One year later!

Around this time last year, I along with my parents were preparing to attend a ministers and family conference in Louisiana. The trip also took us south to Beaumont, Texas to attend a special pastoral anniversary for some dear friends. The very next day on January 24, 2012 after our arrival home from the very long trip to the lovely part of Texas called the Panhandle. After having an awesome time with friends, hearing powerful preaching and feeling renewed in the Holy Ghost. Little did we know that mine and my mother's life would almost be taken or severely injured!

I remember this morning quite well, I had just gotten up to go pick up my dog from the kennel feeling somewhat a little nervous and uneasy, but I did not understand why I was feeling this way. So I told my mother about the feeling I was having and she said it could possibly be from the very long trip. While at the kennel I ran into a sweet friend whom I had been inviting to church many, many years ago and what a surprise it was to see her and meet her husband! I ran home to make an appointment to take my dog to the groomers since she was not in very good shape after being in the kennel the entire week (inserting horrible doggy stench smell here). At this time I was feeling so very uneasy to go back out again, I did not feel like going out and asked my mother if we could possibly just stay home and cancel the appointment but since the dog desperately needed her bath. I decided I would take her after all no matter how bad I felt. I grabbed my dog and for some crazy reason I put her in the back seat (which was laying down flat) and that is very unusual, she usually sits on my mothers lap in the front seat and knowing my dog she won't sit still if she's in the back of the car. She's always wanting to see the exciting views from the front seat with my mom.  But somehow, someway just only God knows why but that dog stayed put in the back watching us and looking out in between the front seats!

The side of my car where I was hit. 

Driving out to a major intersection just a few blocks from my home, still with this very uneasy feeling that I could not shake off! I was first in line stopped at the red light and when the light turned green normally I would start to push the gas but waited a second and right then and there a car driving very fast from the opposite direction ran a red light! I got a little  shaken up, thinking and thanking God for protecting us from a red lighter. Feeling a little breathless I  drove very slowly to the next light a few feet away, making sure that light was going to stay on green and no one els would run this red light and all the same giving God thanks for protecting us from what could have been a horrible car accident with either me or someone els!
While I was slowly crossing the green light and my mom screamed "she's going to hit us!" A car was coming straight at us from the drivers side and at that very moment I could not think to even avoid her as she had just jumped the "red light" and hit me on my side (drivers side) I remember this time in very slow motion and next thing I remember is screaming "OH Jesus, Jesus!" We were hit and pushed up on the corner of a block on a parking lot. Sitting in total shock for what seemed like an eternity, no one came to see if were ok or hurt but at that moment I remember my mom asking "Danita are you hurt? Are you ok? Danita we just got hit!" I couldn't remember who I was or my name I was in shock and all I could think of was it my "fault? Was it my fault? who hit me? is my mommy ok?" I cried till I couldn't get tears out. My mom got out of the car looking for her glasses and she could not find them until realizing they had flown to the backseat upon impact.  Finally, a lady who said she was a "witness" came over and yelled "it was your fault it was your fault!" She did not ask if were ok or hurt but a man came over and asked if we were ok. But no one knew or saw what happened. There had been no official witnesses. The lady returned again and my mother asked if everyone was ok in the other car apparently they were just fine too. 
The paramedics, police and fire dept. come over and asked our names, ages and if we knew our drivers license numbers? I still couldn't even remember my own name much less my ID number! I was so panicked and in major shock. Being in shock has got to be one of the worst feelings to ever go through. A paramedic asked if we were ok and checked my puppy poor thing she was shaking like a leaf but thankfully she was ok too just!

At that moment my moms phone rings and its my grandma calling she did not know we had just been in a car wreck but I know God placed that burden for her to call us. So very blessed and thankful for praying grandparents!

Point of impact from incoming car, just missing me by inches!

I could not stop my shock and crying, the police handed me the report it  and a ticket for running a red light according to the "witness." We waited till my friend came and picked us up we were the last ones to leave the scene, when a man came over with two kids and he said "are you guys ok?" and then he proceeded to say "these kids where the kids you hit" he said it in a nice way but it scared me more because I could not stop crying and trying to go over everything that had just happened. My thoughts there were "OH God what if I could have killed those innocent kids?" oh Lord what would I've done and I kept going on over my head. Finally, my friend came to take us home and my mother called our doctors to go see if we can get checked out. My mother was starting to hurt bad and I was scared still because I couldn't believe what had just happened!

