It was evening when we drove that two hour stretch between Bend and Burns Oregon, the one where there is absolutely nothing...including cell reception. And our ol' faithful suburban lost steam and died.
We were lucky enough to pull off in a turn out so we were safely off the road. By some miracle, 10 feet ahead and 10 feet behind there was no phone reception, but in the the little spot where we stopped we got a signal. Dan assessed the car, and it was clear that nothing could be done on the side of the road to fix it. So we called a tow truck. They would come for our car, but would not transport the six of us and our dog. It was FREEZING cold, and dark. We decided to pray. Josh asked that we could be taken care of and fix the car quickly so we could continue on our trip. I was able to find the phone number to the nearest LDS Bishop, but he didn't answer his phone. We left a message and hoped for the best. We knew literally no one else to call for help.
Shortly after, the phone rang and our hearts leaped with hope! It was the Bishop, and although he was out of town, he connected us with one of the other church leaders in the area, who was soon on his way to rescue us. While we waited we sang songs, made jokes and tried to stay warm. Miraculously, the tow truck and our rescuer arrived almost at the exact same time. We met our new hero, Todd, who was kind and friendly and he helped us pack up what we needed in his suburban. Soon we were headed to Burns. He wouldn't hear of us staying at a hotel because he and his wife were empty nesters and had two extra bedrooms and plenty of space for us. He also just happened to own the Napa Auto Parts store in town and was good friends with all of the mechanics in Burns. We could hardly believe it! When we arrived at Todd's house, his wife welcomed us warmly and made us a big pot of spaghetti. We ate and visited and then bedded down for the night.
The next day, parts were ordered, and repairs were underway. We hung out in the back of the Napa Auto Parts store where we participated in the company potluck and made Tic Tok videos and laughed and visited. The picture above is of Todd with my kids. He was surely our unexpected hero! We were back on the road by 4:00, and we were so thankful!!
Here is what I learned from this experience - We can't always control our circumstances, but we can control how we react to them. It would have been easy to panic, stress, and freak out in this situation, but what good would that have done? Turning this time into a memory making opportunity made all the difference. Second, we are always being watched over. There were so many tender mercies sent to us in that 24 hour period, and noticing each of them really helped us feel loved, valued, and SO GRATEFUL! Third, there are lots of really good people it this world. Todd and his wife were just ordinary folks, but they did something extraordinary by opening their home and hearts to us, our whole crazy family, and did it without expecting anything in return. Fourth, everything works out in the end, even if it is different than we expect, which it usually is! We could have never anticipated all the things that worked together for our good during our unexpected circumstance. We lost a day at the cabin, but made some memories and learned some lessons we would have completely missed had we not had this experience. And you know what? Our time at the cabin was even sweeter, and more appreciated that it would have been if everything had gone just as we planned!
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