We were on the interstate last night, on the way home from church in our minivan, when we heard a strange noise. Then, the tachometer started surging up and down. Then, the transmission light came on, and the check engine light soon followed. At this point, we were pulling over onto the shoulder, about sixteen miles from the state line. Transmissions for this generation of Honda Odysseys are infamous for being unreliable, so we weren't completely surprised about all of this.
New Daddy called the state trooper dispatch on the cell phone, and before he got off the phone with them, a trooper on his patrol had spotted us and pulled up behind us. He called the towing service for us, and about forty minutes later, we found ourselves with two sacked out children in an extended cab, diesel Chevy towing rig.
New Daddy and the tow truck guy hit it off really well. "Where are you coming from?"
"Church."
"Where do you go to church?" etc.
As it turns out, his dad is a retired Baptist preacher, and the guy knew a thing or two about different types of churches, the Bible (loved to rag preachers who didn't quite "walk the talk"), and even believed in the concept of Divine revelation! I was just giddy sitting in the back seat listening to him and New Daddy carry on (with my occasional outburst of laughter that couldn't be helped). New Daddy kept things on the "common ground" level, since there was plenty of it, and mentioned the Believe the Sign website to him.
The driver talked about how he likes to be in services where the Spirit is moving, and discussed the different churches he'd been in. He commented that you have to be in good physical condition to go the the Episcopal church, because of all of the genuflecting and other forms of aerobic exercise! And, we were informed that the Catholics and the Episcopalians differ only on this point: after the Catholic mass, the priests get together and drink. After the Episcopal mass, everyone goes to the basement to drink. The driver claimed this was because they were worn out from all of the up-and-down-and-kneeling-and-keeling. I was in stitches.
(If you happen to be either of these denominations, please don't be offended by my writing that. I'm only relaying what the driver told us, all of which I found to be quite entertaining [smile].)
When we arrived home, New Daddy ran inside and got a Life Story (59-0419A) cd to give him. It was the kind of situation where you just can't wait for the person to hear Bro. Branham's voice and his testimony. We're still praying, but we were so thankful to have crossed paths with someone like this tow truck driver!
When we got settled in the house, New Daddy was reflecting on some things. I asked him what it was, and he was trying to recall exactly when he had recently asked the Lord to give him someone to witness to. He thinks it was while he was praying before the Sunday evening service that same night.
I'm wondering if this is our pattern of witnessing: Whenever something really bad happens to us, it's an opportunity for us to get the Message into someone's hands. Like, when New Daddy's iPod was stolen. And then this. Whether we have a "pattern" or not, I do believe that events are happening very quickly, and whatever it takes for God to reach His predestinated, will happen. I'm just so thankful He can use us.
Ah, yes-- back to the van. I've been reading up online, and it sounds like Honda will drop a new tranny in for free, since we're still under 100K miles. They are quite aware of this problem (ours happened to be the 5th gear/ 2nd gear switching-thing), and they'll even give us a loaner while they're doing the work. We're very glad that we never got around to selling the truck. And, even though the Check Engine light is on in the Accord (probably for oil-deposit misfires), it runs quite well for its 250K miles. We're very thankful.
New Daddy called the state trooper dispatch on the cell phone, and before he got off the phone with them, a trooper on his patrol had spotted us and pulled up behind us. He called the towing service for us, and about forty minutes later, we found ourselves with two sacked out children in an extended cab, diesel Chevy towing rig.
New Daddy and the tow truck guy hit it off really well. "Where are you coming from?"
"Church."
"Where do you go to church?" etc.
As it turns out, his dad is a retired Baptist preacher, and the guy knew a thing or two about different types of churches, the Bible (loved to rag preachers who didn't quite "walk the talk"), and even believed in the concept of Divine revelation! I was just giddy sitting in the back seat listening to him and New Daddy carry on (with my occasional outburst of laughter that couldn't be helped). New Daddy kept things on the "common ground" level, since there was plenty of it, and mentioned the Believe the Sign website to him.
The driver talked about how he likes to be in services where the Spirit is moving, and discussed the different churches he'd been in. He commented that you have to be in good physical condition to go the the Episcopal church, because of all of the genuflecting and other forms of aerobic exercise! And, we were informed that the Catholics and the Episcopalians differ only on this point: after the Catholic mass, the priests get together and drink. After the Episcopal mass, everyone goes to the basement to drink. The driver claimed this was because they were worn out from all of the up-and-down-and-kneeling-and-keeling. I was in stitches.
(If you happen to be either of these denominations, please don't be offended by my writing that. I'm only relaying what the driver told us, all of which I found to be quite entertaining [smile].)
When we arrived home, New Daddy ran inside and got a Life Story (59-0419A) cd to give him. It was the kind of situation where you just can't wait for the person to hear Bro. Branham's voice and his testimony. We're still praying, but we were so thankful to have crossed paths with someone like this tow truck driver!
When we got settled in the house, New Daddy was reflecting on some things. I asked him what it was, and he was trying to recall exactly when he had recently asked the Lord to give him someone to witness to. He thinks it was while he was praying before the Sunday evening service that same night.
I'm wondering if this is our pattern of witnessing: Whenever something really bad happens to us, it's an opportunity for us to get the Message into someone's hands. Like, when New Daddy's iPod was stolen. And then this. Whether we have a "pattern" or not, I do believe that events are happening very quickly, and whatever it takes for God to reach His predestinated, will happen. I'm just so thankful He can use us.
Ah, yes-- back to the van. I've been reading up online, and it sounds like Honda will drop a new tranny in for free, since we're still under 100K miles. They are quite aware of this problem (ours happened to be the 5th gear/ 2nd gear switching-thing), and they'll even give us a loaner while they're doing the work. We're very glad that we never got around to selling the truck. And, even though the Check Engine light is on in the Accord (probably for oil-deposit misfires), it runs quite well for its 250K miles. We're very thankful.
Comments
You might find Jeremiah 25:26-28 interesting..
love,
Poppy