Divine intervention

Okay, in my last blog I promised I would tell you about the exact moment I knew God exists. I didn't realize it until a year or so later, but it's a pretty blatant sign if I do say so myself.

January 2008. My then-partner and I were looking at buying a home together. We'd been together for a year and were ready to settle down--at least that's what we thought. The housing market was entering a boom and we wanted to get in before the boom got worse. This was back in the day when 40 year mortgages were still a possibility--yikes!!--and so were mortgages with 0% down. It gets better. Houses were on the rise and my now-ex refused to buy a condo--"it's the same as living in an apartment!" Funny side story--she ended up buying a condo shortly after I bought mine. Anyway... so we settled on a "modular home". AKA a mobile home... AKA a trailer. Yes, go ahead, laugh... *hangs head in shame*. Mistake #2. Mistake #1 was even considering buying a home with her in the first place, but that's obvious considering we are no longer together.

Anyway, despite the fact that it was 0% down, we still needed money for closing costs and a deposit. I had some money in a pension from my previous job that I decided I would withdraw under the first-time home buyer's plan. Mistake #3. It was nearing the end of January and we had to give our notice in the place we were renting before the end of the month if we were going to be moving. Not only that but we had an offer in on the modular home and it was pending financing before January 31. I'd say it was around January 26th when I had an appointment at the bank to withdraw my pension money and transfer it into my chequing account. We were living downtown at the time and my bank was still in the far west end of the city. It was where my parents set up my first account when I was a kid. It was frigidly cold outside and somewhat icy. I was about three blocks from the bank and was approaching a fairly major/busy intersection. The light in the distance was red so I started slowing down, but then it changed to green so I never did come to a complete stop. There were two lanes going the direction I was going, and I was in the right hand one. Out of the corner of my eye I could see a guy on my right coming up to his red light quite quickly. Next thing you know, BAM!!... and I've done almost a 180 degree spin.

It's amazing I wasn't hurt or even killed. There was a median and light post I could have smashed into... there could have been someone in the left-hand lane... or worse his car could have hit me into oncoming traffic. My poor car was out of commission for a couple of months, but I was completely fine. I used my cell phone to call the bank and say I wouldn't be able to make my appointment. We tried everything we could over the next few days to come up with the money, but were unable to. We ended up losing our offer on the mobile home, but fortunately I got my deposit back because financing was never completed.

If that isn't God intervening, I don't know what is. Not only did he prevent me from making a HUGE mistake, but he did it without actually harming me. I am so thankful for that wake-up call--though I didn't view it as that at the time--and for keeping me safe. After the ex and I broke up I realized what a blessing that car accident was. I think it wasn't too long after that when I started having faith in a higher power again.

Anyway that's my story. I may or may not be back with my usual Sunday blog tomorrow. I don't have anything exciting planned for tonight though so I might not have anything to say tomorrow. We'll see. Later!