Ready to Roll

Well, here I am in an almost empty house, sitting on the floor, propped against the wall writing my last blog from the canal-side mansion. What a day it has been! What a week it has been! I preached this morning. Then they had a potluck for us in our honor -- even though we'll be back in 2 weeks. Then we had a Leadership Council meeting. I got back to the house at 3:00. Joyce had most of our stuff packed up. Mike and Joann were here on a short RV vacation so they took some things back with them -- the hard to pack items like pictures and plants, plus our clothes, plus my TV. So I started loading the pickup. It is now ready to roll except for our air mattresses, the cleaning supplies, and the food that will go in the cooler. About half the house is clean so tomorrow we'll finish it off, get an inspection, and hit the road.

Probably hit the road all the way to the church for a funeral service. They are having a memorial for the man who died last Sunday and we would like to attend if possible. So about noon we'll be on our way home. By the way, the weather is nice -- a little cool but no rain forecast until at least Tuesday. I hope they are right because I didn't tarp the load.

Now let me tell you about the pickup. Those of you who are our Prayer Partners know a little about it, but here are more details. Monday the pickup started running real rough and had no power. The same problem as one year ago in Tucson. They really couldn't find anything wrong and as they checked out wiring it stared to run better. So here we are stuck in Lebanon where I don't know any diesel mechanics, with a week full of running around ahead of us, and a move home in seven days. I usually handle things like this pretty calmly, just do what needs to be done and move on. But for some reason, this really threw me. I had trouble staying positive and was constantly wondering WHY.

The earliest a mechanic could look at it was Thursday. I rented a car so we could do our running around but had to bum a ride to Corvallis to get it. The Albany Enterprise would come and get me but they didn’t have any cars. Corvallis had cars but they didn’t go to Lebanon. Wednesday I took the truck to Millers – just down the road from us. He was recommended by a friend. Since then, several people have told me he is the best. I believe it. He spent most of the day Thursday tracking down one thing and then another – none of them solved the problem. Late in the day he called to tell me the sad tale and suggested we pull the fuel injectors on the 3 cylinders that showed problems in one of his tests. The “we” here is that he would do the work and I would pay him for it. The injectors would go to Eugene on Friday to be tested.

Try to understand my distress. We are at the end of the week, we have a rental car, and we need to move Monday. All I can see is a delay in getting the truck fixed, us camping out for a couple days in the church, and nothing going according to plan. My plan, that is. I was trying to stay focused on God but it wasn’t going very well. Finally I could say, “I wonder how God is going to work this out. I wonder how he will get any glory from this?” Thursday evening, I told Joyce I was discouraged about this whole situation. She tried to remind me that I’m always the one saying that cars break down and need repair or need new tires or something. It just happens so be prepared to pay for it. I know all that, but I’m still discouraged. I spouted, “Why couldn’t this have happened in Grants Pass. I have a car there. A mechanic could have the pickup as long he wanted.” And Joyce replied (you’ll love this), “Sure and then you wouldn’t have to trust God as much would you?” Ouch! But she was right.

Anyway, by Friday I’m resigned to spending big bucks on a bunch of injectors or maybe not even getting the pickup until Monday or Tuesday. Friday afternoon they called. The pickup is running! Yahoo! When I walked in to pay the tab, the lady looked real apologetic and commented that she was sorry the bill was so much. I was braced. I was prepared for $1,500. Hit me with it. She said, “$583.” I said, “Is that all?” Wow! He only had to replace one injector. But this is the neat part. The office lady (who is his wife) got up at 5:30 Friday morning to take my injectors to Eugene (usually they are mailed). She drove through a terrible wind and rainstorm and spent 3 hours there so she could bring them back with her. Then he went right to work putting it all back together so I could have the pickup by the weekend. Isn’t God good? Even in my doubts, he comes through. We are taking her some flowers on our way to the church!

So tomorrow we start a new phase in the journeys of Gene and Joyce. Stay tuned. It might even be boring!