Drivers seat where I was sitting 

We went to the doctors office to makes sure we ok just to be sure nothing was broken or that we were seriously hurt. We started to feel sore and achy and I STILL could not get over every thing, my shock was getting worst and my mother had to tell me to calm down, we were ALIVE and that was good enough God kept His hand on us! My mom had some blood knots where the seat belt ran across her body and that bruised her up and she got the majority of the impact from the waves of the crash.  I had a jacket on that protected me from getting seriously bruised or injured. If it had not been for that, I don't know and honestly I do not care to think about it, even still a year later.

I can't stop THANKING GOD and praise Him for keeping us safe and as well for not letting the other car get seriously hurt especially the driver and two small children. My God is so powerful and awesome! He's a merciful God who cares for every detail and every little thing. It took me several days to go look at my car mainly because I was still in somewhat of a shock and I was scared to see it but I had to go and give God thanks for what He did for me and my mom. I needed to have a peace in my heart after all the shock wore off and I had to let the angriness go.  I was rather sad about loosing my first car. But what its it worth my life or a peace of metal? When the insurance told us it was a total loss I cried. I had it already 3 years and to loose it but I knew God had other plans. I along with my parents prayed that something would come up. I did not want to shop for another car, it's not one of my favorite things to do but after a few months I knew I needed another vehicle to help me get around in. I begin to pray again and ask God for what I desired and to help me get rid of the fear of driving once again. After the wreck it hurt to even get in a car, so it took me a few days to get back in even as a passenger. I almost decided not to ever want to drive again!!! 

I started to shop at different dealers and I told the Lord I would like a brand new car but there would not be a possibility I would ever get one. Once the insurance came back I was in awe because it was more then what I or my parents expected!!! Six months after the accident, God gave me a major blessing He answered my prayers and added a few little unexpected extras too I knew this was from Him. I found a car I fell in love with and told my parents this is "it" this is the car God is going to give me! God gave a me a brand new Honda Civic 2012! 

My brand new BLESSING! 

The day we got the keys and signed the final papers, I sat behind the wheel for almost the first time since the wreck. I drove my first brand new car with only 17 miles off the lot home and drove with God as my front seat passenger. I felt scared but I knew God was with me and I got to follow my mom home and once I was there I wanted to go out again, that was a major step up to my healing from the accident! 

You see when the enemy tries to attack there's always victory at the end of the tunnel because God takes something bad and turns it into something good and better!
I thank God for what He did for me on that day back a year ago! God showed me that when we are FAITHFUL to Him He's faithful to us! He'll never leave us nor forsake us, He'll be with us wherever we go even in the good and bad times! 

A COOP Moment With A Big MIGROS!

The COOP

On one of our last shopping and sightseeing days in Switzerland, we AYCers were allowed to scatter a few blocks and roam in groups of two or more,  I would say they were our "don't get lost buddies" in downtown Geneva. Well, thats what I would have called my buddy because we stayed very close together and in the vicinity of our scattered group! My buddy that day was the best official AYC Switzerland 2012 photographer, Chelsea. I think if there was an award for all the AYC photographers in 2012, I'd say she would win.  She was a great photographer and even left herself out in a few group pictures so she could take the pictures! Chelsea was in dire need of alkaline batteries for her camera, the last ones she had were dead and they were much needed as she was taking pictures of the events for our team. We went on a mission to find batteries. She and I went to two stores one the "COOP" which was a 3 or four story grocery, clothing, pharmacy, and electronics store one very unique place that I have ever been in.  The second was "MIGROS" a grocery store, we looked in both stores for batteries but could not find any it was very hard to even ask a clerk because most did not speak much English and worst our poor French. But we searched and searched till we landed on an aisle and to our amazement was a huge sigh of relief,  ahhhh yay we found AAA batteries! "Yes, two packets that's all we need we'll take them!"  We go to the check out and as Chelsea was sliding her credit card she noticed the computer said two packages for $29.99 "Wait! That sounds awfully expensive for just a small package of batteries? Are you sure they are that much?" The clerk nodded her head to a yes.  Chelsea cancelled the transaction and again we went on a dire mission to find cheap batteries, finally after much searching, we decided we NEEDED them or els? Somewhere a long the mission we shopped till we dropped and thinking and laughing, who would ever pay $29.99 for small package of AAA batteries? Back home you can buy a years worth of batteries for that much.  After much searching and going around both stores (we actually went around both stores more times then Joshua did at Jericho:) We finally found some and to our relization they were somewhat a little cheaper then the $29.99 ones! Thank God He sure hears the prayers of two desperate AYCers on a dire mission to find cheap and very much needed batteries! Thinking back on this hilarious and adventurous moment, God allowed me to see that He truly cares about His children when something so small can be such a desperate thing but yet so amazing and fun! I thank Him for a "COOP moment with a Big MIGROS!"

