How God uses others...

Another miracle – from Mom:
 
When the events that follow happened, I told Teresa that I didn't want her to write about it on Facebook. Later, after reflecting on how God had blessed us through all that had happened, I thought, "Why would I not tell the world how God had used so many people to bless us?"

The story began on October 23, 2015 when Roy had a stroke. God intervened and certainly blessed us in so many ways:  Roy was able to walk, talk, think, and perform many of the tasks that we all take for granted every day. We ended up going to Florida the first of the year, hoping that he would continue to improve and be able to be outside more because of the warm weather.  We had decided that we would try to sell our home in Florida and then if we chose to return, we could always rent.  In February we put a For Sale sign in the front yard.  Other than that sign and word of mouth, we did not advertise any.  We had some response from the sign - we live on a well-traveled road - but only from people who wanted us to finance the sale.  We really weren't interested in that option.  Our granddaughter and her family was coming on the 13th of March and staying for ten days.  We really needed to stay until after that visit since they had already purchased plane tickets.

Before they arrived, we had some interest, but no commitment.  But on the day they arrived, a couple from Tennessee came and made an offer to purchase the property and it was fine that we stay as long as we needed to.  We went the next day and signed contracts and they went back to Tennessee.  We closed on the property the day after our family went home.  We also had a car that we kept in Florida that we needed to sell but wanted to keep it until the family left so they would have a vehicle to run around in while they were there.  We had two buyers lined up for the car, and on the last day, both fell through.  One person could not get the money and the other came to test drive and brought his family along.  They had two long-legged teenagers who were still growing, and they simply did not have enough leg room in the back seat.  We were to leave in two days.  That day we contacted some friends who had shown an interest and reduced the price by $1,000 and they bought it the day before we were to leave.  Never once did I ever think that it was not going to happen.  I knew it would happen in God's timing.  If we did not sell before time to leave, we were simply going to take the sign down and try again next year.  God is so faithful!

Although we sold the house completely furnished, there was still a truck and trailer full of "stuff" that needed to be brought back with us.  The evening before our family was to go to the airport, I hooked the trailer to the truck to make sure the lights worked.  They didn't.  Roy and Rob started working on the lights and instead of getting better, they got worse.  It got dark and they were still a long ways from working correctly.  We were starting to get worried because Rob was a big help and he was leaving at 5:00 the next morning and we didn't have a clue of whom else to call.  Just then a young man pulls in the driveway wanting to buy something that Roy had for sale out at the road a few days before.  The item had been stolen and was no longer available, but when he saw what they were doing, he said, "Hey, I can wire up lights." He immediately starting tearing out everything that they had done and started from scratch.  Roy was really worried that he was going to leave them stranded if he didn't know what he was doing.  In fifteen minutes he had everything wired and working correctly.  All Roy had to do was tape everything together the next morning.  God had sent help.  We did not know him and he left before we even found out his name.

On Friday morning we were able to leave at 9:00 a.m.  When we got to Orlando - about 30 miles - traffic was bumper to bumper.  I guess everyone had decided to travel on Easter weekend.  We were making very little progress.  After about an hour a car came along side of us and motioned for us to roll the window down.  He said he thought we had a wheel bearing going out on the trailer because the wheel was really wobbling.  We pulled off at the next exit which was right in the middle of downtown Orlando.  The exit was just as congested as the Interstate.  I found a little alley between a railroad track and a parking garage and pulled in.  It turned out not to be a wheel bearing, but the stud bolts on the wheel had come loose and lost some of the nuts.  The bolts that were left were stripped.  

We had no idea how we were going to get parts.  I saw a City Hall sign beside the parking garage and decided to walk there to try to get information about the nearest auto parts store.  Secretly, I was hoping that some city worker would say, "Sure, I'll just go get the parts you need." I  quickly found out I was not in Ripley or Ravenswood, West Virginia.  I have no doubt if any of our city workers came upon the situation, they would see that the travelers were helped.  I didn't get past a security guard, but he did give me a telephone number for an Advance Auto Parts.  I called to see if they would deliver, but they would not unless we had a commercial account with them and they had to know the make and model of the vehicle.  When I explained that it was a home-made trailer, they said, "Oh, you'll have to go to a trailer sales. We can't help you.”

When I got back to where Roy was waiting by the trailer, there was a homeless man on his bike and said he knew where the parts store was.  He volunteered to ride his bike to get the parts we needed.  I called the parts store but they would not take my credit card over the phone because we did not have a commercial account with them.  We sent the man on his way with $25.00 cash not knowing if he would return or not.  He left his backpack with us - his idea, not ours.  About an hour later he came back and said they needed a model number of the trailer before they could match up the parts.  I called them and told them again that it was a home-made trailer.  Finally, they said they would try to get us something that would work.  I gave the man a bag of cookies to tide him over and off he went again.  After another hour he returned with three stud bolts and two nuts.  We needed five and that's all they had.  
 
I had promised that I would feed him lunch and pay him for the work he had done.  He was tickled and we were thrilled that he had helped us.  We put on the new stud bolts and used the other old ones.  We pulled over every few miles to tighten them up.  We made it about 15 miles to Sanford where I was familiar with the streets because it is where we go to pick up the family from the airport.  After going to three more auto parts stores and them not having the parts, we finally got back on the road at 6:00 p.m.  It took us 12 hours from home to the Florida state line, which normally we do in 4.  We spent the night there.
 
The next day we made good time.  At about 7:00 p.m., we were only three hours from home.  I stopped to get fuel.  All the way to and from Florida, the diesel fuel price was in bright green numbers and gasoline was in red.  We were in Virginia where fuel is usually the cheapest.  We saw the sign in green that said $1.86 a gallon.  I commented that it was the cheapest we had seen since we left Florida.  I filled up and we started on our way. Immediately we knew something was wrong with the truck.  It was not running right.  After about five miles, it quit.  I thought to look at the receipt, and sure enough, I had filled it up with gasoline instead of diesel.  It was a very careless mistake on my part.  Long story short, we had to be towed.  God sent wonderful people to help us.  The wrecker driver said he could take it back to their garage, which was a full-service facility, but no one could fix it until Monday morning.
 
He called his boss and one of their workers came in and drained the fuel, put in new filters and it was fixed.  No damage to the truck.  It ended up being a $400 mistake. They had to charge us $100 to dispose of the $50 fuel that I had purchased.  We were so thankful for their generosity and compassion on us.  We were on our way again, but too tried to continue the trip home.  We stayed in a motel that night and made it home the next day about 12:15.  God had certainly watched over us in all things.

When I reflected on what had happened in just a few days, I saw how many people God had placed in our paths to accomplish the plans He had for us.  He sent people to buy our house who had the cash to pay for it; He sent our friends who were blessed to buy a car for their adult son that needed a vehicle; He sent a complete stranger who fixed the lights on our trailer and charged us nothing; He used a fellow traveler to inform us of a potential dangerous hazard to our trailer; He sent a homeless man who was willing to ride a bicycle eight blocks, twice, to get the parts we needed; He sent a safety patrolman to set up cones to protect us on the Interstate and suggest just the right wrecker service that we would need; He sent a wrecker man who had compassion on us and went the extra mile to inform others of our plight and the owner of the business and one of his employees who opened up their garage on a Saturday night at 8:00 p.m. on a holiday weekend and stayed and completed the work that was needed.
 
No, I could not keep this secret.  I want the world to know what a great God we serve who proves himself so faithful in everything that we do.  We are so blessed.  I pray that God will use us for someone else the way He  has used all these people to bless us.