Our Christmas Miracle

For those of you who haven't already heard, you won't believe what happened to us on our way home this weekend from our Christmas holiday in Graham. Just for the record, there is no embellishment here. This is exactly what happened.

About a half mile from the exit to Snoqualmie Ski Resort (west of the summit on I-90) Bryan was driving along in heavy rain when I hit a slushy spot on the road at full speed. It was just as the road began to curve to the right and he was on the inside lane doing 75 mph eastbound. Bryan tried to follow the lane and steer into the curve as anyone normally would on any freeway but lost steering control on the slushy surface (in fact, the van didn't even turn at all - it just went straight) and went straight into the center barrier (the center barrier at Snoqualmie by the way is about 3 feet tall and it had about a foot or two of snow at the base - it had been plowed within two or three feet of the barrier). He couldn't slow down and ended up nailing the barrier at a full 75 mph. As the front left corner of the van slammed into the barrier snow flew everywhere and then the back of the van swung and hit the barrier too. Initially, as the front left corner of the van hit the barrier the van rose up so high that we thought we were going to go over the barrier and into oncoming traffic. Fortunately, the van settled down to the ground but we continued to slide along parallel to the barrier for a couple of hundred feet with snow flying everywhere before we finally stopped.

The kids and Iwere asleep before we hit. They were awake by the time we stopped. Fortunately nobody was even slightly hurt. The kids having been jolted from their sleep had no clue as to what was going on. Actually Austin and Kyle stayed asleep and never did wake up.

Our first thought as we realized we were going to plow into the barrier at full speed was that we hoped we would all survive. Then as we were sliding a long we realized we would all live but kept wondering what we would do without a car. We only have liability insurance on it and can't afford anything else. Then as we came to a stop I thought for sure the frame was mangled and I tried to remember if we had towing on the van. Then it dawned on me that, to my surprise, the engine was still running. We were still in drive so Bryan hit the gas a little and the van moved. The steering felt really weird so I figured that the frame must be definitely bent. Bryan checked his mirrors for oncoming traffic and slowly made his way to across all four or five lanes of traffic and onto the shoulder so he could get out. The engine seemed to be running fine but the steering sure was acting weird.

Finally on the shoulder, Bryan got out of the van (with it still running) and walked to the front. The entire grill was caked with snow so I scraped some of it away and to his surprise he couldn't see any damage whatsoever. He couldn't even find a scratch (at least not one that hadn't already been there). It didn't even bend the bumper. Bryan looked under the van, popped the hood and everything seemed normal. The back of the van was normal too and despite hitting hard and sliding along the concrete there was no evidence except for snow and ice stuck in the grill. It was then that he realized that the foot or two of slushy snow at the base of the median barrier had been enough to cushion the vehicle before we actually hit the concrete. He had been sure that the van physically had hit the barrier but somehow the snow saved us.

I want to tell you that before we left we said a prayer asking for protection as we traveled home. Even though I was there and watched this whole experience unravel first hand I still can't figure out how a small amount of snow on the ground was sufficient to stop a 1-ton 15 passenger van traveling at 75 mph from demolishing itself against a concrete freeway barrier, or from going over the barrier. I'm confident that I personally witnessed a miracle happen today and I'm grateful that we said a prayer. I truly believe that our Heavenly Father was watching out for my family on the trip home.