Missionary Training Started Early

View of Grand Canyon - From top of the Flatbed Tow Truck

  

Missionary training started a few days early for our family!  



Title of Course: Grace under Fire

Course Length: the last 3 grueling days of our road trip to MTI in Colorado 

Objective: The missionary will prayerfully make good decisions under stress while maintaining unity among all group members and fostering a positive, optimistic attitude that rests in God’s sovereignty. 

Aside from a few problems like an elk snoozing where we wanted to set up our tent, the camp stove breaking, the screen tent flying apart in a gust of wind, the propane lantern catching on fire, and the boys’ tent zipper failing, we enjoyed a brief stop at the Grand Canyon.  We felt pretty confident that we could handle these minor issues and lump them together as one big trial that wasn’t too awful.  Josh had a great time flipping pancakes on an iron skillet over the fire pit! Who needs a silly camp stove? 

Our second trial was bigger.  The car’s transmission failed along the Grand Canyon rim.  We drove in 2^nd gear to the nearest gas station and waited a few hours for a tow truck.  The nearest mechanic was 80 miles south in Flagstaff, Az.   We prayed and discussed our options, realizing that I might have to camp with the kids by myself on the rim while Mark rode back with the Ford and tow truck.  The several hours of waiting were tense, but we stuck together and God provided a solution we never even considered.

We all ended up going to Flagstaff together.  We sat, buckled in our seats, windows cracked, enjoying the views of the Painted Desert from atop a flatbed tow truck.  A feeling of utter helplessness ripped through me as I sat in the passenger’s seat of my Ford Expedition while it was pulled up onto the flatbed.  Mark commented later that the ride felt like the hand of God carrying us to a safe place.   As our SUV swayed in the wind, the cab of the truck out of view, I thought it seemed more like a helicopter ride.  The kids waved to everyone passing by, and I made several videos of Mark falling asleep at the wheel, recreating a scene from Knight and Day.  Mark was a good sport considering the situation.

In Flagstaff, we hopped out of the car, quickly grabbed enough gear and food for a night, and walked to the nearest hotel, leaving the Ford at the mechanic’s.  It was too windy to use the hotel grill or our camp stove, so I got creative: instant mashed potatoes in the coffee pot and sausage and green beans in the mike.   It sounds gross, but since I had the food, I didn’t even think about ordering take out.

The third trial of this impromptu training (ie God lovingly disciplining us through hardship) was the hardest, yet.  This time Mark and I struggled to push through the situation, fighting weariness.

After considering whether to trade the Ford, sell it, or rent a van, we prayerfully made the tough decision to spend mucho money on a car we only need for 6 more weeks.  The day looked promising when the mechanic loaned us a white Ford Windstar for free!  We drove 4 miles down Rt 66 to the nearest Target to pick up some needed supplies for an unexpected hotel stay over the weekend.   For those interested in the details, here they are:

8:30pm Target parking lot. The mechanic’s loaner van wouldn’t start.  It actually shook every time Mark turned the key in the ignition.

9:00 pm We picked up our Target bags, asked a few Target employees about local busses, and walked up and down the busy street looking for a bus stop. 

9:30pm We find out from nice person #6 that the busses stop running at 7pm on the weekends and we need to call a taxi. 

10:00pm  We sit outside a Carl’s Jr. waiting for a cab, and Isaiah falls asleep.  We create and play a city astronomer game and locate a happy star, three different clusters of 50 stars, a half sun, and a wealthy star.   

10:30 pm  We move inside the Carl’s Jr. and order fries.  Isaiah continues to sleep, not minding the new location.  The girls set up drums with a salt shaker, booth seat, and napkin holders, rocking to the 90’s metal music on the radio. 

11:00pm  Exhaustion sets in and we stare at each other.  Julia falls asleep.  Mark continues to call taxi numbers, but the Beer Fest in town seems to be keeping them too busy to care about a family of six that needs to go 4 miles down the road.   The hotel won’t send a shuttle.  They just gave us another taxi number.  All I could say was, “Should we start walking?”  And we would both agree that walking 4 miles in the dark, in the cold desert wind, along Rt 66, carrying Isaiah, while wearing flip flops, this late at night was crazy.



Our transmission blew out here, on the rim of the Grand Canyon
Above Photo: An Elk beat us to our campsite



11:30pm  Mark leaves the Carl’s Jr. to look for a gas station or tow truck business – anything!  He comes back, still on the phone.  I notice a man, hesitating to get into the car with his family because he’s watching Mark talk on the phone.  He looks like he might want to help.  I motion to Mark – ask that guy if he’ll give us a ride!  Mark was on the phone with a tow truck driver, but an actual person with a vehicle looked more promising at that point.  The man said he would drop off his family at their hotel and then come back for us.

11:45 pm.  After waiting some more, hoping the Carl’s Jr. wouldn’t close, we gladly piled into the back of the nice person from New Jersey’s car.  Thank you, sir!  I’m sorry we forgot your name, but we’ll never forget your rescue.

I’m not sure what grade we got, but we understand that this is all part of God’s life training to make us holier.  I hope we apply the lessons we learned about trusting God to work out everything for his glory and waiting for him to provide what we need, when we need it.





New Friends bring us pizza while we wait in Flagstaff, Az