I came here about six years ago, a little less. I’ve been a Christian my whole life through different stages. I moved to Austin and I started coming to UUMC because it was right here on the drag. And this particular church, I realized, was progressive. It was very agitating socially. It was diverse, very open, you know — open minds, open hearts and all that. If you want a place that is inclusive and pretty much lets you explore your spirituality in any direction you’d like, then this is a good place to be.

To be perfectly honest, the reasons I stayed were partly because of the people that I had gotten to know, and partly because I was hit by a drunk driver and that changed everything for me. It changed my life personally and my life with the church because they took me in, much more than I wanted to be.

I was standing on the corner of 21st and Guadalupe transferring buses, and I saw a girl I knew that I was acting in a play with. Her and her sister. We talked for a couple of minutes and one of them said, “Oh, my God.” We heard this screeching of tires and at that moment things started slowing down. I turned just in time to see this car come up on the sidewalk and he came right toward me, barely missed them. In slow motion, I hit the car, hit my head on the windshield, we went down the sidewalk. I ended up under the car mangled up with someone’s bicycle. I don’t know if they ever found out whose bike it was. I shattered my leg, my knee, my hip, and that was pretty much it.

They rushed me to the emergency room. The doc gave me a choice to have a traditional cast or to have a rod inserted into my leg, and I had to make a decision on the spot. He gave me the pros and cons. And I said, “Well what would you do?” And he said, “Well, I’d probably have the rod, but it’s permanent. Although down the road you can have it taken out.” I still have the rod in my leg.

The church supported and prayed for me. First and foremost it was the people from the Disciple Class that I had been taking, that came over regularly, daily. Different people, different times. I realize that in certain times there are certain people that step out and represent the church. I didn’t expect the whole church to come out and see me and hang out. They brought me food, too.

I was having a very difficult time a couple months after the accident. I had a lot of legal challenges and financial challenges, and some of the staff and members held a brainstorming about it. They would do that sort of thing. One of the members became my sole legal advocate; that was a lot of help. It’s frustrating because there are a lot of things that you want to handle on your own, but your stress levels are just too high so you just sort of shut down.

I was basically house bound for two years. It took me over a year to get rid of the limp, and two years to find a job, so it was a hard time. The church was very patient. They couldn’t do everything, and if there was something I felt I needed, I’d ask. I basically needed most everything. Rides to the doc, all that stuff. A lot of times it was just a matter of needing someone to listen or needing a resource. They didn’t solve my work situation but they would ask around if anyone had any employment openings. Cause I was waiting tables at the time, and I couldn’t go back to that cause I couldn’t be on my feet.

I’ve never been a group person. I’ve never been active, though I’ve gone to church my whole life. Now, I’m learning to be a part of the church, how to try to step up when things are needed, when things are asked of you. I’ve been volunteering at this Saturday Outreach to feed the homeless for probably four years, or longer. It’s taught me how to feel in some sense a part of the church, a participant, which is really a different thing from my faith. I’m learning how to give back and how to be a representative for the church.

Somehow I got recruited over to hosting the lunch for the homeless from working in the kitchen and that’s when things really started to change for me. There’s always a certain level of judgment that’s hard not to have, and a certain level of fear that they’re going to ask more of you than you want to commit. Because people are telling you things, and you would like to solve their problems, which is not usually possible, but they want somebody to listen, someone to tell. And give them the sense that they matter, because a lot of people feel their voice is lost in society, and it is. So for me, it’s been a journey that has taught me that we’re all equal, and that’s been more real to me than just a set of beliefs.

It’s also made me realize that they can help me too, and they have, and they love to help in some way. Often times, they have great advice from life experience or from specific knowledge of something, or someone that stops and tells you how wonderful you are, when you should be telling them that.

There’s something that happens that is basically seeing Christ in each other and allowing that moment and that presence to happen, and recognizing it. When it’s very apparent, you just can’t say anything about it. You just know we’re all here by grace.