WOW!

So we began our trip back to Alabama at about 10:30, planning on being back at where we stay by about 7:00.  There were numerous accidents however, and a lot of rain.  The worst accident was south of Louisville, KY and involved a few cars and a semi tractor-trailer.  It was pretty bad--they had the interstate blocked for about 50 miles, and the traffic on our side was stopped so that the rubber-neckers could get their fix.  The result--a much longer drive than we intended, but things were looking up by the time we got to Nashville.  We stopped one last time to fill up with gas then we were back on our way--almost.  As I was pulling away from the pump, I heard the old familiar sound of a tire flopping.  I stopped right there, got out, and yep, definitely had a flat tire.  How I got it I'll never know--everything was fine on the interstate by I got an immediate flat at the gas station.

So, I went through the drill.  Unpack the van, unload the jack, and then lower the tire from the bottom of the van.  I had a problem with the spare last winter, but this time I knew I just had to pry the locking mechanism with a flat head screw driver and the spare would eventually fall (this time, however, I was careful to not lower the winch cable so far as to let the spare tire bounce off of my forehead when finally released).

One guy in a nurse uniform asked me if I needed help, but I really was fine.  Everything was going fine.  As I was finally putting the lug-nuts back on, a well-dressed guy came up and asked if I needed anything.  I told him "no thanks" and he and I started talking.  He asked where I was coming from, where I was going, etc.  I wasn't really paying much attention to him, I was then getting my mind back on driving the last hour and a half home, and to finally eat supper.  All of the sudden, the guy said "I don't know why, but The Lord wants me to give this to you."  NOW, he had my attention!  I declined, of course, but as he insisted I stood up to properly converse with him, then politely asked him to hand it to my wife.  I asked him if he was indeed a Christian, and he went on to tell me he attends a baptist church in Nashville, and that he's definitely saved and on his way to Heaven.  Then he told me he knew God wanted him to give us the money, but he didn't know why, and if we knew.  I told him then that we were missionaries to Mexico, and that we would be able to use the money to get new tires on the van.  $200.00 worth! 

The other day at Walmart, they told me they couldn't do a rotation/balance on my tires because the tires were trash.  The thing was, even though I had the money to get the new tires, I didn't feel like it was the right time.  So, I told my wife we would wait and see how The Lord would work it all out. 

This isn't the first time something like this has happened, either.  As a matter of fact, I could give three other very interesting stories about how God has put people in our way to help meet our needs since we started on deputation last July.  It's been a miraculous year and we praise THE God of Heaven for blessing us so much!