The Trouble with Transportation
WARNING!!! If you do not believe that the hand of God is at work in our day and age, you will not want to read any further. Run away and find solace in your notion that you are merely a speck in the middle of a very chaotic universe. The rest of you, continue reading to hear about the awesome God that we serve and how He works miracles in the lives of His children. I know that it is lengthy, but I promise you that your heart will be encouraged by this story of our Great Provider in heaven.
Situation: Our 1994 Ford Escort has been a blessing from God right from the beginning. It has faithfully carried us over many miles, getting great gas mileage and always being ready for any length of journey. However, about two months ago, it started breaking down. It began running very rough, stalling when it stopped, and we were worried that it was on its last legs.
Blessing #1: During Missionary Training Institute, we were travelling with some new friends, Josh and Becca Bowlin, and the car was giving us great problems. While we were with the Bowlins, they offered to let us borrow their car while ours was being worked on in Marion. They had two cars, one they were not using, and they happily agreed to let us borrow it. God provided these friends, who are missionaries to New Zealand, to bless us with their generosity.
Blessing #2: After MTI, we went home to pick up our car. Though the mechanic changed two sensors, he said that it still was running rough, though it was idling better when it was stopped. We tried to drive the car back to Sweetser, where we are staying, and the car continually lost power over the six mile drive. By the time we got to Sweetser, we were only travelling 10 miles per hour, and we actually had to stop the car to let it cool down before we drove it the rest of the way home. We realized that we had a major problem on our hands. We were to leave from Columbus, OH the next afternoon for a vacation with the Gallant family, and now we had no means of transportation to get there. When we arrived at Mike and Janet Bonner’s house, the couple who took us in after we moved out of our apartment, we searched in vain for a rental agency that would allow us to rent a car last minute and drop it off in Columbus at the airport. While I was calling, Mike and Janet talked it over and decided that they would allow us to borrow their van for drive to Columbus and be without it for the entire week that we would be gone. God was again at work, blessing us through someone’s generosity. (A side note to this story must be explained. Mike and Janet had originally promised to loan their van to a friend of theirs for the weekend. However, on Friday, the day that our car refused to run properly, the man called Mike and told him that he would not need the van… That is the hand of God at work!)
Blessing #3: After spending a wonderful week with the Gallant family in Lake Tahoe, we returned to this problem of a car that refused to run. We had spent the week thinking and praying about what we should do with our car, and when we returned, we sent a prayer request out to our prayer supporters via email. We simply asked for them to pray for God’s wisdom and guidance in making this decision on whether to try to fix our car again, or to look in to buying something new. We sent this email out on Monday, and we joined with our many prayer partners in lifting this request to the Lord. We decided to take the car in one more time, have it checked out by the Ford dealership, and decide from there whether to fix the car or not. On Friday, a friend and I towed our car in, waited for it to be checked, and learned from the mechanic that the repairs would cost nearly $650. I felt defeated and was resolved to start looking for another car. But it was at this time that God blessed us again by allowing Chad Vice, the friend who helped us tow the car in at 8:00 in the morning, to be there to give me advice.
He informed me that we could perform the repairs on the car for a fraction of the amount that the dealership would charge. So that is what we did. Chad showed me how to make the necessary repairs, which tools to use, and he also spent a lot of time going over each part in the engine. It was a great time of learning for me, and it was also an incredible answer to prayer. We had prayed that God would use something unexpected to fix our car, and I, Tim the uneducated mechanic, fixing our car is about as unexpected as can be.
That is the story of our Trouble with Transportation, and God’s awesome plan to both help us in our need and reveal His almighty glory. The God we serve is awesome, don’t ever forget that, and He will care for you as well if you only place your concerns at His feet. We had a sign on our wall that was a wedding present from Pastor Warren and his wife Anita from Ebenezer Mennonite Church in Ohio. It said, “Prayer is where burdens change shoulders.” And that is what happened with our vehicle. We gave our concern over to God, trusting that He would care for it, and He did! That is the relationship of dependence and faith that God wants from all of His children.
