Tire Trouble

We were beyond exhausted. When we finally left Bethel Tuesday, about 4:30 p.m., we were both badly in need of sleep. Headed for northern Minnesota to start a Pentecost Sunday revival, we left behind us three weeks of too many nights of too little sleep. We joked and said that we needed to get back on the road evangelizing so that we could take a break. Turns out that the joke was on us.

11:45 p.m.

Driving down Iowa State Highway 27, we hear a pop.

Sylvia: What was that?!

Bill (As he pulls the truck and RV to the side of the road): That was a tire.

The drivers’ side rear tire on the RV is shredded, the sheet metal on the RV is twisted and parts of the trim are missing.

12:00 a.m.

We call Good Sam Emergency Roadside Assistance. Bill’s jack is not big enough to lift the RV, so we need help.

1:00 a.m.

Good Sam calls back. An emergency vehicle is on the way, they say.

1:45 a.m.

The emergency vehicle arrives.  The guy changes the tire, then checks the air pressure in the other tires. It is okay, which indicates that we probably did not have a blowout due to low air pressure, but possibly ran over something in the road that punctured the tire. But we do not know for sure.

2:25 a.m.

Finally, we leave the side of the road and the dark and windy Iowa prairie behind. Mile Marker 208 becomes another memory.

3:05 a.m.

We pull into the parking lot of a parking-only rest area off of Highway 35. In between semis, our little house is nestled for the night and finally…so are we. 

Scripture usually comes to my mind at times like these. This time:  “Tribulation worketh patience” (Romans 5:3). I think, “I wonder what God thinks of my patience level, because I have been in situations like this more times than I care to remember.” Then, “Let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing” (James 1:4).

Wednesday, we roll into the River of Life church about 6:30 p.m. It is raining and has been for days. We proceed to get stuck in the mud. With the help of one of the guys in the church, Bill tries to dislodge us from a muddy rut. He later likens this procedure to an earthquake shaking a house. Not a good thing for an RV, but you do what you have to do.  

As we set up the RV (in a different location), I hear a loon from a nearby lake. God’s little perk; what a wonderful sound. But the real reward comes Thursday night, as God moves in the altar service, filling one person with the Holy Ghost and washing another’s sins away in the waters of baptism. Then, Friday, Simon, a young man who works at Taco John’s, is baptized in Jesus’ name. Even if there were not such wonderful results such as these, just knowing that we are doing what God wants us to do is enough reward for all the aggravations life on the road brings our way. One of the most useful bits of advice I received from Bible college is this: “We should get our joy – not out of results – but out of simply doing the will of God.” But, truthfully, even if they are not the source of our peace and joy, results are exciting!!