Day 142, June 18, Lincoln, IL

Plan:  St. Louis Temple in the morning, Gateway Arch in the afternoon. Easy peasy fun.

Reality: Breakdown on the road at 11pm, restless fretful overnight stay in a noisy old truck stop, AAA’s failure to get me a tow truck, and a great deal of anxiety stranded somewhere in central Illinois.

Problem #1- We thought perhaps it was a bad tie rod causing the awful grind and rub in the front tire.

Problem #2- Pushing on toward St Louis and it’s automotive shops, the truck then lost power just as we neared an off ramp.  In a busy intersection, the truck died and refused to restart, but what to do at 11pm in the middle of a corn field? As we sat in the street and pondered, along came a 40ish woman out of nowhere, Jodi, who hooked up her tow rope and pulled truck and trailer out of the street over to the truck stop. Then she whipped out her phone and texted mechanics she knows from years of working at an auto parts store. She spent the next hour with Aaron problem solving and diagnosing. Together they concluded problem #2 was a defunct fuel filter. Before she left, she gave us the names of 3 local mechanics but warned we’d most likely have to wait for Monday before they’d open. Even then, mechanics are booking weeks out. But where, I pondered, where did this Jodi angel come from? And how did she happen to drop in just when we needed her?

Discouraged and exhausted, we tossed and turned through a few hours sleep in the busy noisy fume-filled truck stop until 7am when I called AAA who completely failed me.

But then luck changed and God moved mountains for me. Again.

The tow truck driver I found came within the hour. He was able to get the truck up on a flatbed and drag poor wee Bambi behind.  As well, the first mechanic I called told me to get over to his place ASAP. He happened to be the only shop open on Saturday in a nearby po-dunk town, and he pushed aside all his other work to prioritize our emergency. We staged Bambi in his dad’s backyard next door while the mechanic set to work dropping the completely filled gas tank and fixing the problem. He sent me in his beater loaner to pick up the parts which were shipped in from St Louis, and he spent the afternoon righting our truck. When the fuel pump was fixed, he then started work on the front end, repacking a shot wheel bearing. Poor guy worked all day and into the evening to get us back on the road, then presented a bill for only $330 of labor, a meager amount for a full days work. 

Me? I supplied the mechanic with both lunch and dinner. As well, we met and visited with his dad next door and his uncle who’d come our way. I ended up feeding dad and uncle dinner in Bambi; the two bachelors were happy for a home cooked meal of lentil stew and sautéed shrimp. 

By 7pm, we were back on the road having had two major problems repaired and all for a much more than fair price. 

I will admit that many prayers for guidance and help were uttered over those 20 hours of car trouble. Exhaustion and fretfulness made for a most unpleasant experience. But in the end, it’s quite overwhelming to see God’s hand placing people in our path to help in time of need. From Jodi the road angel to Mark the accommodating mechanic to his hilarious rough redneck relatives who supped with us, it was yet another day of showered blessings, more than I can account for. 

Good deeds: We heavily tipped our competent talkative tow truck driver who appeared emancipated enough to need the extra cash. As well, we wrote Mark a stellar Google 5-star review and paid him about 50% more in labor fees than he charged us. Aaron reminded me that I was a blessing to them in a monetary way, but I still maintain that I came out the winner today. Big time! I try to give much, but I am always given more. And I give God all the credit.