Turned Around and Upside Down, but Ever so Thankful

Hello! I am alive and well, all things considered. These past two-plus months have been unbelievably busy, mainly due to my placement which I realize I still haven't told you much about...

A brief explanation is this: I am working in a house with adults who have learning disabilities. It is run by an organization that is spread all across Scotland, providing support for disabled people in a variety of ways including community care. My role is not quite reflective of what social workers actually do in this area, but what I have experienced so far has proven beyond helpful for my future career- even if within a totally different area of social work.

I have learned TONS since beginning there, and I anticipate even more learning as I finish up these last several weeks. It has been enjoyable even if difficult at times. Working with someone who has a learning disability is challenging in a number of ways. I will spare you the boring theoretical, social-worky things I’ve learned, but it has been so cool to finally link together all the things we were taught last semester into practical situations. Best of all, I get some incredibly good laughs at that house! The people I ‘support’ can say and do some of the funniest things. And then there’s the staff…! Really, though, it’s been a wonderful experience even with the trying situations.

This has been a difficult season for me in several ways. I have experienced such an interesting combination of mountain tops and valleys. I do not loathe the valleys, as I know they are necessary and such goodness comes from our times there. As one of Caedmon's Call's songs points out, "valleys fill first." I am finding this to be true. Perhaps I'll share more on this later, but for now I'll move on to a recent event that has left me perplexed.

Some of you know that I bought a lovely old car back in March. I had some amazing times driving it around NE Scotland; it served as a sanctuary for me in this busy season. Driving has always been one of my favorite things to do- a hobby, if you will. I enjoyed every opportunity I had to get out of the city and see the breathtaking sights around Aberdeen. Passing by highland coos, daffodils, and rocky creeks brought a refreshing sense of peace and joy in my deepest parts. I experienced God’s presence in a ‘94 Nissan Sunny, of all places.

Therefore, I do not quite understand why it has been taken from me. For those unaware, I had an accident on the 6^th of June. I initially want to call it a ‘serious’ accident, but that doesn’t quite fit because I walked away without hindrance. So I’ve resorted to calling it a ‘wild ride’. That it was. I am still processing the recent incident and have yet to reach complete resolve within, but I wanted to at least give more details of what happened.

I was on my way home from the house where I ‘work’ (my placement), on a back road that I’ve driven many times in the past month or so. It had been raining and even hailing during the day, but the sun had appeared and things were drying up. I suppose I let my guard down because of this, and I failed to consider that the roads were still quite slick. I approached a bend in the road a little too quickly, and I must have hit the brake too hard; I started to skid, or “fishtail” as some call it, and couldn’t gain control of the wheel. I panicked, let go of the wheel, and closed my eyes as I tucked into myself and cried, “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus….” I do remember being jossled around and can vaguely recall the ‘ride’; I still am unsure whether I blacked out for a few seconds. I now understand what people mean when they say it goes so fast yet feels slow motion.

According to Fiona, the blessed lady came to my aid, my car spun around, the back going up onto an embankment, then rolled once and again halfway, landing on the roof. In fear of the car catching fire (I’ve seen too many bad movies…), I turned off the engine first thing. In the back of my mind I was also worried that a car might come screaming around the corner and slam into me as my car lay across the opposite lane with me in it. I was suspended by my seatbelt for about 2 minutes, although it felt like an hour, until Fiona and a kind man helped me unbuckle and safely crawl out from the uncomfortable position. It was hard to convince them to help me out; they both feared moving me in case I was severely inured. But I HAD to get out. That was the most terrible feeling, hanging upside in my car and not knowing what could happen next. I felt very close to passing out from the shock and the tight seatbelt combined. My stubbornness proved beneficial for once!

To wrap it up: the paramedics came, the crowd slowly fizzled out, and the firefighters stood with puzzled faces as they looked at the overturned car and the walking girl. Eventually I was taken to the hospital for minor inspection, all the time praising the One who spared my life and softened a potentially damaging wreck. An hour and a half later, my sweet friends picked me up and I enjoyed their company and a delicious, homemade Norwegian dinner- Salmon has never tasted so fine. : ) [Thanks, Olav, Christy, and Moray!]

I still sit in amazement at how protected I was in this incident. God truly hedged me in. The name of Jesus is powerful, my friends. I cannot explain why my life was spared and others so often are not. I am struggling to understand why such a great provision has been removed from my life; I only got to drive the glorious countryside for 2 months. But all in all, I know God is GOOD. I trust He knows what’s best for me. I believe He sees the bigger picture. In the words of a song I love, He gives and takes away, but I will choose to say, “Blessed be Your name”.

Like I said, I have yet to sense resolve in this, and it has been a difficult week with mixed emotions of gratitude and loss. If any of you have words of wisdom from similar experiences, I welcome such. Apart from sore muscles I have nothing to complain about! However there is some bruising of the heart that will take some time to heal. Thankfulness and all, it was still a slightly traumatic experience.

Here are a couple pictures to document the crazy event. Praise God with me!

One of the things I will forever cherish is this… there was a pair of jeans folded up in my backseat that evening, and a few days after the accident I wore them. As I put my hand into one of the pockets, I felt something sharp and pulled out a tiny shard of glass, obviously from the windshield of the car. I had not a speck of glass in my hair, on my skin, nor on the clothes I was wearing that night, yet a tiny piece of glass made its way into jeans folded on the backseat. This spoke to my heart, as silly as it may seem. God knows the number of hairs on my head, and He wasn’t about to let shards of glass harm me. ;)

That’s the gist of the story for you. I realize it may be a bit long-winded for some and not detailed enough for others. My hope in sharing it is that your heart would be drawn to the loving God who saved me.

In other news, my parents will be here in Aberdeen on Saturday! I am stoked! I haven’t seen them (apart from Skype conversations via webcam) since Christmas, so I am really, really excited. These 6 months have flown by yet crept by so slowly. I will get to see them and the rest of my family (and friends!) in August/September, when I go home for my brother’s wedding, but it will be so fun to let them see my life here in Aberdeen. I’m giddy!

In July I will have another special visitor… : ) Kristine is coming!!! Oh my, lots of excitement that cannot be contained! If any others would like to visit, just hop into her suitcase, okay? I’m pretty sure it has one of those expanding compartments...

I will end with some more photos of recent life here… I continue to LOVE living here, even if I’m back on the city buses again. ;)

beautiful sunset on one of my last country drives

Duffus Castle in the glorious sunshine!

Although I no longer live along the River Dee, it continues to inspire me.

I await the final word on the car, whether it is redeemable. It's a rather stinky situation either way, but I'm praying for God's best to happen.

I am thankful.