July 8, 2025 • 11 mins
Have you ever encountered a "New York minute"—a moment where life takes an abrupt, unforeseen turn? For Ethan, such a moment arrived in the form of a devastating car crash that defied all odds, leaving him with a profound realization: he'd been given a second chance at life.
Yet, this is not merely a tale of a singular, dramatic conversion. Instead, it traces the candid path of a young man who, despite surviving the impossible, found himself adrift, grappling with an ingrained desire to be liked and fit in that ultimately led him to his "rock bottom moment."
Discover how, in the aftermath of this life-altering event and a continued search for meaning, Ethan began an unexpected encounter. His story unveils the surprising ways Christian brotherhood can begin to illuminate a path toward authentic vulnerability, allowing God's love to take root in the most unexpected places. Tune in to hear a testament to God's ability to truly turn "a pile of garbage into a pile of gold", and how His presence can be found even in life's deepest valleys.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Welcome to Unwritten, a podcast dedicated to sharing
stories of the movement of theHoly Spirit in the world.
Today I'm your host, TrevorBureka, and on today's episode
we're getting to hear from EthanDavidovich.
Have you ever heard the phrasea New York minute?
For a Midwesterner like mewho's never been to New York,
maybe it's a little bit hard todetermine the meaning of.
Midwestern like me who's neverbeen to New York, maybe it's a
little bit hard to determine themeaning of, but it's a phrase
(00:26):
people use about how quicklysomething can change, With the
thought that there are manymoments when something abruptly
changes course, with very littlewarning or preparation.
And while sometimes that's agood thing right, if it leads to
an enormous high or a greatmoment, some of these New York
minutes can lead tolife-altering lows.
Today, Ethan shares hisrock-bottom moment and how God
(00:48):
came to rescue him along the way.
Welcome to the show and listenin.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
My neurosurgeon walks into the room looking down at
his notes and says Ethan, youshould not be alive right now.
If you were hit at one degreeof a different angle you'd be
paralyzed from the neck down oreven dead.
You've been given a secondchance at life.
What are you going to do withit?
And this moment was kind of theculmination of how I had been
(01:18):
living my life for the past fouryears.
So a backstory in high school,I was a boy who just wanted to
be liked.
I was the student bodypresident.
I had a couple thousandfollowers on Instagram.
I really thought I was hotstuff.
I just desperately wanted to becool and fit in, and that led
me to doing things that I toldmyself I would never do.
(01:40):
I went to a Christian summercamp called Young Life, where I
learned that Jesus does desireto have a relationship with me,
but I didn't think that he couldsatisfy me in the same ways
partying or being liked could.
This led to the worst night ofmy life, but through the lens of
(02:01):
God, I'm grateful.
I can see it as a wellspring ofgrace of my life.
But through the lens of God,I'm grateful.
I can see it as a wellspring ofgrace.
It was May of 2020, during COVID.
I had just graduated highschool, I was getting ready to
go to the University of Georgiaand I was pumped.
I was excited.
My goal was I would join afraternity.
I knew it had the most bars persquare mile and that was where
(02:24):
my head was at.
And one thing led to another,just making not good decisions,
and I ended up being inebriatedwhile skateboarding on the road
in the middle of the night withflip flops on, no helmet, and,
yeah, in the middle of the roadwhen I was finally hit by a car.
I don't remember a thing fromthe accident, but from what I've
(02:47):
heard, I shattered thewindshield, I flipped over the
car, I landed on the ground andI don't remember a thing.
My friend said that I wasmaking jokes with the paramedics
.
When they were called, I wasrushed to the emergency room.
It was during COVID, so myparents couldn't even come into
the hospital room with me.
But the next thing I rememberis I'm in a hospital bed, dazed
(03:10):
and confused, just hooked up toall these machines.
I was still drugged up, feelingvery terrible, and I started to
feel around.
I felt my watch.
It was shattered.
My glasses were shattered, myphone in my pocket was shattered
, but then there's one thingthat I reach for in my pocket
(03:32):
and I take it out and it's arosary that is still intact and
it was just kind of showing methat Jesus, through Mary, was
with me.
Through this entire hardship,through the entire accident.
Jesus was with me and he cantruly turn a pile of garbage
into a pile of gold.
And in total, I fractured myneck, I tore my ACL, I had an
(03:56):
internal hematoma or internalbleeding in my head, my third
concussion, and I had about 30stitches and staples all over my
body.
Stitches and staples all overmy body.
This was the worst moment of mylife.
I was literally almost on mydeathbed and it was because I
was just trying to be liked.
(04:16):
I just wanted to fit in and dothe things that my friends were
doing.
And so then, when I get intothe neurosurgeon's office, he
tells me you've been given asecond chance at life.
What are you going to do withit?
(04:37):
I was awestruck.
