A Moment In Time

It's mind-blowing just how much life can change in a single moment. Last summer, this truth became all too real for a young man in my town.

He was driving down Snoqualmie Pass. It was a normal summer afternoon and he was going to meet his dad. But he never made it there. His truck careened out of control and went off the road. Because he wasn't wearing his seat belt, he was ejected out. He landed in a divet with the truck on top of him. Yes, he survived. But now, he's paralyzed from the waist down due to spinal damage. He spent months in Seattle Children's Hospital. He's home again, but in a wheelchair.

I don't know him too well, but we were in the same driver's ed class, and his brother is in my art class. He was very active: hunting, fishing, rodeo, 4-H, and everything in-between. But all because of one single moment in time, he can't do a lot of that stuff anymore. I've heard he's gone duck hunting, but he couldn't go hunting with his dad and brother once because they were going in a boat and it would've been just too dangerous. His accident was a few weeks before the county fair--someone else had to show and sell his steer for him. If you log onto his CaringBridge site, there's photos of him hiking, fishing, and boating with his family.

But now he can't do a lot of that. Because of one moment in time.

I'm sure you're probably wondering why I'm writing about this now. His accident was last summer. Today, when his brother's grandmother came to pick his brother up from art class, he was in the car. As I pulled away, I saw him sitting in the front seat, his wheelchair in the back. For a moment, I felt kind of guilty. We were in the same driver's ed class. Here I was driving myself everywhere, being the independent person I can be because I have my license.

And working legs.

For him, there's no use asking to do the driving. He can't. I know it's rather ridiculous to feel guilty about something that happened to someone else that you had no control over, but for one moment, I did. I guess in some ways, his story and the stories of many others makes me realize something.

It doesn't have to take a long drawn out process to change your life. All there needs to be is a moment.

God has a plan for this young man's life. He has a purpose in the accident, and in the end, everything will work out for God's glory. But it will never make me stop thinking.

A moment like that could come at any time.

No one is ever ready for their life to change; whether it takes a while or it takes a moment.

But God never needs more than a moment to change a life.