Not Your Typical Church Lady

"I lift up my eyes to the hills-where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip –he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber not sleep. The Lord watches over you- the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all harm- he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore."

~Psalm 121 (NIV)

I don't have a cellphone. It's hard for people to understand this. They wonder about emergencies. I have God for emergencies. He choreographs all my disasters. As far as being reached by others – it's a small town. Everyone knows where I am all the time, so I'm pretty easy to find. Don't believe me?

Alright, let me give you a perfect example. It's Wednesday morning. Wednesday is Quilting Day, so it's my day off. It is also the morning that my daughter has her yearly wellness checkup with the pediatrician. The appointment is at 9:15 a.m. We make good time getting in and out. I am on my way to drop her off at school when my car begins to lose power.

Fun fact: The gas gauge in my car hasn't worked for eight years so each time I fill it up, I reset the trip meter. According to my calculations, I should still have about 40 miles left, but it feels like I'm out of gas. My foot is pushing the gas pedal but my car is not responding. As my car continues to lose power, I come upon the perfect place to pull over. (Thanks, God!) It is right along the road, not in anyone's way and not blocking the driveway of the house I'm in front of. We drift over safely.

"I think I'm out of gas," I say to our daughter. "We're going to take a little walk." And truly it is a little walk because I am in Loysburg, a teeny little place where I know quite a few people. So across the road we go to the house of my favorite tax collector. She answers the door when we knock. (Thanks, God!) I tell her I think we might be out of gas. Without hesitation, she hands me the keys to her own car and tells me to take my daughter on up to school while she finds a gas can. (Thanks, God! Thanks, Ministering Angel!) When I return, she has found a gas can and it has gas in it!

We go to my car and add the gas. The car starts! And then it sputters and shuts off. I turn the key again. It gives me a blank stare. Crickets chirp in the background. Then, feeling that this is not an "out-of-gas" situation, I ask the Ministering Angel if she can call our friend and neighbor, who happens to own a garage, who happens to have a rollback truck and who also happens to be her nephew. (Small town, right?) She graciously does.

Ministering Angel #2 was there in a few minutes with the rollback. At first the car started right up and I felt really bad for having called him away for no reason. And then the car shut off again. He diagnosed the problem as a faulty fuel pump and we winched my poor car up onto the truck. I got dropped off at home and the car went to the garage. (Thanks, God! Thanks, Ministering Angel #2!)

The first thing I did when I got in the house was call to let the Quilting Ladies know what happened to me. I was pretty sure they were wondering where I was. They were. I left them know I was trapped at home without a car so I wouldn't be able to come quilt. I also called my husband at work and reported in to him what was going on. Then I realized that for the first time in about a year, I was home by myself. Oh glee! For days and weeks my life had been packed with deadlines, things to do, and places to be. Now suddenly and unexpectedly, I was relieved of all duties. God had given me the morning and afternoon off. (Thank you, God!) It was glorious!

At lunch time the phone rang. It was my brother-in-law. He heard our car had broken down (See? Who needs a cellphone when you're a quilting lady and you live in the Cove?) and wondered if we wanted to use his son's Buick until the car got fixed. (Our nephew is studying abroad this year, but his car isn't!) "YES, PLEASE!" I said. He and our niece dropped it off a little while later. (Thank you, God! Thank you, Baker Family!)

And just like that, all my problems were solved from start to finish. God handled the whole thing. He didn't need my help. We just got our taxes done the day before, so when the tax refund came we were able to pay for the repairs. Also, my fuel gauge works now! It was a well-planned disaster. In God We Trust. (A sincere and heartfelt THANK YOU to all those who helped me that day. You were truly a blessing, all of you!)