something about my recent awesome holiday but things happen and writing is the only way I know for me to sort out what happened.

I was on my way to work this morning when I got hit by another car. The next thing I knew, I was holding the wheels sideways, looking for an exit for me to get out of the car. How many times did it flip? I wouldn’t know. I saw the car from the corner but I honestly do not know why the driver decided to go straight ahead.

The first thing I thought was how I was going to go to work and if what happened was real. I was just cruising on the road. I did nothing unusual as I was below the speed limit of that road. The car that hit me came from a corner and I was pretty confident to go straight because it was supposed to stop because that road has a give way sign.

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I think 3 to 4 onlookers came to my rescue as soon as they saw me. They checked up on me if I had any injuries, which at that time, I didn’t know I had so I said I was okay. One of them called in the accident immediately and so 3 police cars arrived a few minutes after the accident. The police got my details and my statement. They sorted everything out as I stayed in one of the police cars.

I called one of my workmates to let her know what happened so she can relay the information as well. And as she just lives around the area where I met the accident, she dropped by to check in on me. My father-in-law came to pick me up and I am here, now, 3 hours after, retelling my story in my blog.

Papa told me that we can learn from these incidents. Praise God that I survived, unscathed. Well, except for a scratch on my left leg and perhaps a bruise on my right leg. I will go and have myself checked once Howell arrives home.

In all these, I just want to get the message across. In terms of practicalities, here are some of the things that people have to consider, especially if they are driving.

  • Nissan Liberty is a safe car. No kidding. I would have died given the damage to the car.
  • Put on your seatbelt. That saved me.
  • Get insurance. It takes your mind off of the financial side of things. I was driving carefully but someone hit me. I couldn’t have predicted that. You may be taking care of yourself but someone might recklessly just crash into you like what happened to me.
  • Contigo water bottles are pretty sturdy hahaha. All the containers where my lunch was packed were broken but my Contigo water bottles? Yeah, nah. Still good.
  • Sort your personal items well so that in emergency cases, they may find the contact details of the people who need to know of your status. Good thing for me, my phone is intact in spite of the crash so I was able to coordinate with people well. Had it broke, I did not even have Howell’s number memorized.

Now that all those practical items are mentioned, I know I have to share the biggest factor why I still am alive at this very moment.

The police officer who came to my assistance asked me if I go to church and I said I did. She surprisingly told me that my faith saved me. And I wholeheartedly believe so. I was moved to worship and to pray even as I was driving at the motorway this morning, a few kilometres from where the accident happened. And I did. I worshipped the Lord for He is glorious, He is all-powerful, He is a God who can bring things into action, wherever you are, whatever circumstances you might be in.

With the damage to my car and with how events happened, I may already be at my Daddy’s side right now. But it wasn’t God’s will yet. I lived to testify to something greater than myself. I am given, literally, a second chance at life. I am moved to tears as I type these words because things would have turned the other way. The Lord saved me and He saved me for a reason. What for? I am bound to find out. Right now, I will just praise and thank Him for the life He has gifted me with.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The Other Side

We have received terrible news in the past week, the passing of two sisters in our prayer groups in the Philippines and here in New Zealand. I was surprised with how devastating it felt. I honestly am not too close with both of them but I knew them enough.

I knew of Giki’s passing through a common friend. I really thought, or maybe I kind of hoped, that it was only a joke. She died of childbirth complications. Fortunately, their baby is alive and well. She’s almost my age and her husband’s a good friend of mine. I knew how long he waited for her and how happy he was when they finally got married.

I wasn’t too affected at first but it hit me the second day I’ve received the news. I was crying my heart out the whole day. The people at work might have found it odd that my eyes are red and swollen the whole day but I didn’t really have the courage to tell them about it. Even if I felt like telling them what happened, nothing would make a difference because I was miles away from home. I couldn’t be there for my friend.

The next news was of Rose’s passing. We knew her for just a year. I think the first conversation I had with her was before one of our meetings and no one was in the venue yet so she invited me to wait with her in her car. She shared how it was for her when she migrated to New Zealand.

I remember this was the time I was really anxious if I’d ever have a decent job here. We both were HR professionals back in the Philippines so we had something that we can talk about. She shifted to a career in finance here, I think. She talked about how she herself experienced how difficult it was to find a job here. Our conversation for the most part was uneventful but she made an impact to me that day. She assured me that all will be well and that I had to trust that God will provide for me and my family. She didn’t know how thankful I was of that assurance. I needed that badly at that time.

I tend to be pretty dense during these situations. I try to avoid my emotions and deny them most of the time but the Lord confronted me through them. I see death as something beautiful and freeing. I have learned this when my dad passed away. I had to hope that it is indeed beautiful, that death does not simply end in death alone, but it is a meaningful reunion with our Maker and that someday, we’ll join them.

Like I said, the second day after the news of their passing was different for me. For some reason, I could not fight back the tears that day. My drive going home is an hour so I have a lot of “silent moments” that I tend to think about things.  While I was driving home that day, I heard this song entitled The Other Side. Here is an excerpt of the lyrics that really stuck with me:

I bet you feel you’re finally home
Running down those streets of gold
The kind of peace you can’t explain
Looking into Jesus’ face

I know that you’re in a better place
I know I’ll be joining you someday

It isn’t easy to say goodbye
But I know it’s only for a little while
Run up ahead and I will catch up
‘Cause I’m gonna see you when tomorrow comes
On the other side

Where there are no more goodbyes
No more pain, no more tears left to cry
We will join with the angels singing their song
Praising our savior, all the day long

It isn’t easy to say goodbye
But I know it’s only for a little while
Run up ahead and I will catch up
‘Cause I’m gonna see you when tomorrow comes
On the other side

There are times when the Lord speaks to me through songs and I felt like He was dealing with me through this song. It didn’t deny the pain of death but it sheds a ray of hope that someday, we will meet again. This time, there’ll be no goodbyes. It gives hope that yes, those who have gone ahead of us are free. They are joyfully looking into Jesus’ face. In the meantime, I can continue my journey here so that someday, we may all meet again…

So to you, sisters, Giki and Rose, bask in God’s embrace. You had been His faithful servants. We will all be looking forward to seeing you someday, until we meet again.

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The Long Drive Chronicles – Kid on a Bike

Those who have been to Staglands Wildlife Reserve would know that the road I travel to get there isn’t necessarily the ideal road you’d take to work. It’s a windy road filled with a number of blind curves. It takes me 20-25 minutes to drive this road giving me loads of time to think about things, mainly to amuse myself and to distract me from the terrifying bends I have to drive in.

I sometimes sing, reflect, make my own jokes and laugh at them while driving there. And from here, the long drive chronicles was born. It is during my drive here that I get to take a closer look at my life and the circumstances surrounding me in an uninterrupted way. Will post a video of my way to work soon but for now, enjoy the read!

I usually go home at a certain time. There would be times when I’d come home late because I had a little chat with my boss but it’s not that often that this happens. In one of my usual travels home, I got off at an unusual time. I had no meeting or any sort of social engagement that day so I was driving at a relaxed pace.

Everything was as is until I came to a blind curve with a home right after it. I usually don’t encounter the residents there leaving the house and if they do, they leave with a car but at this specific time, a kid on a bike drove fast before me. I was in a safe speed so nothing untoward happened.

I, however, thought about what could have happened should I come home a bit earlier or later or should my driving speed have altered before that kid appeared on the road. That day, though, I was at that part of the road at that time, driving in that speed, saving me from a possible collision.

It reminded me of one of the prayers of a member in our prayer group where it says, “thank you, Lord, for saving us from things that we know and the things we are not aware of…”. 

Sometimes, we wonder why we are stuck somewhere we feel we shouldn’t be. We are in relationships we feel we shouldn’t be in anymore, we are in jobs that are not rewarding and fulfilling anymore, we are awaiting for answers that wouldn’t come. We feel stuck and forgotten. No matter what we do, nothing moves.

We may or may not know it but there is Someone at work in our lives, protecting us from things we cannot bear. We are in circumstances we need to be in at the moment. We can take comfort in knowing that we are provided with what we need when we need it. It may be a difficulty we need to grow from, it may be a short supply of resources we need to get by. We have the right amount of good and bad we have to deal with on a daily basis. Nothing is given to us beyond our capacity.

My takeaway for this day, from the kid on the bike, is that I am where I should be now, nothing more, nothing less. I am not a day over or a day under the things I am supposed to go through. Everything is in place because Someone is in charge of me. I am thankful for the times I was saved from things that I am aware of, more so, from the things I am not.

P.S. On the flip side, parents of these kids should teach their kids basic road safety to ensure they are secure when they go out of the house. 🙂 🙂 🙂