What A God Thing

The four-wheeling morning turned into a real adventure because the road was one, long, series of huge rocks and boulders.  Bob could easily get through them or around them on his trail bike, but with an ATV you just have to plow over them.  We must have ridden up 4 miles or so on this really tough road (I'm not exaggerating) to the top of the mountain.  I called a couple of people from the top and I was amazed to see that I had a full signal - until Bob pointed out that we were standing right next to three or four cell towers that had been built on the summit.  We took 1.5 hours to get to the top, and 45 minutes down.  It was a wild ride.  Just after we took the picture below, I started the quad to head down and heard this grinding noise coming from the engine.  Bob said, "What was that!" And I thought - "Oh darn (except I didn't say darn), if this thing konks out now, I'm going to be pushing it 4 miles back down the worst road I've ever been up!"  I said a quick prayer, started it up again, and made it all the

 way down the mountain without a hitch.  I forgot to mention that while we were admiring the view from the top, I heard a train whistle coming from the Georgetown scenic railway way down below.  I thought how much fun it would be to take my family on the train one day.  This is connected to what happened later in the day.

We got to the bottom, loaded up our bikes, and Bob went on home.  I headed into historic Georgetown where I met up with a new friend who is on staff with Crusade, but who for several reasons is considering a new career.  While I was waiting for him to arrive, I noticed a jeep pulling a second car on a trailer - which I thought was somewhat unusual, but nothing more than that. After my lunch meeting I started back to Conifer via Evergreen on I-70.  There's a short-cut that I normally take that cuts off about 15 minutes of the trip.  I was watching for the exit, but before I knew it I'd driven right past it.  I kicked myself (which is hard to do when you're driving) for missing the short-cut, because I now had to take the long way home. I decided to "redeem" my mistake by stopping at Home Depot to pick up a few things I needed to finish my deck.  I got off at the exit and pulled up to the red light.  I looked to my left and saw a car on a trailer, with the trailer hitch sitting on the ground.  The only way this could happen is if the trailer hitch broke and dropped into the road. The car that had been pulling it was nowhere to be seen.   I also noticed an older man sitting on the curb, holding something to his face (which I found out later was a kleenex, as he had a very bad nose-bleed).  The trailer was blocking the way for anyone who wanted to exit the highway, and I thought how embarrassing it must be for the poor guy sitting there.  At this point I have to go back to my previous blog entry where I wrote about the marbles and the Random Acts of Kindness, because the thought crossed my mind that I should go and help him out.  The light turned green and I went across the intersection and headed down to HD - and I could clearly sense God's Spirit saying to me, "Where are you going?"  "Well" I thought, " I'm just going to run into HD, buy a couple of things, and if on the way out this guy still needs help I'll stop."  Again, even louder, God said, "Where are you going?"  So I turned around, drove back to the trailer and pulled over in front of him.  "Do you need a tow?"  I asked.  "Well", he replied, (holding a very bloody kleenex to his nose), "the pin on our trailer hitch broke, and my wife went to Wal-Mart to buy another one."  When I asked where he was going, he said "To that hotel" and pointed up the road about four hundred yards.  I offered to tow his trailer up there, and he gratefully agreed.  There was a problem, however, as I couldn't lift the trailer due to the weight of the car on it.  Another man had stopped by that time, and even the two of us together couldn't lift it.  We discussed how we could lift it high enough to get it onto my tow ball - and decided to try using my truck jack to raise it up.  We jacked up the trailer, but it wasn't high enough to fit over the ball on my tow hitch.  We tried several times without success, and finally used several pieces of wood that I just "happened" to have in my truck to get the trailer high enough to back my truck up just under the socket - and the trailer just dropped down onto it. 

While we were still fiddling with the trailer, Ron's (bloody nose man) wife pulled up with her daughter and granddaughter.  "Wow" she exclaimed, "We call the police and they don't come - but the Good Samaritans do!"  I asked her where they're from, and she replied "Michigan."  "You're a long way from home. Where are you headed?"  She said that she and her husband had recently been forced into retirement, and they were on their way to Yuma, Arizona to try and start over.  She told me that they'd just been to Georgetown to ride the train, and I laughed and said, "I saw you there! I went 4 wheeling on the mountain above the town, and I also heard your train whistle!" What a funny turn of events.

Then I said to her, "This may sound funny, but God told me to stop and help you."  I told her how I'd bought that tow hitch two weeks before, but had never used it, and how I'd actually passed by their trailer to go to Home Depot when God told me to go back and help.  "You must be a Christian" she said, and I replied that I was.  "So are we", she said, and started to cry.  I stood up and put my arm around her, and said that God must be looking out for them because if their hitch had broken on the highway it could have caused a catastrophic accident.  God made sure it happened right there, off the highway and out of danger.

I got back in the truck and towed them up to their hotel.  After we switched the the trailer back to their jeep, I walked back over to the wife and asked her name.  "Mary Beth" she said.  "Well Mary Beth, You know what's even funnier?  Yesterday at church we talked about looking for opportunities to do a random act of kindness for someone, and that's why God led me to you!"  She lit up, and called her husband over to tell him, and he got a big smile on his face (still holding an even bloodier tissue to his nose).  She told me how she and her daughter had been planning to drive on their own to Yuma because of her husband's health issues - and how grateful they were that we'd stopped to help.  She then grabbed my hand and said, "We need to give thanks".  The other man who'd stopped to help was just kind of standing around looking awkward, so I said, "I don't know if you're a religious man or not, but do you want to pray with us?"  "Well, why not?" he said.  So the six of us stood there in the parking lot holding hands, thanking God for His protection, and thanking Him for the new life He is leading them to in Yuma.  As I was getting into the truck to leave, I said, "Mary Beth, I think God sent us to you today for two reasons: first, just to remind you that He loves you.  And second, to tell you that He's got great things in store for you in Arizona.  The rest of your trip is going to be great." 

I drove home with my heart full of gratitude to God that I'd missed my short-cut, but I hadn't missed God's appointment to show a little kindness. 

I still need to get back to Home Depot though.