Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Poor, Poor Ginger

Dear Prayer Team,

It sounds like a Movie trailer for a schlocky summer comedy…

“What happens when five men who can barely change a tire meet up with a tour bus with an attitude? (cue radiator explosion and steam bursting out of the back of the bus) “Steve! Get Off The Bus!!!”

“It’s Mayhem at Mount Hermon!”

Had you seen us as we went through our little adventure you would have been very entertained indeed. No acting necessary! We had the bus’ turbo go out halfway through the trip which began making a loud whiny sound, so we checked with our extremely helpful mechanic, Dyrk. He told us that if we truly lost the turbo we would most certainly lose a lot of power, but that we could try to get to our destination where we would most certainly seek some professional help, so we decided to keep driving. We lost most of our ability to climb hills of any kind above the speed of 15 miles an hour… we kept driving. The back of the bus was heating up like a toaster, we kept driving. We smelled funny smells, and finally smoke began to fill the seating area… we were STILL driving, but at least we were looking for a place to park now. The gauges all flat-lined and we had no power steering or… power, so we coasted uphill. Then out of the blue, on a highway where there really are no areas to pull off to the side, there was a beautiful little area to pull off. We coasted to a stop and thanked God that we did not have to park the bus in the middle of the freeway during rush hour.

The back of the bus was really filling with heat and smoke, so we got off of the bus as quickly as we could. I was the last one off. If this bus was going to explode, I didn’t want to lose my iPod, so I heroically scampered to the back of the bus to find my bag. One of my many quirks is that I carry all of my traveling gadgets in these nice plastic bags that I get from the Apple Store (our sound guy Will works at the Apple store and gives me the bags he’s going to throw away). The guys make fun of me for carrying my possessions in plastic shopping bags, but I think they are cool! They are kind of satchel bags and you can use them like back packs. So, imagine me going back for my iPod bag, I reach for the bag, and as I go to run for the exit one of the long strings gets snagged in between the seats and won’t let go. People are telling me to get off the bus, but I shout dramatically, “Not without my iPod!!!”. I fuss with the string for a bit and almost give up the fight, but then it comes loose and I run scared for the exit. When I get off the bus expecting to feel foolish for how quickly I made my exit, all of the other guys look like they are feeling some of the same intensity that I am feeling! We stare at the back of the bus waiting for… we don’t know what. Our mechanic, Dyrk, assures us that while diesel fuel can burn, it’s not going to explode.

We stand there assessing the situation. Do we get our stuff off of the bus or do we just wait for help to arrive. Steve, in a bold move, decides to go in and get some things off the bus. The rest of us watch him as he ventures inside. We are in awe. Then the bus makes a terrible hissing noise and there is an explosion of steam shooting out of the engine compartment vents. That was when we shouted for him to get out of the bus. He quickly jumped off of the bus… his eyes like saucers. He describes it as one of those slow motion experiences where the flight impulse has complete and total control of your limbs. We expected there to be a big fiery explosion (a la C.H.I.P.s), but, thankfully nothing like that happened. In fact through all of the challenges we faced in the next hours we felt an almost palpable sense of God’s peace! We all just pulled together and God worked out the details! We were all very thankful for the other guys in the group and the way that God has fitted us together.

Help arrived and within a couple of hours we were on our way to Mount Hermon to set up and sing for the great people there. Another couple took us to Lodi the next day where an incredible friend of RESCUE made it possible for us to fly home instead of worrying about renting a car and a U-Haul.

There are many, many experiences that happened on this trip that I could recall for you, but really, it all boils down to this: Although we are all adults and have all experienced times that have stretched our faith, when stuff happens that is beyond our ability to fix, a childlike faith is essential! We just hold on and hope that our heavenly Father has everything under control.

He most certainly does!

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