Feeling Grateful

Yesterday, since it was rainy and I couldn't work outside, I decided to drive up to my brother's house in northcentral Pennsylvania.  He's downsizing and offered me his riding mower.  So, I hitched up my little flatbed trailer and headed off in the late morning.

It's a four-and-a-half-hour trip;  I arrived at 3:00 PM.  Joyce had a nice lunch for me and we sat and talked for a while.  Then Ira and I went out to load the mower and tie it down.  They invited me to spend the night and the better part of wisdom said I should do that;  however I took off a little after five o'clock.  

By the time I reached route 80, it was already dark.  It made for a long, lonely trip.  In spite of having the trailer loaded, I was still able to roll along with traffic at 70 miles-per-hour.  I expected to arrive home a little after 10:00 PM, watch some TV and go to bed.  That's NOT the way it happened.

Around 8:45, as I was accelerating up an incline, my Xterra began to shudder.  I couldn't tell if I had a flat on the vehicle or the trailer.  I immediately slowed down but did not pull off.  The Emlenton exit was coming up and I hoped to make it.  I did.  

There was a truck stop there!  Yay!  I pulled under some lights and disconnected the trailer so I could locate the sound.  It was definitely coming from the car.  I crawled under the car with my flashlight and checked the tie-rods and springs.  Everything looked good.  I gripped each wheel and they all seemed tight.  

I  notified the people inside that I would be sleeping in my vehicle.  After calling Debbie, I hunkered down to spend a long night in the Xterra.  UNCOMFORTABLE!!  And rather chilly!  I forced myself to stay put until 6:00 AM.  Then I went inside for breakfast.

After talking with some locals, I discovered that there was a repair shop across the street!  :-)   I pulled over and waited for them to arrive;  they opened at 8:30 AM.  

The owner was more than happy to take it for a short ride.  He then pulled it inside and jacked up the front right.  The wheel wobbled significantly!   Two lug bolts had sheared off!  Two other lug nuts had fallen off along the way.  Of the remaining two, one was loose.  

Now mind you, I had been rolling along at 70 mph with one lug nut holding my tire on!!!!!    See why I'm feeling grateful?   

Psalm 46:1  
God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.

POST SCRIPT

My Mom had a peculiar way of thinking about things.  I suppose it emerged from her Reformed Presbyterian upbringing.  She strongly believed in God's protection!  I can't tell you how many times, when we were traveling, that she would see an accident and say something like:  "Leonard, if we hadn't ______________  [fill in the blank:  gotten that long light, or stopped for iced cream, or left a little late...] we might have been involved in that accident."   I'm sure that each of my siblings would smile at this explanation;  they all heard it as often as I did!  

I thought of Mom this morning after my car was fixed and I was back on route 80 - again going 70 mph!  A few miles down the road there was evidence of a MAJOR accident:  deep black skid marks for several hundred feet and crumpled guard rails for an equal distance.

You know what leaped to my mind?

If I hadn't pulled off last night because of my problem...

;-)