My blog's been hijacked...

...and I'm oh, so glad!

Below is a day in the life of sweet hubby. He knows how much my readers love those "ain't God amazing" stories. So, he offered to share one of his! (written on Monday of this week) I hope it blesses you as much as it blessed me.

You know its funny, everyone has one of those "Mondays" every once in a while. Me? It's been a long long time. See, I love my life, my family, my friends, and I know everything I have is because of my Lord and Savior. To me, its amazing how His plan affects me each and every day.

Today was no exception. I had to work 180 miles north of my home today, a classic Monday morning. When I started the car this AM, something was gnawing at me as i was pulling out of the driveway. As I made my way to the end of the street, I heard this subtle buzz. Actually, it was more like a "BUZZZZZZZZZZ........ BUZZ!" And it was gone. I stopped, got a coffee and hit the highway. Everything was cool.

I drove the whole way without incident. It was 5 am, 7:15 am when I finally reached the exit off the highway. As I came to my first red light and started slowing down, the car said, "Ummmmmm... time for a day off." She stalled, hiccuped, and shut down in the middle of the road." Damn it! What the h*ll?" She would turn over but not start. I'm sitting in the middle of a three-lane highway saying, "Oh yes, here we go." I get out and push her off the road, and then begin the standard "MAN" routine. You know.... jiggle this wire, poke this piece of plastic.... looking for a hose thats fallen off. I even did the old "TAP everything to see if something's stuck". NO GO!

So I call the wife to tell her the good news and to get a number to call for a tow. She says, "Yes, we have roadside assistance. Call this number.... " I write it down and prepare for the usual, "The tow truck will be there in about 30 minutes", and end up waiting 2 hours on the side of the road. But nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! We accidentally didn't put the roadside assistance on my 93 Ford Escort Wagon (Don't ask me what we were thinking, but I assure you, its covered now!) and now I'm at an impasse.

Fortunately, the idea popped into my head that my GPS has an "Emergency" button. I hit it and find out that I have a WHOLE BUNCH of garages around me. I'm about to do the eeiny-meeny-miny-mo thingy, but stopped and prayed to Jesus. I simply asked for his guidance to help me get through this. I picked a garage called "Kelsey's Garage" which was .2 miles up the street. I locked up the car and started walking.

Upon getting there, I requested a tow from the shop owner, a man with a heavy, thick Greek accent. "I have an old man who is my tow truck, don't worry. He's not expensive either. I call him, eh?" I said, "Yes, please!" He does. After hanging up the phone he said, "He'll be here in 5 minutes, relax, have a coffee." Hanging on, the tow showed up in 10 minutes... AMAZING!!! If you've ever had a car stranded, you know its a wait for that tow truck. You spend an hour or two watching the horizon for anything that LOOKS like a tow truck.

Anyways, I got in the truck, and we headed out. He said, also in a heavy Greek accent, "You know, I just don't understand this country. I mean, I love it, but it's such a mess. I thank God I have just what I need, because of God I'm OK." Where did that come from? I said, "Yes, God takes care of all of us. I'm nothing without Him. But don't worry, he's going to deliver this country back to a better way of life." He responded by saying, "You know what? You are right." We began to speak politics.

I struggled to decipher the Greek accent. When we got back to the shop (1 minute later), he said, "I usually charge $80.00, but for you, $35.00!" I said, "Well, thank you! Thank you very much! "

To make a long story short, it ended up being the timing belt, notorious for going bad in a 93 escort after 55k miles. I had just hit 56k. Sheesh! I should've drove circles around my block until it broke!

Anyways, it was a $450.00 repair, unless there's valve damage, then who knows. I said, "Go for it." like we had a choice here. I sat down and said another prayer to God. "Please Lord, take this situation, and help me. Please let it be just the belt, and please make this as painless as possible. It's your plan Lord. I'm here to follow as I always try to do! Amen."

Just then, my phone rings. It's the owner from my last job, calling to tell me my sales commission check should be ready for me (money I've been waiting a few months for... argh!) tonight, or tomorrow. AWESOME!! I thanked him and said it would be great because I was sitting in an auto repair shop with a $450.00 repair. He said, "Call me tomorrow and we'll have it for you."

YESSS!!

I sat and stared out the window for the next three hours and really thought about it.

God's plan is amazing! I mean, to the average Joe, this morning would have been a nightmare. But, when I look at it, God was watching over me EVERY SECOND!! Here's what I figured out:

1) I got stranded 180 miles from my house, this is true. But think about it. He left me safe on the side of the road, .2 miles from a wonderful garage owner who didn't try to rip me off. He also didn't leave me on the side of the INTERSTATE with cars flying by at 70-80 miles an hour! And we all know a tow at 6 am would've been hours of waiting. His hand guided me to that spot, and he let it go.

2) He then gave me His sign. Whenever people begin to bring up God to me in a conversation, I know that's Him saying, "See? I'm here for you! Relax!"

3) And lastly, when I was at my lowest of the morning, he had a phone call made to me to say, "See? The bill's covered! No loss!"

When you see all the small things God does for you everyday, everyday is awesome! I see his Works in me everyday.

Thank you Jesus for taking care of me today and blessing me with so much!!!

Scott (a/k/a Sweet Hubby)