Final Decision = Learning Process

I received the news Friday afternoon. It's final now. The other insurance company has denied the claim. The lady who ran the red light, damaging my vehicle and injuring my daughter and me, has walked away free and clear. Her insurance does not have to pay for the damage that has been done. Because of an inaccurate police report. 

I have been angry. For a little over three weeks now my car has been sitting in the body repair shop, just waiting. I have been in physical pain from the injuries I sustained in the accident. For three weeks now I have just been waiting.

And in the waiting, God has used this time to teach me much. If God is God, then He is sovereign. It is within His will to work as He pleases in my life. I have to assure myself that God has my best interests at heart, that He (and not I) knows what is best for me, in all things. The question I must ask myself is this: Do I trust Him?

Do I trust that He knows what is best? Do I believe that this whole incident has turned out so wrongly because He has allowed it to be so? For reasons that may be known only to Him.

In these three weeks of waiting, I have been learning to wait on Him, to wait in His presence. Have I been asking Him to help the insurance company to make a decision in my favor? Yes, I have. Have I been so focused on me? On my perceived needs and wants? Yes, I have.

Have I, even once, asked Him to bring glory to His name through this? Have I asked how I could honor Him in this? No, sadly, I have not.

Until now.

As I have pondered all this, I have been reminded of something that I have forgotten along the way: God never promised that everything would be easy in my life, that everything would always work out just like I think it should. Simply put, God never promised that life would be fair. He never said that I wouldn't have to be uncomfortable sometimes, that I wouldn't have to suffer sometimes.

He also said that He would never leave me nor forsake me. When it seems as if nothing is going right, and everything has gone all wrong, I can take comfort in knowing that God is for me. That He is on my side. That He is working all things together for my good, and His glory.

As you can imagine, we've had lots of advice from well-meaning friends and family. The most popular advice being to hire an attorney and take the insurance company to court. Don't think we haven't thought about it, discussed it, considered it. It seems like the most probable solution to cover the debt we have incurred because of this accident.

But as we have been praying, my husband and I don't feel like this is the path the Lord would have us take. My ways are not your ways; My thoughts are not your thoughts.

In the end, I have to put it all in God's hands. And I have to leave it there. I can't keep taking it back, thinking there is anything I can do to fix it. I have done all I can. I have talked to the police officer, asking him to make the report right. I have talked to the insurance agent, asking her to consider the statements from the eyewitnesses. I have prayed, asking God to let this insurance company assume liability. I have done all I can.

So, no it didn't work out at all like I expected it to. Am I concerned about how much this will cost, and what my insurance won't cover? Yes, of course. But I have to let go and trust God. He is sovereign. He knew this would happen. And He knew how it would turn out. As I am still learning, He sees the beginning from the end. This is just another piece of the puzzle, and He sees the completed project when I can't.

 

And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus.

Two Weeks After the Accident...

I paid a visit to the chiropractor today. I'm still in alot of pain (head, neck and back), and have tried to make a doctors appointment to be referred to a doctor who specializes in neck and back injuries. But of course, all the doctors in town seem to have taken the rest of the year off! And if you've been reading my blog long, you know that I live in Smalltown, USA, so life can be downright difficult here sometimes! Not at all like the big cities with lots of doctors to choose from.

I have some friends who absolutely swear by chiropractors, and after discussing my pain issues with one of those friends today, I decided to give it a try! One thing about the visit that I really liked was the fact that I didn't have to have an appointment; they accept walk-ins. The down-side to today's visit: their x-ray machine was down. So we don't yet know if any vertebrae are out of alignment, but of course that's what they suspect.

So she didn't do an adjustment today, but they did start my therapy. A four-page questionnaire followed by questions from the nurse followed by evaluations. Then a TENS therapy session, followed by a hot towel massage. I must admit, that part was wonderful. I could get used to the massages!

I have to go back tomorrow for my next therapy session, and she said the x-ray machine is supposed to be working by then. So we can see the extent of my injuries.