I had no idea what to say.
18-year-old Ethan thought I'mnot sure, and that was kind of
where a conversion was startingto take place.
It wasn't immediate, like StPaul being knocked off his horse
, but rather a gradual encounterwith Jesus through men in my
life.
So, after laying in a hospitalbed for about two months and my
parents feeding me, bathing meand clothing me, I started my
(05:01):
first semester at the Universityof Georgia.
Unfortunately, I quicklyreverted back to how I lived in
high school, but now I had thesereally cool looking scars that
people saw and it was a greatconversation starter of oh, what
happened?
And this gave me a chance toboast about.
Oh, I was skateboarding and Igot hit by a car.
I immediately thought that thatwas my identity.
(05:24):
I thought I am what happened tome.
I am cool because I got hit bya car.
I am different because I gothit by a car, and this quickly
inflamed my ego.
But I think I'm starting torealize that that was just a lie
, that that is not the truth ofwho I am.
That's something that happenedto me, but it's not who I am.
(05:46):
Fast forward a couple monthsinto my freshman year, during
Halloween, I'm sitting at a bardressed up as Alan from the
Hangover and I remember thinkingto myself this is not fun, like
I am constantly doing thingsthat I don't want to do just to
be liked, just to fit in withfriends, and it was unfulfilling
(06:07):
, it was exhausting.
Liked just to fit in withfriends and it was unfulfilling,
it was exhausting.
And that was when I had theidea to go to mass at the
Catholic Center at UGA.
I'm very grateful for myparents for instilling the
thought to go every Sunday, andit was at one of these masses
where I met some men who werevery influential in my life.
I think of guys like AndrewGreen, russ Markham, reed
(06:30):
Carlson, kevin Ronchkowski andEthan Baker, seniors, who
actually loved me for who I was,and I guess what I mean by that
is I would share with them that, oh yeah, I got hit by a car
and they thought that wasincredible.
They thought that was horrific,but they still saw me for who I
was.
(06:50):
They didn't just see that fluffand think that's what makes
Ethan different, but they knewthat I was a beloved son of God
and they treated me that way.
By the way they hung out withme, the questions they asked,
and they were just such greatrole models.
I found myself wanting to bearound them, like just kind of
gravitating towards them, and Isaw them going to confession.
(07:13):
I saw them going to daily mass.
I didn't even know daily masswas a thing until they were
doing that, and I went to myfirst confession in over three
years because of the help ofthese guys, and I think what
I've realized is that these menshowed me that it's okay to be
vulnerable.
This led me to share honestly.
(07:34):
After I had stopped drinking,there were still some vices that
I was struggling with and thatwere just eating me away with
shame and embarrassment and Ithought that I just had to
internalize them and keep themthere.
But actually I'm able to sharewith my brothers in that, and
thus, god, I think of an imagethat was shared with me that
(07:57):
there's these parts of my heart,maybe these vices that I'm
struggling with, that I so badlyjust want to crumble up and
throw into the garbage, into thedumpster and stomp on it.
But God sees it and holds itpreciously in his hand and he
wants to nurture those parts ofmy heart that are a bit twisted,
that are looking for God inplaces that are not God.
(08:18):
And something also that's beencoming up is when I'm in the
palm of my father's hand.
I'm not just by his fingertips,easily about to fall away, but
he has me in the palm of hishand, which is also where Jesus
has his wounds, and he wants meto rest there in his wounds
(08:39):
because he wants me to know thathe is with me.
I think of the passage fromExodus that really encompasses
my walk with God and how he'sshared his life with me.
Moses is about to lead theIsraelites out of Egypt and he
says God, why me Like?
(08:59):
There's no way I could do thisLike, and I think of that of
like.
How can I share about my vices?
How could I share honestly?
Like?
I thought that I was the guythat got hit by a car.
I just wanted to be liked.
This doesn't line up if I'mgoing to be able to share
honestly with people.
But God is showing me just likehe showed Moses.
(09:23):
I will be with you, and I thinkthat's tattooed on my heart.
If I could get a tattoo there,it would just say Jesus wants to
be with you.
He wants to rest with you inthe highs, the mountains, and
the lows, the valleys, and hedesires to be with you and walk
with you.
And then sometimes it takes aform of other men, of other
people in our lives, and I'm sograteful he was able to use
(09:44):
these men at UGA to help lead meto greater vulnerability with
the beloved, with Jesus.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
Thank you so much, ethan, for sharing that wild
story.
What's wild to me even moreabout this story is that the
conversion when he got hit bythe car like that would have fit
the storybook.
But that wasn't what happened,but instead, in the story that
God was writing in Ethan's life,that was a moment, a powerful,
important moment along the way.