MIGROS grocery store they had every food product imaginable! 

My AYC Chopping buddy Chelsea and Me

Breakfast With Mimi

Mimi's pan toastado con queso and chocolate caliente

I recently spent a weekend in California visiting my dear sweet grandmother, who I like to call "Mimi" sometimes "Abuelita" or Abuelita Mimi." In this story I will refer to her as "Mimi." Mimi is from the country of Ecuador, South America her eldest son, Josias is my father. 

The first morning of my visit, I woke up to the delicious aroma of freshly made hot chocolate and 'pan tostado con queso' (hot fresh toasted bread with cheese) To be honest I thought I was dreaming but as soon as I smelled it, I jump up and walk around the corner to the dinning table and there it was waiting for me to enjoy! Mimi join me and we blessed the food, she would have her coffee with her 'pan tostado' and we'd talk not just a few minutes but several hours and then my tia would join in the conversation with her cup of coffee and pan tostado as well. Just listening to Mimi tell about her life, funny stories or  giving me some encouraging words weather it be on finding the right husband or telling me God is in control of all things, those words mean and really lifts my spirit and makes me want to be a better women and wife someday.  "Breakfast with Mimi" makes everything so much more meaningful and extra special! I will always cherish those moments with Mimi in my heart.  I have learned oh so much from her or rather from both my grandmothers. I am so thankful that God has truly blessed me with Godly women in my life! I have learned so many lessons from being a single lady to hopefully being married and a mom one day!! I hope to have several more "Breakfast's With Mimi" in the near future well, as you can tell she makes the best chocolate and 'pan toastado con queso' ever!  I can just sit for hours and enjoy being in the company of a great lady who raised a great son, who raised a daughter who will hopefully someday raise a son and/or daughter too!! 

Oh Happy Day!

AYC Evangelism team singing and signing in the park.

Sitting here thinking about my Switzerland trip, I got reminded (to myself) about our last outreach and evangelism day in Geneva. It was on a Saturday just two days before our departure back to the US. The AYC teams were scattered throughout a beautiful park around Lake Geneva, the city was celebrating Geneva's independence day,which for us here in the US is 4th of July. They have a huge carnival, parades, vendors, etc and tons of people fill the park. What was more exciting about being there was the opportunity to witness and invite people to church. We met people from every part of the world mostly a lot of tourist, so yes we met tons of people! We had outdoor concerts and people watched us as we sang and worshiped right inside the park. My team moved right by a fountain  in the most beautiful part of the park and as part of the team sang some of us walked around passing flyers out to people having a picnic or walking the dog, or just enjoying the beauty of the perfect day out in Geneva. Some young men were "mocking" our team and with hilariously funny accents were making fun of us. But we just let God deal with them with a smile and said "God bless you!" 
My buddy and sweetest friend Linsey and I were walking around the fountain passing out flyers and enjoying the sights, when one of those young men walked by us and started singing to us "Oh happy day" Linsey and I just stood there with a huge smile and I said "Linsey lets go let's just keep walking and God bless you too gentlemen!" I honestly believe they may have been "hitting" on us but well we just won't go there! 
The expression that those men had on their faces was so hilarious, we couldn't stop laughing even till now thinking about that moment makes me smile and I am thankful that I was able to be a witness to them along with my buddy Linsey.
"OH HAPPY DAY WHEN MY JESUS WASHED MY SINS AWAY!" 
I said a small prayer for those young good looking men that what they did against us that God will touch their hearts and that one day they too will be holy ghost filled and baptized in Jesus' Name and they will sing this song with excitement and not mockery! 

