A Funny Thing Happened...

(Imagine a picture of a 1999 Silver Ford Windstar being loaded onto the back of a wrecker.)

Now read this:
Psalm 121
1 I lift up my eyes to the hills—where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot slip—he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD watches over you—the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life;
8 the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.

Friday, June 20, I was on my way to Sumter, SC for a homeschool convention when my overdrive light started flashing. I called Dano, pulled over at a gas station, & looked in my manual. It didn't sound good. Basically my transmission was on its way out. We (including you) have been praying for our van to keep going for years... and those prayers have been answered. But now, I guess the time had come!

Now let me share with you that the drive from Lancaster, SC (a small town) to Sumter, SC (another small town) is pretty much desolate in between except for maybe 2 other small towns. The drive is about 1.5 hours, and I was almost there. So Dano decided that I should move forward after he talked to the dealer (as suggested by the manual). So on I went to the hotel.

When I got there and got out at the hotel... there was a smell. I now know the smell to be burning transmission fluid. So I called Dano. He told me to park it & not to drive it anymore. Now remember, I am 1.5 hours away from home. Dano is at home with the kids. I have the van with the 4 carseats. Dano has the truck with one seat and no carseats. Hummmmmmmmmmmmmm!

In comes Psalm 121. Didn't I tell you that I recently started a new Beth Moore study? It is about the Psalms of Ascent... remember the pilgrimage topic. Well, here I was on a pilgrimage to Sumter now stranded! All that kept coming in my mind was the first two verses of the psalm above. Perhaps you've heard that song that has them in it. Here is a link to it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHdcyue0bSw&feature=related

Not only was I going to Sumter for the homeschool convention. I was also going for some R&R, some time alone with God, and just some time alone. It has been a tough year in many respects. Well, now MY PLANS were kind of shot. Instead of spending the evening in Bible study & reflection, I was spending the time on the phone with Dano, the auto club, tow companies, and rental car agencies. Also, I had to eat, but I couldn't drive anywhere, I couldn't walk anywhere because it was lightening something fierce, and there wasn't room service. Thankfully a Chinese place did deliver even though they weren't going to because my order was less than $10, but after I said to just cancel my order, they decided they'd bring it anyway. I gave them a nice tip. =0)

Well, all those phone calls were a bit frustrating, but eventually it all worked out. The most frustrating was the car rental situation. Apparently it is close to impossible to do one way rentals in this area! And even though we live in SC, our Enterprise is considered NC because we're "close" to Charlotte. This is the reason that we spent my birthday driving a rental van an hour away to return it! =0)

Dano was also spending time on the phone back at home making phone calls. He was trying to find out about renting a van from JAARS so that we could have transportation starting Monday that didn't cost quite as much. Well, one of our friends that he called ended up calling him back & offering us a minivan to borrow for as long as we needed... for free! Wow! What a blessing! (Thank you good friends!!)

How was my heart & attitude in all this? At first it started out great, but then it started to go South a little. I was handling the disappointment of not getting my quiet time okay... after all... if God had wanted me to spend that time completely with Him, He would have kept my van working through the weekend! =0) The most frustrating for me, I guess, was feeling like I had wasted money coming down & now not getting to do what was planned & that now we'd have to pay for the van and a rental van! Well, Dano reassured me that it wasn't my fault & we've known for years it was going out, etc. However, you know how it is when you feel like everything is all your fault?? No one can convince you otherwise!

Well, finally after everything was decided & no more phone calls could be made til the next morning, I started my Beth Moore Bible study. It was almost comical how applicable it was to my current situation! It was on the above Psalm! Afterwards, I just spent some time listening to some praise music on my ipod. Now, I was back on the plane God would have desired me to be on. Before I went to sleep, I even spent some time coming up with a game plan for the next day at the conference.

In the morning, I went to eat at the continental breakfast, came back up & called the rental agency to set up the rental van, waited for the tow truck to come, then the Enterprise people came to get me, then I came back & loaded my van, then headed off to the book fair. I think I got there close to 10:30. All in all, I had plenty of time to see all I needed to see & make decisions & purchases. I wasn't rushed at all. (It is not nearly as large as the one in Arlington!) I even left before it was over. Then I went to eat a nice dinner alone before heading home in a brand new minivan. It was nice to have that luxury for a couple of days.

Well, the end of the story is that our transmission had died. We had the van towed to Cook's Transmission here in Lancaster. We'd heard from a lot of JAARS folks & others that they were good & trustworthy & would only do what was necessary. Well, necessary for us was everything, but they rebuilt it all instead of just getting a brand new one. We got it back on Thursday, July 3rd. Our total bill was $1166, but I don't tell you this so you can help pay for it. I tell you this to let you know we already paid for it!

Our partners have been taking such good care of us this year that we had the money in savings to cover it! Praise the Lord! It is kind of a missionary joke (and maybe for others, too) that when you get a surplus, you kind of wonder what is about to go wrong or break! I've always hated this "joke," thinking it sounds kind of like you're slamming God or something... but actually, I think it is true to some extent! =0) However you look at it, it is just awesome that God does always provide all our needs... tangible & intangible. He gave us what we needed for the van, and He gave me what I needed for my attitude!

Thank you for always covering us with your prayers! God listens.

Love, Melinda =0)