(10:14):
But what was truly the momentof transforming power, of
Christ's intervention in hislife, was really in this moment
of brotherhood that led to God'slove taking root in his heart.
Who in your life is in need ofthat witness of love?
And maybe even first for you,where you are right now, who are
you living that kind ofChristian brotherhood or
(10:35):
sisterhood with?
That is a witness to the worldof the power of God's love.
As always, we're so gratefulwhen you share this story with
those you care about so thatmore unwritten stories of God's
love can come to light.
Thanks so much and we hope tosee you next week.
Welcome to Unwritten, a podcast dedicated to sharing
stories of the movement of theHoly Spirit in the world.
Today I'm your host, TrevorBureka, and on today's episode
we're getting to hear from EthanDavidovich.
Have you ever heard the phrasea New York minute?
For a Midwesterner like mewho's never been to New York,
maybe it's a little bit hard todetermine the meaning of.
Midwestern like me who's neverbeen to New York, maybe it's a
little bit hard to determine themeaning of, but it's a phrase
(00:26):
people use about how quicklysomething can change, With the
thought that there are manymoments when something abruptly
changes course, with very littlewarning or preparation.
And while sometimes that's agood thing right, if it leads to
an enormous high or a greatmoment, some of these New York
minutes can lead tolife-altering lows.
Today, Ethan shares hisrock-bottom moment and how God
(00:48):
came to rescue him along the way.
Welcome to the show and listenin.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
My neurosurgeon walks into the room looking down at
his notes and says Ethan, youshould not be alive right now.
If you were hit at one degreeof a different angle you'd be
paralyzed from the neck down oreven dead.
You've been given a secondchance at life.
What are you going to do withit?
And this moment was kind of theculmination of how I had been
(01:18):
living my life for the past fouryears.
So a backstory in high school,I was a boy who just wanted to
be liked.
I was the student bodypresident.
I had a couple thousandfollowers on Instagram.
I really thought I was hotstuff.
I just desperately wanted to becool and fit in, and that led
me to doing things that I toldmyself I would never do.
(01:40):
I went to a Christian summercamp called Young Life, where I
learned that Jesus does desireto have a relationship with me,
but I didn't think that he couldsatisfy me in the same ways
partying or being liked could.
This led to the worst night ofmy life, but through the lens of
(02:01):
God, I'm grateful.
I can see it as a wellspring ofgrace of my life.
But through the lens of God,I'm grateful.
I can see it as a wellspring ofgrace.
It was May of 2020, during COVID.
I had just graduated highschool, I was getting ready to
go to the University of Georgiaand I was pumped.
I was excited.
My goal was I would join afraternity.
I knew it had the most bars persquare mile and that was where
(02:24):
my head was at.
And one thing led to another,just making not good decisions,
and I ended up being inebriatedwhile skateboarding on the road
in the middle of the night withflip flops on, no helmet, and,
yeah, in the middle of the roadwhen I was finally hit by a car.
I don't remember a thing fromthe accident, but from what I've
(02:47):
heard, I shattered thewindshield, I flipped over the
car, I landed on the ground andI don't remember a thing.
My friend said that I wasmaking jokes with the paramedics
.
When they were called, I wasrushed to the emergency room.
It was during COVID, so myparents couldn't even come into
the hospital room with me.
But the next thing I rememberis I'm in a hospital bed, dazed
(03:10):
and confused, just hooked up toall these machines.
I was still drugged up, feelingvery terrible, and I started to
feel around.
I felt my watch.
It was shattered.
My glasses were shattered, myphone in my pocket was shattered
, but then there's one thingthat I reach for in my pocket
(03:32):
and I take it out and it's arosary that is still intact and
it was just kind of showing methat Jesus, through Mary, was
with me.
Through this entire hardship,through the entire accident.
Jesus was with me and he cantruly turn a pile of garbage
into a pile of gold.
And in total, I fractured myneck, I tore my ACL, I had an
(03:56):
internal hematoma or internalbleeding in my head, my third
concussion, and I had about 30stitches and staples all over my
body.
Stitches and staples all overmy body.
This was the worst moment of mylife.
I was literally almost on mydeathbed and it was because I
was just trying to be liked.
(04:16):
I just wanted to fit in and dothe things that my friends were
doing.
And so then, when I get intothe neurosurgeon's office, he
tells me you've been given asecond chance at life.
What are you going to do withit?
(04:37):
I was awestruck.
I had no idea what to say.
18-year-old Ethan thought I'mnot sure, and that was kind of
where a conversion was startingto take place.
It wasn't immediate, like StPaul being knocked off his horse
, but rather a gradual encounterwith Jesus through men in my
life.
So, after laying in a hospitalbed for about two months and my
parents feeding me, bathing meand clothing me, I started my
(05:01):
first semester at the Universityof Georgia.
