The Rest Area
Posted 09.02.2008 at 10.47 PM by TrooperRat
Cerca - a long time ago.
I was driving a piece of garbage truck - it was a cabover and I don't remember the kind of truck it was, only that it had a 13 speed tranny with a 350 Cummins that were popular in the day.
It was old for that time's standards. It also broke down. I was in a small caravan of vehicles headed together to the same destination. A large hole had somehow formed in the metal tube that was going off the engine to feed to the radiator hose that attached to it. Fluid poured out of it.
It was dead winter wherever I was - I can't remember, I think it was somewhere in Illinois. It was cold and the heater didn't work in the truck. I drove a lot of trucks back then with malfunctioning heaters. Worse were the air vents that were always letting in the cold air that you couldn't get closed. Old trucks - remember those? Freakin' things would beat you to death.
Well, when the truck broke down, we were only a mile or so from a rest area. So, after it cooled enough, I cranked it back up and got it in there to get it off the highway. The people I was with - this was missionary days again - said they had to get these other trucks to the intended destination, that they would leave me there and come back the next day to fix it.
Now, you have to picture this. I'm in a rest area in a non-running truck with no heat and it's below zero. I have $5 on me, no food - but I did have blankets and winter clothing. The rest area's water fountains were frozen - there was no drinking water. Well, this cabover at least had a bed in it if nothing else.
The next day arrives - and goes. No-one shows up. This rest area was also devoid of another important device - payphones. I went the first day I was left there without eating or drinking anything, I went a full second day without the same. Day 3. No-one shows up. I'm dehydrated. I wasn't moving. I felt like I was dying. I didn't know what was going on with me. I forced myself to get on all kinds of heavy clothing and start walking down the highway to the town I had seen before we had come upon this rest area.
I was hungry and super-dehydrated. Doesn't matter if it's winter or summer, you can't go forever without water. I walked for miles. I don't remember seeing much traffic, whatever traffic there was, they weren't stopping for me. I definitely never saw a Highway Patrol either on the highway or the entire time I was in that rest area.
Well, there was a Waffle House - that's the first thing I saw when I came upon that town. I walked directly for it. In those days, you could get a good amount of food for cheap at a Waffle House - with coffee, of course. I went in there - freezing - sat down and ordered the cheapest thing on the menu - pancakes - coffee and water. I used up half of my money - figured I better keep a little bit in case my stay was even more elongated. I sat in that Waffle House for a half a day. I didn't want to leave, and the waitresses were very kind to me after they found out what was going on. I still had to pay - but that didn't matter. I was out of the cold, had some food, water and hot coffee in me.
I finally left and went back to that truck. Nope, they hadn't returned. Well, footnote - I called the ministry headquarters and told them what was going on and where ARE these guys, anyway?
During those missionary years, I was always putting God to the test. Instead of begging and asking for handouts in situations like what I was in, I always wanted to see what HE would do for me.
He seemed to think I needed some life experience and learn a few things about life in general, so that's where I was at. I got into the truck, bundled up, and slept. The next day? No-one. I walked back to that Waffle House and got the same thing.
Back to the truck. 5 days I spent in that miserable rest area in a broken down truck before the ministry leaders finally came back. I gave them a piece of my mind- gently of course - but still. They took me to a nice restaurant and fed me well, then we started looking for a part for that truck.
It was not available. We got some JB Weld, put it on that pipe, filled it up with anitfreeze, and - that's the end of this story!
I was driving a piece of garbage truck - it was a cabover and I don't remember the kind of truck it was, only that it had a 13 speed tranny with a 350 Cummins that were popular in the day.
It was old for that time's standards. It also broke down. I was in a small caravan of vehicles headed together to the same destination. A large hole had somehow formed in the metal tube that was going off the engine to feed to the radiator hose that attached to it. Fluid poured out of it.
It was dead winter wherever I was - I can't remember, I think it was somewhere in Illinois. It was cold and the heater didn't work in the truck. I drove a lot of trucks back then with malfunctioning heaters. Worse were the air vents that were always letting in the cold air that you couldn't get closed. Old trucks - remember those? Freakin' things would beat you to death.
Well, when the truck broke down, we were only a mile or so from a rest area. So, after it cooled enough, I cranked it back up and got it in there to get it off the highway. The people I was with - this was missionary days again - said they had to get these other trucks to the intended destination, that they would leave me there and come back the next day to fix it.
Now, you have to picture this. I'm in a rest area in a non-running truck with no heat and it's below zero. I have $5 on me, no food - but I did have blankets and winter clothing. The rest area's water fountains were frozen - there was no drinking water. Well, this cabover at least had a bed in it if nothing else.
