Safe

I had a post all typed up and ready about my waiting for the Uganda trip. However, I will now be saving that for a later day.

Instead, I want to share with you my experience tonight that could have been so very horrible, but by some miracle of God I was kept safe.

I spent this evening with my fiancé. The drive from his house to mine requires going through one busy intersection, then a long stretch of road with a whole lot of nothing, including street lights. I was not quite paying attention at the busy intersection like I should; I went through a light that while not red, I could have stopped for.

A car quickly appeared behind me that looked to be a police car. He had a spotlight on the driver's side that he turned on. I began slowing down looking for a place to pull over. I assumed that because I was showing my intent to pull over, he did not turn on a siren or police lights (mistake #1).

I found a spot that I was semi-comfortable pulling over at. Again, on this stretch of road there are no street lights or populated areas. Once I stopped, I got out my license and my mace (one smart decision). As the man approached my car, I heard what I thought was a police radio. When he got to my window, he was not wearing a uniform. I panicked.

He pulled out a badge, and said he was officer s0 in so (no I don't remember his name). He did not ask to see my license, but instead began yelling at me. He told me I could have killed someone, I wasn't thinking about anyone but myself, I needed to care more for other people, etc.

He even went on to tell me that he had the right to take me to jail. At that point I REALLY panicked. I argued that he had no reason to take me to jail. I had not done anything. To spare you the details of the 3-5 minutes, there was a lot more yelling on his part. The ordeal ended by him telling me he had my tag number, and would make a note on the car.

I immediately called my fiancé and told him what happened. He in turn, called the police department to make a complaint. An officer called me back, asked me to describe what happened, then proceeded to tell me that this has not been uncommon. He told me that the man was not actually a police officer (I know you're thinking, "well obviously!"), that this has been happening for several weeks in our county, and that one man has already been arrested.

Obviously, looking back I see how many mistakes I made in this instance. So I'll save you some time...1) I should not have pulled over when there were no blue lights 2) I should have only pulled over at a populated area 3) I should have called the actual police when I suspected something was off.

But mistakes aside, wow. There are no words. God's protection over me tonight has floored me. This could have ended so very differently. I am brought to tears when I think through all of the ways this could have played out, instead of me driving away safely. I have done nothing to deserve to be spared of something worse. Yet, I was, and that floors me.