It was a typical Friday afternoon on May 3, 2013.  I was on my way to a nearby town to meet a friend. 

It was raining as I traveled a very familiar four-lane road.  Part of the highway has a median in the center between the lanes.  I was approaching the section of the highway where it disappears.  I noticed a car coming from the opposite direction begin to fishtail slightly.  I watched as the vehicle appeared to regain control.

I had just begun slowing my speed as I was approaching the town. Suddenly the oncoming car came shooting into my path.  The car was sliding sideways towards me, and I was aimed directly at the driver’s door.  I swerved to try to avoid the car and missed hitting the driver’s door but obliterated the entire back end of the other vehicle.

When I came to a stop, I couldn’t even remember how to dial 911.  A couple of people approached the car and said they smelt gas and saw smoke, so I needed to get out of the car.  One of the people was a nurse who showed me love and compassion.

The next several minutes were filled with humiliation as they had to cut off my clothes and fear as I didn’t know the extent of my injuries.  My body hurt in so many places I had no idea what to expect. I was taken by ambulance to a local hospital.

The other driver was extremely fortunate.  He was thrown from his car.  He received four tickets – no insurance, no seatbelt, bald tires, and driving too fast for conditions.

My elbow went through the windshield.  My side hit the armrest.  My knee hit the dash, and my face hit the airbag, knocking my front teeth loose. My body was bruised by the seatbelts that prevented further injuries.

At the emergency room, they did multiple x-rays and CAT scans to determine the extent of the injuries. I had a couple of fractures of the transverse processes of the lumbar vertebrae.

What happened in the hour that followed arriving at the emergency room still causes me to shake my head in amazement.  First, they said I had a broken clavicle.  Then the doctor examined my right knee as it moved in ways that it was not supposed to move.  He showed the nurse and said, “It isn’t supposed to move like this.”  He was discovering significant damage to the knee.  As I watched, I remember thinking that I was going to need knee surgery.

When they did the x-rays, both of those issues vanished.  No explanation, but they were suddenly gone.  You may wonder what happened.  Let me share with you so you will understand and believe.

You see, my mother was a prayer warrior who immediately sent out a call to those she knew to pray for me as I laid there in that emergency room.  God was answering prayers.

Then the tests showed damage to my kidney.  They sent me by ambulance to another hospital over an hour away. They said tests showed my kidney was detached.  I laid there with a collar on my neck as I underwent more tests for this issue. This also miraculously disappeared. Praise God!

It was shocking to discover a tremendous amount of glass in my arms and hair when I was discharged.  My good friend met me at her beauty shop to wash out the glass from my hair.  She showed me love and compassion.

The one who showed the most significant amount of love during this episode was my heavenly Father.  Through the entire experience, I had peace.  It was a supernatural peace.  As I reflect on this experience, I am still amazed that I was calm in the midst of this storm.  I truly felt God’s loving arms around me.

While my injuries were minor compared to the awful possibility, I became nervous about riding in a car, let alone driving. A few months later, I thought we were going to be hit by another vehicle, and that triggered the beginning of my PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder).

I began to jump while riding in the car.  I had terrible nightmares.  I had frequent flashbacks of the accident. The sound of rain while in the car set me on edge.  The rain on the roof of the house made it difficult for me to relax, let alone sleep.  I began to go to a counselor to work on the issues.  Just when I thought they were getting better, something triggered a heightened response.

While a few of the physical injuries took time to heal, the emotional and mental healing were not complete.  I was broken.  The PTSD started about three months after the accident.   I want you to keep in mind the PTSD continued for 14 months.  Yes, that’s a long time to be broken.

Through an unusual turn of events that God used in a powerful way, I found out about a local counselor.  When I met with her, I had no idea what lie just ahead of me.   This counselor had been trained in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR).  As I talked with her, I realized much of my anger and emotions were related to PTSD.  EMDR was discovered because they noticed eye movement with the PTSD triggers and symptoms.  The previous week I was driving home in the rain on a road similar to where I had the accident and saw a semi moving slightly towards my lane. I had four flashbacks of the accident and noticed my eyes moving rapidly back and forth.

While EMDR may not work for everyone and may take multiple sessions for some depending on the type and length of the trauma for me, it was amazing.  Through the process, my mind took a recent nightmare and rewrote the ending to one where I was safe. You see, I believe God intervened supernaturally in the session with the counselor.  God can heal in many different ways.

When we talked about the accident, I became extremely anxious and emotional.  She helped me to come to a calm state as we continued to work on the process.  My mind first took the flashback and froze it.  Then the next time, it took the flashback and began to rewrite the ending.  The Lord rewrote the ending, and I no longer saw a flashback of hitting the car but instead arriving at my final destination.

While the encounter was already incredible, there was more.  I had an image of rain with nothing else in the scene but a feeling of tension and anxiousness.  The next time the image was of rain and was followed by a rainbow.  The counselor said she got chills when I said that.  Then the next time, the image ended with a double rainbow.  We both got goosebumps, and she got chills on her chills. This was an encounter from God!  God was healing me.  He came in and touched my heart, soul, and mind that day.

This was one of the most amazing things I had witnessed in quite some time.  What God can do with our minds is fascinating. God can transform and heal our physical bodies.  God can heal and transform our minds.  He can heal our emotions and take away our mental anguish.

So what was the love?  It was seen in many ways along the journey.  But most of all, it was the fact God touched me.

I am not anxious in the car like before.  The sound of rain while driving or on the roof does not bother me the way it did.  In fact, as I sit here and write this blog, it is raining.  I believe that is a sign from God.

I was broken, loved, and healed.  What is your story?  Are you broken? Do you need a touch from God?

Rose Marie