And God Just Laughs......

This is Russell's truck. It's a 1989 Toyota. He's had it for 3 years and I have only ridden in it once. I call it his "beater" and I avoid it at all costs. Russell has dubbed me the "van snob" as I LOVE my Honda Odyssey. I get nervous when Jarod rides in this thing with him as it doesn't have air bags or any kind of safety equipment other than a seat belt. I had not allowed Anne in it at all. Last week, Marcia convinced me to let Anne ride in it with Russ to Pre-K (in her car seat, of course!) so I could run another errand on this side of town. I stood at the window watching them drive off - fervently praying. Letting go is sooooo hard.

I tell you all of this to begin my story so that you will understand how God has a sense of humor. And no matter how snobby we are - He will eventually align circumstances in such a way that we are humbled and are ultimately put in a situation where we no longer have control and have to trust only Him.

I was making one of my daily trips from the beach today (on the way to a hair appointment) when, while going 75 mph on the interstate, blew the back passenger tire on my van. Fortunately, I was able to ease it off to the side of the road and wait until Russell came to rescue Anne and me. It was quite scary at first as I felt very vulnerable just sitting on the side of the road with dozens of cars flying past. God completely protected us and allowed it to be an easy situation.

Russell came, changed the tire and followed me to the Goodyear shop. We decided to go ahead and have all 4 tires replaced as we only had a few months worth of wear left on them and I put about 100 miles on my car a day right now driving back and forth. Russell offered to stay at the tire shop, but I would have to drive his truck home - with Anne in her car seat next to me. I just looked at him. I decided that that really was most logical as Jarod still needed to do his homework, I had to cook dinner, etc. - to keep our family on our schedule for the evening routine. It was time to bite the bullet and drive his truck.

As he strapped Anne's car seat in, I slid into the drivers seat and immediately thought about my Grandpa Mickle. He always had old cars around he was working on. One of my favorites was a 1973 Volkswagon Karmanghia. When I was 16, he gave me that car and I drove it back and forth to work and to school and I loved it!!!! It was a stick shift like this truck - and it didn't have power steering either.

As I pulled out into traffic and shifted gears, I began to feel a little spunky! This was fun! Anne could reach all the buttons on the radio with her feet and began playing with the volume. She thought she was funny. We crept home in the rain and I could only pray that the Lord would protect us as we crossed the St. Johns River. We arrived home safely. My left leg was tired from the clutch, but I actually had a great time.

Like I said, God truly has a sense of humor.