It has been quite some time since I, Sarah, have written an update for our family on this blog.  The chief reason being, I have a blog of my own that I write to keep people updated on the family happenings. 

The beginning of the year was pretty dull, as far as traveling activity, and we spent a great deal of time in our home, which was a lot of fun, too. 

We are now in the busy time of the year, with several weeks of meetings stretching out in front of us.  It is good to be back in the saddle again. 

Last week, we were in the Mobile, Al area, and had a really good meeting, which ran Sunday through Wednesday.  We drove all day Thursday, a beautiful drive into North Carolina.  To our great consternation, the air conditioning in our truck stopped blowing in the 85 degree weather.  Six people in a close, confined area, on a nine-hour drive in warm weather, with no air conditioning is not a recipe for family success and happiness.  Rolling the windows down at highway speeds only resulted in partial deafness (diesel engines are really loud) and extremely windblown hair.  So, we would roll the windows up until everyone was sweating, then briefly roll them down again until the roaring and hair-whipping became unbearable.  So it went all day long, the sweltering heat broken by the occasional whine from one of the kids. 

We have been reading through the Little House on the Prairie series as a family, and are currently in the midst of The Long Winter.  It took a great deal of imagination to picture the swirling blizzards and below freezing temperatures, although the roaring and howling of the wind was somewhat less difficult to imagine.

We called a friend in NC that met us at a gas station and worked on our air conditioning for a few hours, and got it working again.  What a tremendous blessing! 

We spent the next day visiting some friends in the ministry, and had a wonderful time of fellowship with them. Our kids had a great time playing with their children, as well.  I love to see the kids making good friends.

Saturday morning, we headed out of North Carolina toward Virginia, where our next meeting was scheduled.  It was only a five or six hour drive, so we were in no hurry, and it was such a gorgeous day.  We had almost reached Burlington when there was a huge POW!!!!  I looked in my passenger side mirror and there, to my dismay, I saw pieces of tire flying.  Our tire.  We pulled over immediately, but the tire had already done a lot of damage when it blew.  Wires and stuffing were hanging out of the wheelwell, and it was obvious that the gas line had been severed, too.  We now had a dilemma.  Paul had abdominal surgery not two weeks ago, and still  was not allowed to lift anything over ten pounds.  Have you ever tried to lift a trailer tire?  Okay, those things are really heavy!  Way over ten pounds.  I was fluttering about like a mother hen, not wanting him to do anything strenuous and undo all the work he just had done. 

He finally acquiesced to my concerns and opted to let me do the work while he sat and told me what to do.  Sounds like every man’s dream, doesn’t it?  After jacking up the axle, and loosening the lugs, I knew this was going to take a long time to repair, since changing trailer tires on the side of the highway was not one of my bucket list priorities.  I actually have helped change tires many times before, but I have never had to do it all by myself. 

While we were crouched on the side of the road, looking under the trailer, and man walked up behind me, startling me.  He asked if we needed any help.  In the providence of God, he was driving a service truck, with all the necessary tools to change a tire.  We gladly accepted his offer of help, only afterward noticing that his right arm was severely injured.  It actually looked as if it was broken, although it was not in a cast.  You can imagine that this somewhat hampered his ability to change the tire, since he was virtually one-armed.  It was all rather amusing to me, since the only two people who knew exactly what to do were physically unable to do so.  It was a bit like a three-legged race, with all of us bumbling about, but needing the others to finish.  So, between the three of us, we managed to get the tire changed.  The wiring was wrapped around the rear axle and had cut through several wires, so that the severed ends were now exposed and arcing as they dangled under the wheelwell.  Fearing an electrical fire, we cut all power to the trailer, and taped and zip-tied the wires up underneath the trailer frame. 

Paul realized right way that we had lost our main power in the trailer.  There would have to be some serious repairs made before we could stay in our home-away-from-home.  As soon as we were back on the road, he called the pastor of the church to which we were traveling, and let him know that we would now need a place to stay.  Thank God for His traveling mercies!  We are also thankful for the opportunity to meet Matthew, our “angel in disguise.”  Matthew helped us, in spite of his obvious injury, took time out of his day to help total strangers, and refused to take any payment for his help.  I know that God sent that man to help us. Paul was able to briefly witness to him, and gave him a gospel tract before he left.  Pray for this man, that he would read the tract, accept the gospel, and receive Jesus Christ as his Savior!  Perhaps he was the very reason our tire blew.  We may never know the result of this earthly encounter until we get to heaven, but if a blown tire is the price of a man’s soul, we are more than willing to pay it!

Please pray as we try to get the trailer up and running again.  Right now it is a 15,000 pound suitcase – it holds all of our things, but we cannot live in it until the electric is fixed.  We are seriously praying for God’s will concerning the trailer.  We have had an exorbitant number of problems with it in the 20 months or so we have owned it.  Please pray with us in this matter, and thank you for your prayers in regard to our safety.  God is keeping us safe during all of these incidents.