Those of you who have been reading this blog for a while know that Jack and I do our grocery shopping at Walmart in the wee hours of the morning. A few weeks ago Jack had an episode of low blood sugar, got dizzy, fell down, and strained his back. He’s been spending most of his time sitting in his chair in front of the TV with a heating pad on his back. We’ve made the trip to the store every couple of weeks instead of every week, and Jack has stayed in the car while I shopped.
Last night, he suggested I go shopping without him. I definitely didn’t want to be out alone after midnight and told him I would wait and go during the day if I had to go by myself. He decided to go with me but sit in the car again. After I finished and loaded the groceries in the car, a man walking to his car shouted at us and pointed to the right front side of the van. He said there was gas leaking from our car.
God had been protecting Jack. Although he smelled gasoline, he didn’t know it was coming from our car. He sat in the car smoking while gasoline puddled on the ground.
We didn’t realize how bad the leak was, so Jack headed for home. At the first intersection, the car backfired several times and stopped. Jack managed to get it running again, but he could barely keep the car moving. On declines, it went about 25 miles per hour; on inclines, it would slow to less than 10 miles per hour. If I had been alone, I would not have been able to keep the car running at all, and I would have been in a panic out alone in the wee hours of the morning with a car that wouldn’t run. The little nudge I had not to go alone had to be the Holy Spirit warning me.
Jack is an excellent driver, and he kept the car moving. At 2 AM, there were few cars on the road, and Jack ran red lights rather than taking the risk that the car wouldn’t start again if he stopped. My jobs were watching to be sure there no the cars in the way and to pray.
All the way home, I prayed, “Lord, please, just get us home and get the car in the garage” and “Thank you, Lord, that you will get us home safely.”
The car sputtered and stopped several times, but each time Jack got it going again. About a block and a half from our home, the van came to a stop, and it seemed that it might not move again. Jack kept trying and I kept praying and soon we were underway again. As we approached our house, I continued to ask God to get us safely parked the garage. Our driveway has a steep incline, but the van made it up the hill and into the garage.
Thanks to God that we had started out with a full tank of gas. About an eighth of the tank leaked out in the six-mile, thirty-minute trip home.
This morning Jack called the car dealership and arranged for the van to be towed to the shop for repair. He told the wrecker dispatcher that he would move the car from the garage to the street. However, when he tried to start the car, it wouldn’t start. The tow truck driver had to push the van out to the street to load on the truck.
I wasn’t surprised. After all, I had not asked God for the car to start again. I had asked Him to get us home and safely in the garage. That’s exactly what He did!
photo credit: Mark-Hobbs