Trucks, Angels and Amen

Corey and I met 2 years ago this past August and since then life has been extremely full. Now I've done many, many posts acknowledging the life that we've lead together since then, but I haven't really ever talked about the lives that we had independently before becoming "us". For me there was almost 22 years and for Corey 26 years had past. At times it seems we've become so consumed with our lives and our love for each other we forget our pasts. Each of us has pasts full of wonderful memories, sad times, laughter and tears. It would probably take me at least half of those years to blog about everything that's happened but once in awhile I need to look back.

Today is about looking back on Corey and probably one of the most pivotal moments in his life and subsequently in mine. Back on May 31st 2005 Corey was driving long haul semi-truck for Chambers. He'd been driving truck for almost 3 years by that point and was enjoying it. Well, he was enjoying the driving (he hated the pressure, being alone so much and being far from his family). As many of you know Corey loves to drive, almost more than he loves to do anything else, I said almost anything :)

On that fateful day, he was on his way home from a stop just west of Calgary. He was about half an hour outside of Cockran and thinking, "Man I need a shower and a meal...just a little further." While eating carrots he blacked out. The next thing he remembers is waking up as his 30 wheel b-train truck was leaving the road, it's not so easy to recover that many tires. He landed on his roof in the ditch and slid 60 feet down the lane watching dirt and grass hit his windshield. When he came to a stop he grabbed whatever he could and got the heck outta there, not knowing whether or not his truck was going to ignite. Standing next to him was a fellow that had watched the whole thing happened, and all Corey could do was get mad. That and call his Mom, I can't imagine how her heart felt being on the other end of that phone and so far away! He only had a week left before he was going to make a job change and this threw a wrench into it.

When you talk to Corey about the accident one thing stands out in his story. No matter who he's telling it to he always makes sure to mention "I really felt God with me on that ride, like there was a hand on my shoulder the whole way." And when you look at the photos of that accident you can see it - the only part of that truck cab that was left in tact was where Corey was sitting. His guardian angel had huge muscles and they were quivering with exaustion after that trip.
Corey showed me the pictures of that accident on our first date and proceeded to tell me that story as we were driving down a long hill to a boat launch. All I could think was "Great! I let him drive! What am I into? Should I jump now?" Later after we were engaged I heard him tell it again and really felt the impact of what happened and what could have happen! I sat in the bible study and cried, I may never have had the chance to meet him, to love him, to marry him and to have his children.

What I learned aside from the fact that God is AMAZING and FAITHFUL, is that God also has a purpose for Corey's life. Which means he has a great purpose for our lives together and the lives of our children. He wanted Corey on this earth and I know why. Corey is his light! Every day, and every person that knows Corey loves him. He smiles always, laughes easy and I have never seen a man wear his heart so lovingly and boldly on his sleeve. He's here because God's got a big job for him!

Here are the pictures, the quality isn't great because they are scanned from a printed on paper copy but none the less their impact is huge. While looking at them look for angel hand prints and God's grace - I know they are there, they must be because I see them in my husband's eyes every morning. And do me a favor, praise the Lord - Corey is here and he's ours!