Sandwiched.

I named this post "Sandwiched" because that is precisely how I am describing our car accident yesterday. Our poor minivan (and us too!) were sandwiched in between two trucks. We were pulling up to a light behind a truck (I am thinking an f250 or something of the like), just as were had come to a stop I looked in the review mirror and saw how fast the truck behind us was headed our way. I said out loud "Oh God that guy is not going to stop", just then I (dummy!!) turned my head around and watched him slam into us. Well I did not watch for long as we were hit so hard we were driven feet ahead and into the truck in front of us. When it all stopped the kids were screaming so loud I was certain they must have been hurt. But after a few seconds of consoling I realized they were probably more scared than anything. Within seconds my husband and I joined hands and trembled through a prayer begging God to let us be alright. Just after that I realized my head felt dizzy and was throbbing in my forehead near my right eye. I looked at my hubby and said "babe, babe, I hit my head, I hit head" He was out and checking on the kids and looked at me, more scared than I have ever seen him. He was consoling his two screaming kids, and looking at a wife who had a huge knot on her face. At that point I knew my neck hurt really bad, and I had no idea how I hit my head, or what I hit it on. The ambulance and fire and police came so fast. They ended up putting my neck in a collar and me on a gurney. I asked if my daughter could come with me (she has some attachment issues and is always scared to leave me), they said yes and loaded me and her into the ambulance. It was really scary but as we rode to the hospital I knew I would be OK. I had figured out that my bump on my head hurt like heck, but it was minor, and my neck hurt really bad, but I was sure it was just whiplash and nothing broken. They took x-rays and said I was OK. My husband arrived at the hospital and looked so heartsick it made me cry. He just wanted to help all of us and didn't know how. He just kept holding the kids and me and telling us he loved us. It was scary and precious at the same time. God was so with us. The accident could have caused us much more serious injuries. As for me I am getting further checked out tomorrow for whiplash and my bump on my face (which feels like to me might have busted or injured my sinus cavity. My neck hurts, but I know my body will heal. I also have a minor bruise where the seat belt grabbed me at the chest. As for my children, my daughter has a hurt head where something (we can't figure out what) struck her in the back of the head. She has a big bump where it struck her and it is quite bruised. She also has a strained rib or something. her ribs hurt when she moves too much (she also is being checked out tomorrow), but she has been OK enough to move around and do things, so I don't believe it's serious, but who knows. My son seems completely fine. He complains of no pain at all. God was with us for sure. My husband seems to have injured knees and probably has whiplash also. We are not a fun bunch to be around right now because all we say all day is "ouchie ouchie, that hurt" or "owwwwww! I forgot that bump was there".
What I have to say about it all, is this, God is good ALL the time. He protected us for sure. It should have been much worse. Also, our spirits are high. We are filled with His peace and are very thankful that we are OK. Good thing God taught me about bitterness BEFORE this all happened, huh? His timing is perfect. Had I still been bitter about all the other stuff I would have just added this to my list. That would have been ugly. Yesterday we also found it important to pray and ask God to bless the man who hit us. We knew we had to forgive him and not only that but speak blessings over him (in accordance with scripture). It was so good to do, and such an awesome lesson for the kids. All in all, we are good. I am in pain, and I still see the truck hitting us every time I close my eyes, but I know those things will fade. The miracle of feeling God's closeness during this time will not. Praise be to Him from whom all blessings flow.