On top of the pain I am suffering from my injuries, I am still so stressed out over the outcome of this whole situation. It is simply ludicrous and unbelievable! I went by the police station today to pick up a supposedly amended report. I was so angry when I finished reading it. I just want to ask the officer who wrote up the report if he was really the officer at the scene! I can't believe how many discrepancies are in the report. And my statement that he wrote contains very little of what I actually said, and alot of what I never said at all!

Despite having written statements from three eyewitnesses at the scene of the accident, the police report still refuses to cite the lady who ran through the red light and hit me as the cause or fault of the accident! And I spoke with an agent from her insurance company today to see if they have received the amended report along with the witness statements. The agent told me that the police report doesn't list their insured at fault, so they likely will not assume liability for the damage/injuries. Not a happy day for me...

My husband is off work tomorrow so he told me tonight that we will go together to the police station tomorrow and ask to meet with the police chief and the attending officer to discuss the report. Not sure if it will do any good, but I suppose it can't hurt to try.

I have become so depressed over this situation that seems as if it should be so cut and dry! I mean really, lady runs red light and hits my vehicle rendering it un-drivable, injuring me and my daughter. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out who is at fault here! Especially when you have three other people (not counting my daughter and me) who saw what happened. And yes, I do have insurance, so if her insurance won't assume liability, mine will cover some things, but I will incur out-of-pocket expenses, mainly a very high deductible, as well as medical bills.

In the meantime, will you join me in praying that God will work all of this out? I know that He allows things to happen for a reason. I am trying to trust in Him through it all, and trying not to worry. But I think the stress of it all is making my pain worse.

~Lord Jesus... please help me to trust in You. I am Your child and You have promised to take care of my needs. I know that worry, fear and anxiety have no place in a believer's life, but Lord it is so hard not to let them in sometimes! Please, Lord, take away the worry and replace it with Your peace. Please, Lord, work all of this out for my good and Your glory.~

Catching Up Again

We've had so much excitement around here, I can hardly stand it! Where to begin?

I guess I'll start with the wreck... Kate and I were involved in an auto accident last Wednesday afternoon. We are very fortunate; we sustained minor injuries. CT scans revealed slight concussions, cervical spine sprains, a sprained ankle. We are still very sore, and I continue to have headaches and neck and back pain. But, gratefully, no broken bones or more serious injuries. Unfortunately, my Explorer did not fare so well.



I don't yet have an update on the repair status of my vehicle. And unfortunately, the "at-fault" status is still up in the air as well. The lady who ran through a red light at the intersection and hit me claims to have been part of a funeral procession that was already about 350 feet down the road. The police report doesn't accurately portray my side of the story, and it doesn't include the statements made by eyewitnesses at the scene.

Today I had to go to the police station to write out my statement of what happened, and the eyewitnesses were asked to come in to write out their statements, as well. The chief of police came in to talk to me about it, but, thinking back on what he said, it all seems so absurd. He said this case might go to court, because the "code" is not clear on just how far away a car can be from the rest of the funeral procession, and still be part of the procession. If that is the case, it seems to me that the city should be required to post a police officer at the intersection to direct the traffic, and to make sure there are no stragglers racing through red lights trying to catch up with the procession.

On to the fun stuff... we traveled to Alabama over the weekend to have our Christmas celebrations with our families. Here are some pictures detailing our fun!

my parents

Nana & Papa with some of the grandkids (why can I not remember to take a picture while everyone is still there??)

Granddaddy and my kids

I had to take Will back to the doctor today *sigh*. He started feeling sick again on Saturday afternoon, and by Sunday night he had a temperature of 103.6 and was complaining of a sore throat. I wasn't sure if this was related to his previous illness, but the doctor said it's not. This time he has tonsillitis, so she called in a prescription for Augmentin.

And we are leaving tomorrow, going to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee for a short vacation. We will be coming home on Christmas Eve day. It is getting late and I am still not finished packing... Judging from the lack of noise at this moment, I assume that my husband has tucked everyone into bed already, as we plan to get an early start in the morning. We are all very excited! I suppose I should log off this computer and finish packing so that I can get into bed myself.

Goodnight!