Notable Breakdowns

Now here's a series to strike terror in the kiddos. Such memories! Actually it is amazing to remember how God provided for our needs in each and every disaster. Sometimes he even orchestrated breakdowns to prevent further disaster. I'm convinced of it.

Consider the time we were driving the old brown van up in the mountains, pulling a travel trailer after ministering to migrant workers, and for no apparent reason, the radiator started overheating. We were in a very curvy stretch of road with no shoulders, so we didn't dare stop for long. Jim jumped out and quickly splashed the front of the van with some of our precious drinking water. That was enough to bring the temperature gauge down. And just long enough to prevent us from being swept over the mountain side with a landslide that happened exactly where we would have been if we hadn't been detained.

Another time we were driving back to Oaxaca after one of our long summer trips to the states. Again we were pulling a trailer. Again the car overheated. It was the 15-passenger van we used to drive back when our family was full-sized (sniff!). Actually I think we were down to only five kids, so this was in the past few years since Chris and Tim left home. Anyway, we had to stop repeatedly to cool the engine. Eventually we ran out of water. Gas stations were nowhere to be found. We made a game of stopping every time we could find a water source, and scavenging for empty water containers to fill up for the next time.

Once Mike had to climb down a steep embankment to a river to refill our recycled water bottles. Then he would toss them up the hill to the next child, who would toss them to the next child, and eventually to someone who would toss it across the narrow highway to Jim, who would fill the radiator. That was fun! What was noteworthy is the absence of any foul moods that normally accompanied such delays. It was all a grand adventure.

One of the funniest breakdowns, of course, was our final journey with the 15-passenger van. We asked prayer simply that we would "make it through Mexico and to the U.S." Somehow the provision lasted exactly that far. We were sitting in the toll booth waiting to cross into the U.S. when the car literally exploded. Something was spewing everywhere (transmission fluid? water? both? Jim would write this so much better!), and that was the day the old van died for good. We sold her off for spare parts the next day, and God provided a replacement for us.

To be continued....