*beautiful white snow
*bright, crisp, nights -perfect for walking
*lots of sister time
*skating and snowmobiling
*rook games
*lots of good food
*relaxing on the easy chair
*sleeping in
*-30*F. (-35*C.) just a bit cold
*coffee around the clock
*friends over past midnight
*friends out for chai tea
*just being with family
*a good friends wedding
*breakfast casserole -Piece of advice, Never turn your back!
*tea and a late night chat in which we were supposed to leave at 9 and ended up talking till close to 12
*Nicki and Duchess
*New Years Eve party -so much noise!
*friends who start dating
*snow angels
*Gina's surprise appearance at the wedding
*Dad and Mom's anniversary surprise of writing and hiding 31 notes
All these things and more are what made the holidays very relaxing and highly enjoyably. I am so blessed and feel so privileged to have experienced so much goodness during these 2 weeks. -A gift from God.
On the way home we had a little adventure that I would like to describe to you. The details in this story are FACT and not based on the high imaginations that we may have had at the time. 3 girls and 5 people's luggage in Twila's car, left Minnesota around 7:30 Sunday morning. We were about 3 hours down the road when it started to overheat. Her car had been overheating lately, but we had it checked out, and it seemed like it just needed coolant. So we pulled into a gas station that also had a closed mechanic shop, hoping that all we needed to do was add more coolant and we'd be good to go. When we opened the hood, I noticed right away that it looked like we had a leak of some sort, and the coolant container thingy (here we must stop and confess, I have an extreme lack of mechanic knowledge) was full to the brim with coolant. Hmm..... now what to do. I asked the clerk inside if she knew of any mechanic shops close by that were open on Sunday. She said she didn't but suggested if we could keep driving we would have better options in Wisconsin. We were close to the bridge that crosses into Wisconsin, and decided to try and keep going and see if we can make it across. We also know the bridge was fairly lengthy with NO place to pull off if we needed to. We drove about 1/4th of a mile and it overheated again so we pulled over. Twila called a friend in PA who is a mechanic and has worked on her car before. While we waited for the car to cool down she described the symptoms to him. In the next 30 min we drove a bit, pulled over, let it cool off, and then drove a bit more. We were able to stop right before the bridge, and made it the whole way across without needing to stop until we were on the other side. PTL! Once on the other side we pulled over again, and no sooner had we pulled over then a run-down, rusted, old, red, car, pulled over in front of us. A tall, scrawny, man smoking and wearing a Packers sweater, got out and came over. Twila was still on the phone so I got out to see if he could help. The other gal in the back seat (Shanna Yoder) wasn't so sure about him, and was waiting for him to produce a gun or something especially when he went back to his car, saying he was getting a flashlight. But he turned out to be a right nice gentleman sort. The kind that stops to help the ladies in distress. (even if he did have a packer's shirt on) He seemed very knowledgeable about cars and stuff, and had about 3 things ruled out in the first 30 seconds. He said he wasn't from around there, but saw we were having trouble, and decided to stop and see if he could help. He said it looked like it might be the thermostat, good news -a cheap, easy fix. Bad news -nothing is open today. He suggested to keep going as much as we can without driving when it's overheated, and try to find a local mechanic shop that is open. We thanked him kindly, got back in the car, and continued on for another few blocks. The next time it overheated was right in front of Hardees so we pulled in to see if they had a phone book, or knew of a mechanic place that would be open. The clerk inside, Justin, said he thought everything was closed today, but he had an uncle who works on cars, and he sometimes works on cars on Sunday. Do we want his number? Yes, we want his number, thank you!! During this time Twila was back and forth on the phone with her mechanic friend from PA. He said to check out the uncle but make sure he doesn't over pay us. He predicted the cost should be no more than $150. So with that advice we call the uncle. He said he was willing to help us out and he was sure he could find a part for us. Price??? less then $100 for sure. Thank you Jesus, this man is not ripping us off. So we waited at Hardees for him to get back to us... 45 min later this broad shouldered, dark haired guy, wearing sunglasses, earrings, and a black leather jacket, sauntered up to our table asking us if we were the ones with the broken down honda. There was a moments hesitation... can this guy be trusted? He looks freaky?! But no, we felt strongly that God had lead us this far, He had brought us help, and God would protect us.
"I know who goes before me, I know who stands behind, the God of angel armies, is always by my side. The One who reigns forever, He is a Friend of mine. The God of angel armies is always by my side."
So off we went. He lead us to a closed mechanic shop about 2 blocks away that his buddy owned. His buddy was allowing him to open it up just to help us. We pulled around back through a dirty, broken down, alley into the garage and then he. shut. the. doors. behind. us!! Now we are locked in this garage, with this freaky guy! We got out of the car wondering what in the world we were gonna do while he fixed it.
I noticed he put the garage door opener in one of the trucks, mental note, just in case we needed it later. Also there was a phone on the wall that kept ringing, and 2 doors with exit signs above them. Shanna noticed a window that looked like it would break easy. If we needed to get out, we could climb up unto the barrels and break the window. After about 10 min of just standing around the uncle came and told us there was a lobby with some chairs, we could go sit down. The lobby was one of the dirtiest rooms I have ever seen. the chairs looked unstable, and had rips in the leather. But sit we did, and wait, while we trusted God with all our possessions in our car. We waited.... and waited.... and waited...
About 2 hours later he came and told us it was good to go. It was definitely the thermostat, he ran it for a while and it seemed great. Our bill... $85!! We had already decided that if he gave us a good price we would give him extra for going out of his way on a Sunday, just for us, strangers he didn't know. He was surprised at our generosity, and thanked us very much. No, we thank you very much!! We got back in our car and thanked the Good Lord for being so gracious to us.
He protected us, and our things.
He lead us to the right sources.
He brought us good help in time of need.
We were only 3.5 hours behind schedule.
So on we went.... the rest of our trip was uneventful. We reached our Indiana destination around 1:00 that night, and parted ways after a few hours of sleep. I went north to Ontario, and Twila and Shanna continued east toward SMBI in PA. Twila and Shanna where about 10 min from SMBI when her car started overheating again. They were able to call local people to come help them. The end of the story... head gasket, and over $1,000. Although it is very unfortunate that she has a big car bill, I see God's faithful, protecting hand. It could have broke down again an hour after leaving the mechanic shop in WI. It could have left us stranded for a few days, needing motels, and having a much larger bill. God is so good! His mercies are new every morning! Great is His faithfulness!
