Monday, April 27, 2009

Stand Firm; Breathe Deep!

We rented a Mazda V-6 (Hertz upgraded us to a Toyota Prius since they were out of Mazdas) to drive to a speaking engagement at the Florissant Valley Christian Church near St. Louis on April 19th. From there we had to drive to Littleton, Colorado to pick up our RV, Glory-al. We had a rebuilt engine installed by new found friend and former Marine, Richie Leavitt of Patriot Repairs. It took him a whole lot of Tylenol and a weeks worth of hours to get the old out and the new in. He was gracious enough to donate his labor!!! We are so blessed! Thank you, Richie!

Despite his hard work, we did not have the funds to get everything done that needed to be done and so on the drive back to Kansas City, we had a few mishaps. We stopped in Burlington, CO and our oil pressure sender unit failed. We were delayed a day waiting for the part. Got that in and got ready to go when the generator light went on. Our alternator as well as our air conditioning unit had both lost their belts. Thankfully, Dave at Joe's garage got us up and running in a couple hours.

We took our time driving and by the time we reached a rest area 20 miles west of Topeka, we felt we were home free, when Lucy noticed fluids coming out of Glory-al's engine. I tried to check the radiator level but couldn't get the cap off. Meanwhile, Lucy had locked her purse in the car and when she tried her electronic key, the battery in the key was dead! The Prius has a regular key to be used in emergencies like this and so we took the key and inserted it in the door but it wouldn't turn! We started to laugh. What else could we do? One little dippy thing after another was happening!

We got a hold of Hertz who got a hold of AAA who rescued us after about an hour or so. Interestingly enough, the electronic key could start the car but couldn't open the door! Technology! Ain't it great!

The tow truck driver was nice enough to remove my radiator cap...he was a big guy and he had to struggle with it a bit before it came loose so my manhood didn't get too damaged. The levels were fine and so we started the RV & the Prius and cautiously made our way back to KC.

Glory-al is now resting in Kingsville, MO at the home of Bob & Virginia Leavitt. What a blessing the Leavitt family has been to us!!! We still have some repairs to do before she is deemed road-worthy. Leaving May 25th as we planned is not going to happen. We know that God's delays are not God's denials. In 2 Chron 20:12 Jehoshaphat speaks to God and says "We don't know what to do but our eyes are upon You." In 2 Chron 20:17 the Lord answers him by saying "Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance of the Lord."

We can't set a new date for departure until we can gather up some funds. We spent the money for the journey on repairs. All we can do for the moment is hold our positions, stand firm, take a deep breath and have a confident expectation that God is doing something good for us today! God never lets us down...NEVER!

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