Never Ask, "What's Next?"

Last Saturday I went to see my brother, who lives in a veteran's home in Pennsylvania. It was his 76th birthday, and our sister Jo made plans for us to go there and celebrate with him. It was a last minute decision to go, and I left a bit later than I had intended. I woke up with lots of back pain that completely short circuited my plans to leave early. When I can't function in my morning routine, I'm sure not gonna attempt a long drive. So I did my stretches, took some Tylenol, put some lavender and Peppermint oils on my back. And waited. And finally got on the road at 10:15. But it was Saturday, so it shouldn't have been a big deal. I got to my destiation in a record time of 6 hours. Instead of the usual 3 1/2 to 4. Traffic was a nightmare most of the way. Bumper to bumper all the way on the Southern State Parkway, the Belt Parkway, and every other parkway for the whole ride. I won't tell you every part of the trip,but it was not the usual for sure. When I finally got to Elverson which is the town my sister lives in, I breathed a sigh of relief. Driving through the town I stopped in a line of traffic at a stop light. My car suddenly began to chugg, sort of like an old train would do. The speedometer went from 0 to 1 to 2 several times as it chugged and I practically stood on the brakes. The light finally changed and I was able to drive, but the engine was sluggish and I was happy to be moving alng...with about 2 miles to go. I got to the stop sign on my niece's corner, and the car went into AUTO DESTRUCT MODE, lights flashing, making sounds no car should ever make, and died. Every attempt to start it up again failed. Now I had a line of cars behind me, rudely blowing thier horns no matter how many times I waved them on. So I got out of my car, turned to face them and stretched out my arms and loudly shouted, " THE CAR IS DEAD!!! GO AROUND!!!" And I got back in my car to call my sister and let her know what was going on. While I was getting my phone out, a young man came up to the passenger side window and asked if I was ok and did I need some help. Intervention #1....... I told him I absolutely did need help, and the car won't start no matter how many times I tried. He asked me to try it again, and then said, "Oh, that doesn't sound good at all. I said "yeah, right?" And we both laughed. And I thanked Jesus for the help. The guy asked me, "Oh? are you a Christian?' And I answered "Yes" He said, "Oh, that's great" And I answered, "What could be better than Him?" So he offered to push me off road and into the grassright around the corner from where I was. Perfect. he was so kind and thoughtful and I assured him that what he did was enough, no, he didn't need to call anyone for me, and that my family was right up the hill from there. I thanked him again and we parted ways and I called my sister. She came to get me, intervention #2... and we made sure the car was locked up. I left the flashers on. We went up to the house and I breathed a sigh of relief. Later on that evening, my niece's husband, who is a mechanic, and her eldest son went to get the car. Intervention #3... They towed it back to the house and came in and he said..."That car is toast. It's done. There is no repairing it. Equinoxes with a 2.4 engine die just like this all the time with no warning. Our family lost 2 the same way." They are going to junk it for me(he knows a guy) and we're sending needed paperwork back and forth to get that done as quickly as we can. Intervention #4. So the next thing was, How the heck am I getting back home? Rental car was the best option, as my sister was not able to drive me and I didn't want her to anyway, and Paul and Adam could not make a trip like that...Adam would lose his mind. HOWEVER..... The next day, my grandson stopped by to see Paul, and told him where he was going. He had just bought 2 doors for a truck he's in the process of restoring, and guess where the doors were?..... NEEW FREEDOM, PENNSYLVANIA.....we did a little searching and found that it's about an hour and a half west of where I was. He would pick me up that evening on his way back.INTERVENTION #5..... That Saturday was one of the most stressful days I can remember. I didn't say, "Ok, What's next?" I felt like it, but I didn't want to invite trouble. I already had enough. One thing after another and I was anticipating more, to tell the truth. BUT... GOD STOPPED BY. In big, small, and unexpected ways and provided for my needs most excellently. He's just that kind, just that good, just that loving. I hope you come to know Him this way if you don't already do. And if you don't, try inviting Him into every circumstance..... BTW, on the way home it was pouring rain. I was hoping it would stop, and at one point, it finally did. I said, "Ahhh...Thank you Jesus,it's finally stopping. The weather report said it would, but it's been taking it's sweet time." My grandson said, "Don't say that, you'll jinx us." I said, "Nope. I don't beleive that for one second, and neither should you." He just said, "We'll see..." And I said, "Yes we will." And we did. Not one more drop of rain the rest of the way home, and that was about 2 hours. Thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed the read.