Thank you for reading, and keep looking to God for miracles in your lives.
In His Service,
Tim and Tiffany Gallant
Situation: Our 1994 Ford Escort has been a blessing from God right from the beginning. It has faithfully carried us over many miles, getting great gas mileage and always being ready for any length of journey. However, about two months ago, it started breaking down. It began running very rough, stalling when it stopped, and we were worried that it was on its last legs.
Blessing #1: During Missionary Training Institute, we were travelling with some new friends, Josh and Becca Bowlin, and the car was giving us great problems. While we were with the Bowlins, they offered to let us borrow their car while ours was being worked on in Marion. They had two cars, one they were not using, and they happily agreed to let us borrow it. God provided these friends, who are missionaries to New Zealand, to bless us with their generosity.
Blessing #2: After MTI, we went home to pick up our car. Though the mechanic changed two sensors, he said that it still was running rough, though it was idling better when it was stopped. We tried to drive the car back to Sweetser, where we are staying, and the car continually lost power over the six mile drive. By the time we got to Sweetser, we were only travelling 10 miles per hour, and we actually had to stop the car to let it cool down before we drove it the rest of the way home. We realized that we had a major problem on our hands. We were to leave from Columbus, OH the next afternoon for a vacation with the Gallant family, and now we had no means of transportation to get there. When we arrived at Mike and Janet Bonner’s house, the couple who took us in after we moved out of our apartment, we searched in vain for a rental agency that would allow us to rent a car last minute and drop it off in Columbus at the airport. While I was calling, Mike and Janet talked it over and decided that they would allow us to borrow their van for drive to Columbus and be without it for the entire week that we would be gone. God was again at work, blessing us through someone’s generosity. (A side note to this story must be explained. Mike and Janet had originally promised to loan their van to a friend of theirs for the weekend. However, on Friday, the day that our car refused to run properly, the man called Mike and told him that he would not need the van… That is the hand of God at work!)
Blessing #3: After spending a wonderful week with the Gallant family in Lake Tahoe, we returned to this problem of a car that refused to run. We had spent the week thinking and praying about what we should do with our car, and when we returned, we sent a prayer request out to our prayer supporters via email. We simply asked for them to pray for God’s wisdom and guidance in making this decision on whether to try to fix our car again, or to look in to buying something new. We sent this email out on Monday, and we joined with our many prayer partners in lifting this request to the Lord. We decided to take the car in one more time, have it checked out by the Ford dealership, and decide from there whether to fix the car or not. On Friday, a friend and I towed our car in, waited for it to be checked, and learned from the mechanic that the repairs would cost nearly $650. I felt defeated and was resolved to start looking for another car. But it was at this time that God blessed us again by allowing Chad Vice, the friend who helped us tow the car in at 8:00 in the morning, to be there to give me advice.
He informed me that we could perform the repairs on the car for a fraction of the amount that the dealership would charge. So that is what we did. Chad showed me how to make the necessary repairs, which tools to use, and he also spent a lot of time going over each part in the engine. It was a great time of learning for me, and it was also an incredible answer to prayer. We had prayed that God would use something unexpected to fix our car, and I, Tim the uneducated mechanic, fixing our car is about as unexpected as can be.That is the story of our Trouble with Transportation, and God’s awesome plan to both help us in our need and reveal His almighty glory. The God we serve is awesome, don’t ever forget that, and He will care for you as well if you only place your concerns at His feet. We had a sign on our wall that was a wedding present from Pastor Warren and his wife Anita from Ebenezer Mennonite Church in Ohio. It said, “Prayer is where burdens change shoulders.” And that is what happened with our vehicle. We gave our concern over to God, trusting that He would care for it, and He did! That is the relationship of dependence and faith that God wants from all of His children.
Thank you for reading, and keep looking to God for miracles in your lives.
In His Service,
Tim and Tiffany Gallant
