Traveling Mercies

Prayer time ended yesterday with this thought: We have laid so many requests at your feet and have offered so little in return. All we can say is thank you. We didn't even pray for safety for our trip, leaving it in God's hands to teach and mold us through life's experiences.

Though Barb did call out "Traveling mercies!" as she left.

I was to pick up my two girls and two boys from two different families from their week at camp. I didn't plan on taking a passenger, but one of the boys' moms asked if she could ride along. I'm one of the only people in America without a cell phone. My passenger had a cell phone.

We headed down through I-5 traffic. Friday afternoon rush hour is a bear anyway, but an accident up ahead turned the freeway into a parking lot. A glance at the gas guage told me it was time to peel off the freeway and search for fuel. The surface streets were clear, but I didn't have a map of how to get where I was going. So I asked the gas station attendant, "How do I get to Hwy. 99?" He looked at me kind of funny and pointed to the road 5 feet out my window. "Your road is right there."

Back in the van, we took Hwy. 99 through several towns and out into the country. We pulled onto the gravel road that would take us the last 3 miles to the camp and slowed from 55 mph to 25 mph. Just as I was rounding the first curve, something snapped and we skidded toward the outer edge of the curve. As I tried keeping the car on the road, my passenger was thinking, "What a soft place to crash." For we were sliding toward a field of weeds, not a ditch or embankment or, worse, a cliff.

I thought we had a flat tire, so I got out and looked at each one. They all looked fine to me, so I got back in the car and tried to pull back into the middle of the road, but the tires couldn't get purchase. I was about to back up a ways to get a different angle when a black truck approached. The driver hopped out and kicked my tires for me, then backed up to get a look. He waved me out on the road to see what he saw. The front tires of the van were pointing in two different directions, like the van was pigeon-toed. "Looks like you broke an axle or a tie rod," he said. His wife hopped out of the car. "He should know," she said. "He's a mechanic."

I wanted to call my husband to ask him whether to get the car towed or leave it there to pick up later. "You'll never get service out here," the mechanic said. "Cell phones never work this far out." Just then, my passenger's phone rang!

I called Edwin and gave him the low down as my new mechanic friend felt around behind the tires. "Tell you what," he said, "you go on to camp and I'll see what I can do about fixing this for you." Another car pulled up, this one with a dad who was heading to the camp to pick up his girls. "Need a lift?" he asked. So I handed my keys to mechanic Bruce and his lovely wife Mary, forgetting to get any pertinent information from him like a last name or phone number, and went to camp.

The kids were glad to see me. We had fun at campfire. My friend arranged a ride for herself and the two boys. And I planned to camp out at camp for as long as it took. The other driver from my area was just loading sleeping bags in the back of her SUV when I got a call on the camp phone, my husband checking on me. I'd been okay up until then, but when I heard his voice, I got a little teary. Truthfully, I was nervous about driving home without a cell phone or another car following to make sure I made it. That is, if the van even got fixed and returned.

"Your car's here," someone shouted into the dark kitchen. I hung up the phone and went out to meet Bruce and Mary. "Here's your key," they said. "You'll need to get your tires aligned, but you're good to go."

"How much do I owe you?" I asked.

"Nothing."

"Can I have your business card?"

"Nope. We don't want anything from you. We were headed out to dinner tonight and decided to leave a little early. Who knows? Maybe God needed us to be there for you. It's a blessing to be able to bless you. Have a great weekend." And they left.

Guardian angels or good samaritans? Either way, I'm thankful for God's traveling mercies.