Stranded

We had been traveling for five hours and had five hours left to go when our car began having difficulty. Pulling over to the side of the road we opened the hood of the car and discovered smoke pouring from the car. Antifreeze was spewing out of our hood and we knew that any more travel for the day was impossible. It was four o'clock in the afternoon on a Sunday and the odds of getting it fixed were probably not good. I called AAA and explained our situation. My daughter called a mechanic friend and we waited for someone to come rescue us and our dogs. An hour passed and eventually the AAA tow truck pulled up to haul us and our car away. They found a motel for us to stay in for the night and towed our car across the street to a mechanic. We would have to wait till morning to learn what was wrong with our car. The next morning we learned that the motor would have to be replaced and the cost to do so was more than our seventeen-year-old car was worth and being that it was an older car with high mileage this did not seem like a good idea. So we pulled all of our belongings from our car and carried them to our motel room. After returning our car key to the mechanic, we sat on the curb across the street looking at our car and crying. It was my mom's car and there were so many memories. Another piece of my mom was slipping away. Then we puzzled out a way to travel the five hours home. We were in a tiny town in Appalachia and the process of finding a way home turned into a long ordeal that resulted in my having to cancel my commitments for later in the afternoon. There was no way we would be home in time. Several hours later we found a rental car that we could use to take us home. The owner of the motel drove me to the car rental shop and I processed the paperwork for the car. Finally, around two o'clock we were on our way home. But our rental car began acting up and terrified us. We were afraid we would be in the same boat, stranded along the side of the road. Many times we stopped, coaxing the car along and praying. Eventually, we made it home just in time for a commitment I had that evening.

Life throws many storms at us but we have the choice to either reach out to God or to give up on Him. No matter what storms you are facing right now my prayer is that you will reach out to God for help. He is always faithful and He is always there with us no matter the difficulties we face in this life. Maybe the storms will continue to rage but God will not abandon us. Even in the middle of these difficulties God is in control. May we never forget this.