Our trip across the US was long, and the first three days were soooooooooo scary! We were in a 16 foot moving van, pulling the car on a trailer, and both the van and the car were overloaded, absolutely packed to the gills. (We actually had to leave things behind because there was no more room to put them.) Anyway, if we drove over 35-40 miles per hour, every time we hit a bump, or a dip in the road, (and there were many) or if we started down off a mountain and got to going too fast and needed to slow down, the trailer started fish-tailing, and it would sway into the other lane and back so badly that it would make the front tires of the van actually leave the road bouncing from one side to the other, almost turning us over. By the time we got to Flagstaff, AZ on the third afternoon, we were absolutely terrified to go any further.
We went to the Penske dealer there, and as we got out of the van and headed for the door of the office, I said a simple prayer. "Father, we don't know what the problem is with this van and trailer, but please let these people have compassion on us. In Jesus' Name, Amen."
The Penske people came out and looked at the van and trailer, and told us that we were about 500 lbs overweight, and that our van had been packed wrong because the very last things that had gone into it were my washer and dryer, and papa's 600 lb. garden tiller. They said those things should have been packed closer to the front of the van.
They suggested that we either upgrade to a 22 foot diesel van or unload the car totally, and unload and repack the van. I asked them where we could find dumpsters to put the things in the car...as we didn't have $$ to upgrade to a larger van. The office manager said, "Wait right here for a minute, please." So we did. While he was gone, I witnessed to their mechanic about the love of God, and how we were totally trusting in Him. I showed him the plan of Salvation Scripturally, and he accepted Christ on the spot!
The office manager returned, and told us, "Here is what we are going to do. We are going to put you into a 22 foot van at no extra charge. We are going to have movers come move your things from the old van and car and put them into the new van."
I said, "We can't afford to pay anyone to do all that!" He replied, "No, We are going to take care of it!"
Needless to say, I burst into tears of gratitude and just started saying "Thank you Jesus, Thank you Jesus, Thank you Jesus!" When I calmed down, I had to explain to James, the office manager, about the simple prayer I had said as I walked to the office. God had indeed let these people have compassion on us in a way that we had not even expected!
The young man who accepted Christ? His wife came and picked him up from work, and as they left, they stopped by and wished us a safe trip the rest of the way, and he told his wife that I had told him about Jesus. She thanked me and told me that she was a Christian and had been praying that he would also accept Christ.
The movers came, papa, the dogs and I crawled up in the cab of the truck while the movers re-packed everything, and as we sat there, I counted out our remaining money. I told papa how much we had in paper bills, then said, and we also have this; and poured out a double hand full of loose change into my hands. As I started to count it, a homeless man walked by. Papa said, "Give me that change, Momma."
So I did. He called the homeless man back and gave it to him and told him, "Here, man, go buy a good hot meal for yourself." There was probably about $8.00 - $10.00 in change.
About 15 minutes later, the young man who had accepted Christ and his wife pulled back up beside us and rolled down their window. He spoke to papa and handed him some folded up money and said, "Here, man, this is to help buy diesel for that truck. We know it costs more than unleaded." Papa and I both burst out crying and thanked then and asked God to bless them richly, and they waved and told us to have a safe trip and left. When we counted the money? One hundred dollars. The handful of change we had given to the homeless man had come hack to us at least tenfold if there was ten dollars in change there!
After that, the trip was uneventful...three more days on the road and we were here!
God was good and merciful to us, and I cannot praise Him enough that He kept us safe from harm and blessed us so much in Flagstaff!
