Are you Prepared?

It's Wednesday afternoon, Feb. 13. I've just left my mom's house in Highland. I'm driving west on SR-92. It was snowing a bit when I left, but within 5 miles, the storm hits and it's a total white-out. I tell Colby to pray that mommy can see. He does and we catch up to a white 4x4 chevy truck. Thank goodness. I can stop white knuckling the steering wheel and follow the truck. We make our way about another mile and stop for a while. We do this for a couple of miles in the next 30 minutes and finally come to a complete stop for over an hour. The highway is closed, there are Jack-knifed semis' on the freeway just where the onramp from our highway is. We are going to be there for a while. After an hour and a half, the truck in front of me pulls out into the opposite lane. Well, if he is leaving, so am I. I try to follow, but almost hit the car coming up behind me. There was no traffic going east, so we just drove in the opposite lane for oncoming traffic. I follow the cars to the next light and I'm going to turn left. Except I can't see at all. I can't see the intersection, I can't see if there are any cars coming from the opposite direction. I sit there through a couple of green lights, and finally decide to turn. I tell Colby to pray again that mommy can see the road. He does, and all of a sudden, there is the curb. Yeah, I'm not going to drive off the road. I follow this road for about a block and come to another stop in back of a long line of cars. Can't see them, but know they are there. We sit there for two hours. It gets dark. Now, I can see the lights of all the cars surrounding us. I can tell I'm sitting behind a vehicle at the entrance to a round about. I've talked to my sister who is sending a friend who lives nearbye. I've talked to my husband who has left with Bishop Wood and is coming to rescue me. I told them both to just stay home. They would never be able to get through all the cars to get us. We sit there for another hour. Finally, we see some action. There are tow trucks moving silently through the storm. There is an ambulance. There are men running around. Surely, someone will help me. Finally after 5 1/2 hours in the car, some nice man comes and starts to dig me out. My four wheel drive is broken, and there are snow drifts above my bumper after sitting there for so long. He digs and I try to get the truck to move. At one point, I mentioned I was from Southern Cal. and didn't know how to do this very well. He then hopped in and tried to move the truck. No luck. At that point, this hummer came up the lane next to us, going the wrong way, and parked on the median righ in front of us. He had a tow rope. Yeah. The nice guys hooked my truck to the hummer and they pulled us out of the round about. I make it about another block east before someone stops me. They tell me not to go any further without four wheel drive. I say, "I can't turn around, I can't go east, I can't go north, I don't know anyone south of here. I don't know where to go...." This very nice man tells me I can park in his driveway and wait. I can go inside the house and use the bathroom if I need to. (thank goodness - I needed to.) Colby had already used a water bottle. Lucky boy! We parked in the driveway and my sisters friend, Ashley, arrived about 10 minutes later. She hiked to us from the round about. She brought food and company. Nice girl. About 30 minutes later, Scott and Bishop Wood arrived. Yeah, we've been rescued. We leave our truck and pile in Bishop Wood's truck and try to get out of there. Oh, first, we have to find Ashley's husband to tell him we are taking her home. Another hour goes by with a lot of driving and turning around. We finally find him and try to take Ashley home. We can't get to her street because there are cars stuck in the middle of the road. They are covered with snow and the people driving them have just left them there. It was like that all over the place. I've never seen so much snow in my life. Scott and Ashley finally get out of the truck and hike the 3 or 4 blocks to her house. On the way they are picked up by drunken teenagers. Luckily they made it there safely and Scott hikes back to the truck. Meanwhile, we sqeaked through two more stuck, snowy cars, and were on our way to the freeway. Will we make it? Yes we do. Another 60 plus minutes and we are home. Thank you for nice people who help strangers in need. Thank you for nice friends who rescue us. Bishop Wood, you are awesome. So is your truck! Thank you for gameboys that last all afternoon and evening and keep your 6 year old entertained while we sit in a blizzard and wait. Thank you for cell phones that don't run out of batteries. Thank you for radio stations that send updates on the traffic and weather (except during the BYU bastketball game). Thank you for a full tank of gas (I never have a full tank of gas). Thank you for the blanket and water I always keep in the truck. We could have used some snacks, gloves and boots, but they are in the truck now. Thank you for a loving Heavenly Father who sends tender mercies when you are in a hard situation. Thank you for the peace he sends so you know that everything will be alright!