Unfortunately, I quicklyreverted back to how I lived in
high school, but now I had thesereally cool looking scars that
people saw and it was a greatconversation starter of oh, what
happened?
And this gave me a chance toboast about.
Oh, I was skateboarding and Igot hit by a car.
I immediately thought that thatwas my identity.
(05:24):
I thought I am what happened tome.
I am cool because I got hit bya car.
I am different because I gothit by a car, and this quickly
inflamed my ego.
But I think I'm starting torealize that that was just a lie
, that that is not the truth ofwho I am.
That's something that happenedto me, but it's not who I am.
(05:46):
Fast forward a couple monthsinto my freshman year, during
Halloween, I'm sitting at a bardressed up as Alan from the
Hangover and I remember thinkingto myself this is not fun, like
I am constantly doing thingsthat I don't want to do just to
be liked, just to fit in withfriends, and it was unfulfilling
(06:07):
, it was exhausting.
Liked just to fit in withfriends and it was unfulfilling,
it was exhausting.
And that was when I had theidea to go to mass at the
Catholic Center at UGA.
I'm very grateful for myparents for instilling the
thought to go every Sunday, andit was at one of these masses
where I met some men who werevery influential in my life.
I think of guys like AndrewGreen, russ Markham, reed
(06:30):
Carlson, kevin Ronchkowski andEthan Baker, seniors, who
actually loved me for who I was,and I guess what I mean by that
is I would share with them that, oh yeah, I got hit by a car
and they thought that wasincredible.
They thought that was horrific,but they still saw me for who I
was.
(06:50):
They didn't just see that fluffand think that's what makes
Ethan different, but they knewthat I was a beloved son of God
and they treated me that way.
By the way they hung out withme, the questions they asked,
and they were just such greatrole models.
I found myself wanting to bearound them, like just kind of
gravitating towards them, and Isaw them going to confession.
(07:13):
I saw them going to daily mass.
I didn't even know daily masswas a thing until they were
doing that, and I went to myfirst confession in over three
years because of the help ofthese guys, and I think what
I've realized is that these menshowed me that it's okay to be
vulnerable.
This led me to share honestly.
(07:34):
After I had stopped drinking,there were still some vices that
I was struggling with and thatwere just eating me away with
shame and embarrassment and Ithought that I just had to
internalize them and keep themthere.
But actually I'm able to sharewith my brothers in that, and
thus, god, I think of an imagethat was shared with me that
(07:57):
there's these parts of my heart,maybe these vices that I'm
struggling with, that I so badlyjust want to crumble up and
throw into the garbage, into thedumpster and stomp on it.
But God sees it and holds itpreciously in his hand and he
wants to nurture those parts ofmy heart that are a bit twisted,
that are looking for God inplaces that are not God.
(08:18):
And something also that's beencoming up is when I'm in the
palm of my father's hand.
I'm not just by his fingertips,easily about to fall away, but
he has me in the palm of hishand, which is also where Jesus
has his wounds, and he wants meto rest there in his wounds
(08:39):
because he wants me to know thathe is with me.
I think of the passage fromExodus that really encompasses
my walk with God and how he'sshared his life with me.
Moses is about to lead theIsraelites out of Egypt and he
says God, why me Like?
(08:59):
There's no way I could do thisLike, and I think of that of
like.
How can I share about my vices?
How could I share honestly?
Like?
I thought that I was the guythat got hit by a car.
I just wanted to be liked.
This doesn't line up if I'mgoing to be able to share
honestly with people.
But God is showing me just likehe showed Moses.
(09:23):
I will be with you, and I thinkthat's tattooed on my heart.
If I could get a tattoo there,it would just say Jesus wants to
be with you.
He wants to rest with you inthe highs, the mountains, and
the lows, the valleys, and hedesires to be with you and walk
with you.
And then sometimes it takes aform of other men, of other
people in our lives, and I'm sograteful he was able to use
(09:44):
these men at UGA to help lead meto greater vulnerability with
the beloved, with Jesus.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
Thank you so much, ethan, for sharing that wild
story.
What's wild to me even moreabout this story is that the
conversion when he got hit bythe car like that would have fit
the storybook.
But that wasn't what happened,but instead, in the story that
God was writing in Ethan's life,that was a moment, a powerful,
important moment along the way.
(10:14):
But what was truly the momentof transforming power, of
Christ's intervention in hislife, was really in this moment
of brotherhood that led to God'slove taking root in his heart.
Who in your life is in need ofthat witness of love?
And maybe even first for you,where you are right now, who are
you living that kind ofChristian brotherhood or
(10:35):
sisterhood with?
That is a witness to the worldof the power of God's love.
As always, we're so gratefulwhen you share this story with
those you care about so thatmore unwritten stories of God's
love can come to light.
Thanks so much and we hope tosee you next week.
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