The "Oh HAPPY DAY" Fountain! 

My buddy and sweetest pal Linsey and me! 

Where Do I Begin...? (Day 1)

Danita waiting to check in at Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport

Day 1:   I was up most the night finishing last minute packing and having to be at the airport at 4am the morning of July 6th. My mom drove me to the airport and when we got in the terminal there was no one kinda felt erie but we had a little wait to get checked in at the desk. It was such an emotional time because this was my first international trip without my parents and my first missions trip with a big group. 

Once I boarded my flight at 6am I felt my life changed completely! When I arrived to DFW  I met my buddy and fellow AYCer Melinda from Midland, Texas. Melinda and I got to our gate to catch a flight to NYC. While finding a place to sit Melinda, found a green shirt dude!  Hector a fellow AYCer from Larado, Texas was on our flight too! We sat in the waiting area and had a good little conversation. Come to find out he spoke SPANISH too! So needless to say you can guess the whole conversation turned a complete 180 degrees from English to Spanish (insert a little LOL) pobrecita Melinda when a bit later here came another AYCer Spencer from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Spencer had a dark red shirt on but thankfully he found us green shirts!  We were ALL headed in the same direction our final destination? You guessed it SWITZERLAND! It was really fun to meet up with a couple of AYCers before we met the entire group. We got to chat and got to know one another a bit before take off. We all sat in different locations in the plane with the exception of Melinda and I we had seats together. I also found out there were a few other AYCers at DFW but on different airlines, we'd soon meet up within a few hours. Thankful for Facebook, we find out who's where and what. A three and half hour flight later we landed at JFK in New York city! It was very awesome to see city from the air, central park I couldn't see Lady Liberty  but I did see the entire city wow it was amazing I've never been to New York City before and to see it from the air was more exciting. We got to the gate and the guys were waiting for us to go the Swiss LX terminal but the first stop was to get luggage although Spencer and I had had ours sent all the way through to Geneva Melinda and Hector had to pick there's up. We got kinda lost and we couldn't find our way to the tram very confusing but thankfully we had a few good navigators who got us to the right place! We got to Swiss LX terminal and met with a few fellow AYCers and got all checked in. A bit later the rest of the group arrived and we had a group meeting and Bro. Mann gave us our badges and we ALL headed to the gate to take us to Geneva...yep! Group A a group of about 54 and five chaperones. The other group (B) and 21 young people and two chaperones had already left from Washington, D.C. We had a little wait and everyone was anxiously waiting to board, we all got to know one another and it sure felt like we knew each other for a very long, long time! Many of us from different parts of the US. Although, my group was just half of the entire AYC group it was pretty big! We took a group photo and boarded it was a loooong walk through the hall to the plane, we got settled in our seats and about to take off. The attendants were very nice and attended us very well. It felt awesome to be getting to GO! 

AYCers first meeting at DFW AA gate. Hector, Danita, Melinda and Spencer

24 Hrs AWAY!

Final count down is down to 1 day! Yes, wow thank you Jesus for allowing me to make it this far as of the next 20 hrs or so I will be on a plane heading to DFW and on to NYC to meet with my group and on to Geneva! I'm all packed and ready to go and excited to meet with my fellow AYCer's and to participate in a life changing experience is going to be incredible! I'm excited for what is to take place during my journey to Switzerland-Liechtenstein. I hope I can keep up with my journals and blogs so that everyone can enjoy this journey with me too. I can't wait! Please keep us in your prayers that God will protect us and use us so that we can be a blessing to the churches and whomever we come in contact with, may the presence of God shine through us wherever GO!

Do what I LOVE to DO....

While shopping at a popular store and looking for an extra journal to take on my trip, I was having somewhat of a down kinda day and in going through the journals and note books, trying to find a nice but rather cheap one, I found one and on the top of the flap it says: "Do what you u love to do" I kinda smiled and felt a peace in my heart that lifted the downess and I think God was telling me "Enjoy doing what YOU love to do NOT what other's think you should do!" I know He's telling me continue doing what I love and thats to serve Him, DO His will and keep searching for what He has in store for my life! I will also take this as a reminder to enjoy working in my church, traveling, going on fun adventures, enjoy my family and friends, making good memories, meeting new people and making new friends. Yes, I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength!