A Date I’ll Never Forget
May 4, 2002. My graduation, my brother’s wedding or any other special event could have marked that last week of high school for me, but instead, it became forever known as “the week of Melody’s car accident.”
According to police, my car swerved off the interstate, down a steep embankment and through a tree. The car burst into flames, the dashboard collapsed on my legs, and the steering wheel pinned me to my seat. Emergency crews tore off the roof and flew me to the nearest hospital.
I was grateful to have survived, but the experience devastated me. I had a hole in my face that was two inches wide. My body was covered with deep, ugly gashes. I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t walk. And in an instant – all those special moments planned for my senior year vanished.
I lay in bed, unable to move, with thousands of questions swirling around in my head. “Will life ever be the same again? Why did this happen? What if it doesn’t get better? How do I keep going? Why me? Why now?”
A Reminder for COVID-19
May 4, 2020. Fast-forward 18 years. As I write this, we’re in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. Much like my car accident, this health crisis has brought life to a screeching halt.
Businesses shuttered. Graduations canceled. Weddings postponed. Families separated. The very same questions I quietly asked God 18 years ago are now being asked by millions of people worldwide.
Strangely, I feel prepared for this, because the accident taught me a life-changing lesson: Stop asking “Why?” and start asking, “Now what?” After a few days of bedrest, I shifted my mindset: “Now that this has happened, and I can’t do anything to change it, how do I respond? Now what do I do?” That’s when the healing process began – both physically and mentally. I’d been given a second chance at life, and I didn’t want to waste a minute of it.
News of my story spread. I was invited to speak at graduations, churches, youth groups and police programs. With scars on my body and a crooked smile on my face, I told them, “When bad things happen, don’t ask why, ask now what. Life may be different, but it doesn’t have to debilitating.”
As you navigate COVID-19, whether you’re a business owner, a graduating senior, a working parent or a recently furloughed employee, I hope this simple message resonates with you and offers the same kind of hope it offered me so many years ago.
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If this story inspired you, click here to read the full version of Melody’s “Scar Story”, or contact us to learn how you can book Melody to speak at your next event, retreat, church service or conference to share this story and other motivational messages.
