Bicycle wreck and a great daughter

On July 23rd I was riding my bicycle down the highway.  I had ridden 27 miles and was about 6 or 7 miles from home.  I was having a good day and enjoying the morning ride.  Without any warning a 3/4 ton 4X4 truck came across the white stripe and hit me in the back.  The truck was traveling at about 60 mph.  I was launched into the air and then down to the pavement.  I slid for quite a distance on the pavement and lost a lot of skin.  The collision broke my bicycle in the middle, broke my wrist, damaged my ribs on both sides, twisted my ankle, hurt my shin and my knee on the left side, put bruises on legs, back, back of both arms, and truly impacted me emotionally as I thought through what happened.  The people who saw the accident all believed I was dead.  However, by the grace of God I am still alive.  I have been in pain for 8 days now and operating at a very reduced level.

This event has taught me a lot and I know that God has had and will continue to have great purposes to come from it.  The greatest impression that I had was the realization of the brevity of life.  My life is a vapor and soon it will be gone.  Secondly, it has reminded my once again of the value of family, friends, and certainly the church body.  Third, in the midst of pain and shock it is still right to preach the gospel to the ambulance personnel, highway patrols, firetruck personnel, paramedics, the guy who hit me, the people who stopped to check on me, and to anyone else who was listening that day.  Lastly, it has taught me that people actually do care and love me.  This has been the most humbling of all.  It has greatly impacted me for people to check on me, come by and pray for me, bring me food, and simply to write things that have blessed my heart.

I am thankful that God caused a truck to run over me in order to teach me these lessons.  I certainly do not ever want to experience this again, but I am thankful and I know without a shadow of a doubt that my God does all things well.

And to finish this article I would like to add what my daughter wrote about this event.  I love my daughter and what she writes shows her love for me:

"The bicyclist you just joked about running over for points, he has a wife that loves and depends on him. The bicyclist you just swerved, yelled, or threw your trash at; he has children, some that haven't even graduated yet, a young daughter that deserves to have her dad walk her down the aisle someday. The bicyclist that you just ran over with your truck at 60 mph because you weren't paying attention, he has a newborn granddaughter that hasn't met him yet. Please share the road. I know it tests your patience, but cyclists are people and their lives matter to many." (Samantha)