I never thought it would happen to me.

The bell rang. I walked past familiar hallways and down the same stairs I followed every day. I waved goodbye to my friends and made my way to where my older brother parked. It was just another Thursday afternoon.

I sat in the front passenger seat. The sun peeked through the clouds, and I bounced my leg up and down to an imaginary beat. I was laughing and texting my best friend. She talked about the weather being nice for once, and as I was about to respond, my brother yelled out. We were heading 40 miles per hour into a car that made a wrong turn.

Everything went black.

Smoke was the first thing I saw when I came back to consciousness. The smell of burning metal filled the air. My ears were ringing, and my head felt heavy. My body was thrown onto the driver’s side — on my brother’s lap — and my legs were pulsing in pain. I screamed out of disbelief at what happened. Approximately 17,000 car accidents happen each day in the U.S; that day, I became a part of a statistic.

When the adrenaline wore off, the thing that kept me calm was my faith in Jesus. I didn’t want to admit it, but I was terrified. Yet something in me knew I wasn’t alone. Prayer became my foundation. I prayed through the pain, the confusion and the tests I had to go through while at the hospital. My youth leader, pastor and others from my church visited me during my time there — having a strong community made me laugh more than I cried.

I was meant to have surgery on my right knee for a fracture in my tibia, but after prayers from my church and youth group, the doctors said it wasn’t needed anymore. They gave me crutches and a brace on my knee; I went home that night.

Going home didn’t mean it was over, though. I wasn’t prepared for the mental and physical battle I had to face. The physical pain came in waves — something new each day. Using crutches everywhere was painful, and I felt helpless. I remember crying several nights out of frustration. Plans for my 16th birthday, church camp and hangouts had gone down the drain. I just wanted to be normal again. Finding strength physically was a slow process, yet I trusted God through it all. Having to stay home gave me time to get closer with Him, and praise Him for the life I have.

Then came the most aggravating part of it all: school. I missed content, and couldn’t catch up due to appointments. Having to make up everything while also dealing with my mental struggles has made it difficult. But, through the help of my peers and teachers, I slowly started to catch up and return to my original rhythm.

My first day back at church was surreal. I stood during worship, grasping the chair in front of me for stability. I knew the only thing I could stand for was to worship God; there was no way I could sit when He saved my life. It felt like no coincidence — in the hospital, “Center” by Bethel Music was the one song I listened to. That day during service, our church decided to perform it; it was a song they had never sung before. As the familiar melody began to play, tears rolled down my face.

The lyric “My soul will live to say, ‘Jesus I love you,’” reminded me of my purpose, and it felt like God was speaking directly to me that day.

I shouldn’t have walked away alive from that crash, but I did. I wasn’t supposed to stand in church that Sunday, but I did. I am still here, and I am forever grateful for everything I have.

My legs dance and run, my lungs give me breath and my eyes see how beautiful our earth is. Now, I will never take another moment for granted. Even when everything around me seemed broken, my faith was my true comfort. Just like the song “Firm Foundation” says, “When everything around me is shaken, I’ve never been more glad that I put my faith in Jesus.”