The next day arrives - and goes. No-one shows up. This rest area was also devoid of another important device - payphones. I went the first day I was left there without eating or drinking anything, I went a full second day without the same. Day 3. No-one shows up. I'm dehydrated. I wasn't moving. I felt like I was dying. I didn't know what was going on with me. I forced myself to get on all kinds of heavy clothing and start walking down the highway to the town I had seen before we had come upon this rest area.
I was hungry and super-dehydrated. Doesn't matter if it's winter or summer, you can't go forever without water. I walked for miles. I don't remember seeing much traffic, whatever traffic there was, they weren't stopping for me. I definitely never saw a Highway Patrol either on the highway or the entire time I was in that rest area.
Well, there was a Waffle House - that's the first thing I saw when I came upon that town. I walked directly for it. In those days, you could get a good amount of food for cheap at a Waffle House - with coffee, of course. I went in there - freezing - sat down and ordered the cheapest thing on the menu - pancakes - coffee and water. I used up half of my money - figured I better keep a little bit in case my stay was even more elongated. I sat in that Waffle House for a half a day. I didn't want to leave, and the waitresses were very kind to me after they found out what was going on. I still had to pay - but that didn't matter. I was out of the cold, had some food, water and hot coffee in me.
I finally left and went back to that truck. Nope, they hadn't returned. Well, footnote - I called the ministry headquarters and told them what was going on and where ARE these guys, anyway?
During those missionary years, I was always putting God to the test. Instead of begging and asking for handouts in situations like what I was in, I always wanted to see what HE would do for me.
He seemed to think I needed some life experience and learn a few things about life in general, so that's where I was at. I got into the truck, bundled up, and slept. The next day? No-one. I walked back to that Waffle House and got the same thing.
Back to the truck. 5 days I spent in that miserable rest area in a broken down truck before the ministry leaders finally came back. I gave them a piece of my mind- gently of course - but still. They took me to a nice restaurant and fed me well, then we started looking for a part for that truck.
It was not available. We got some JB Weld, put it on that pipe, filled it up with anitfreeze, and - that's the end of this story!
Total Comments 4
Comments
 |  Five days, broke down, alone with God, putting Him to the test..... what did you learn about life in general that He may have been trying to tell you? I'm curious not sarcastic. |
Posted 09.04.2008 at 03.53 AM by MilkMan  |
| |  Life has many peculiar conduits to it that can be learned if thrust into the right situation. Patience, for one thing. I was actually in several situations similar to this one in a rather short period of time - I hated it at first because I was very impatient person, and sitting there certainly wasn't my idea of fun. When I got it through my thick skull that I could wait - for whatever or whoever - and that I didn't need instantaneous gratification - as much of America is/wants - the testings went away. I was being tested, in reality, not the Lord. Trust. I learned through many of these experiences that if I just stopped trying to think my way through things and let Him have His way in whatever situation, it always came out either alright or even magnificent. Provision. It may not have sounded like much, but it was enough - even with the little money I had. The Lord is not sitting up there trying to think of ways to make us suffer, that's what I'm saying about it. We do suffer in life, yes, but that's not His desire, at least I don't believe. He allows situations to occur - but I have never blamed Him for them or even become angry or bitter. Focus. Learning to hear the still small voice of the Lord - can be incredible difficult, trying and just as incredibly awesome and life-changing when you finally begin to recognize it. There's more, but that's enough to cover the fact that it was a learning experience, at the very least. |
| Posted 09.04.2008 at 07.57 PM by TrooperRat |
| | Cool. Personally, I still struggle with the Focus part. I get to a point where I think, "okay, I can do this" (no matter the situation), and I zone in on what I think I want without necessarily listening first for what He is trying to tell me. But, I'm working on it. See, there I go again........ |
| Posted 09.07.2008 at 06.18 AM by MilkMan |
| | The problem with all of us ( me included) is our natural propensity to think things through and find ways to get things done our own way, many times without even thinking about what the Lord might want in that situation. God isn't readily in our line of vision, this world is - it's very easy to get distracted and think in terms of not needing God's direction. And many times, the Lord's way is going to look pretty strange or even crazy to the natural mind. Further, he has so many ways of communicating His desires to us - not just through that still small voice, but through a total strange, words in a book (not just the Bible), a particular set of circumstances - whatever, too much, I cannot conceive or see all of it. Even moreso is when we might recognize his desire in a thing and then we have to be able to trust that whatever happens, his conclusion to the matter will be enacted if you follow what you believe he wants you to do in it. The complication arises mostly out of not having had such experiences with him in the past, or not enough of them to have gained enough confidence to recognize that he IS in control and has your best interests in mind - you are, after all, his creation. After you go through repeated experiences, your faith increases and your confidence rises along with it - not in yourself, but in him. He IS there, always. He never sleeps nor slumbers. His ways are far above our ways, as are his thoughts. Don't sweat it - if you put forth the effort, you will eventually "get there". |
| Posted 09.07.2008 at 05.26 PM by TrooperRat |
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