Deep Thoughts with the White Stallion..

Some of you know that we have been experiencing some transportation troubles lately. Over a week and a half ago, as we were making our way from Princeton, NJ to New York City, our beloved van (white stallion) unexpectedly broke down on the turnpike. What we thought would be a simple tow and quick fix has turned into quite the ordeal. While in NYC we had our van towed 4-5 times, and it turned out that the van needed some serious time with a mechanic. We had to completely reconfigure our time in the Big Apple and roll with the punches so to speak. As of right now, Kevin is still in NYC dealing with the van, while Robin and I are in Pennsylvania waiting to be reunited with our male counterpart.

In times like these there are lots of things one can learn when circumstances quickly change and you are forced to improvise with plan B. Here are a few…

1. Being stranded on the side of the road, and waiting for a tow truck, makes for great bonding time. Or nap time.

2. Driving a rental car in NYC is a MILLION times better than a 12 passenger van in NYC. Taking the subway…even better.

3. Maybe you can get towed by AARP, sometimes you can’t…depends on who answers the phone.

4. Being missionaries CAN get you free dental care…

5. Community is key. When things go awry on the road, community is key. There is no way we would have made it to NYC without the help of the Rouse’s picking us up at the Shell station and making trips to haul our stuff out of the van and make sure we got to where we were staying. Again, the Rouse’s helped us when our van broke down the second time and spent a large chunk of their day attending to us. Community is letting go of our “independence” and really leaning on those around us to help us, even if it’s small. It’s also about being in community with God and depending on him to provide for us and placing people in our lives to help us along our journey. Today, Robin and I had to drive our rental car back from Hershey, PA to Allentown, PA because the van wasn’t ready today like it was supposed to be. Since the van wasn’t ready, we weren’t sure where we were going to be sleeping, we had to rely on God to provide and rely on others. We called the pastor of the church we met with on Sunday and asked if she knew anyone who could take us in for the evening or if we could crash at the church. She was more than gracious and set us up with a place to stay and even picked us up after we returned our car. This is community. Relying on God and each other to take care of our brothers and sisters. Like Jesus reminds us, God takes care of the lillies of the field and the birds of the air, and He will take care of us.

So, hopefully our van will be ready tomorrow and we can continue to Pittsburgh, PA. But, in case it’s not we will remember that God is taking care of us wherever we are and we will rely on Him and the help of those he places in our midst.