On Friday, June 24, 2011 my family and I began a new adventure in life. Jeff decided many months previous that he wanted to attend the Memphis School of Preaching in Memphis, TN.
With the support of his family and friends our adventure begins.
The moving truck was loaded and ready to go. My dad, Tommy, was in charge of driving the moving truck with my mom and I following and Jeff in the rear. We were off to a great start. It was a beautiful summer morning. The traffic was light and things were going according to plan. Austin, Hannah, and Elijah were passengers fast asleep after a long week at Camp Inagehi. We stopped to fuel up after driving through Birmingham, AL with ease. Things were going according to plan until we ran into some construction on Hwy 78 (Corridor 22). We were following the flow of traffic as we drove on the shoulder of the highway to go around the construction work. The moving truck stopped! Mom and I were wondering why Tommy wasn't getting back on the highway. We thought maybe he'd gotten sick. Mom and Jeff pulled off into the grass on the shoulder of the road to see what had happened. Thankfully Tommy wasn't sick, but the truck would not crank back up. It had just stopped. We couldn't figure out why this had happened, but learned later that the switch had gone bad. Tommy immediately called Penske.
A tow truck arrived after an hour of sitting in the hot car on the side of a busy road. In the meantime the women needed to find a restroom. We were between Alabama and Mississippi in the middle of nowhere.
I called a friend at the school to make her aware of our situation. Jennifer was so friendly and invited us for dinner and told me that she was going to round up some help for us to unload the truck once we arrived.
After much contemplation about rather to drive the faulty truck or have the truck towed to the school it was decided that the large Penske truck with all my household items would be towed to the MSOP in Germantown, TN.
We left the tow truck and stopped to get a bite to eat. We were all pretty much starving by this time. We ate and then headed to the school. Once arriving at the school we were there approximately 15 minutes before the truck arrived. After the tow truck backed the Penske truck to the entrance of our apartment building; men, women, and children were there to help us unload. I was overwhelmed with emotions as students of the MSOP started unloading the moving truck. They had the entire truck unloaded and our possessions placed in the correct rooms in a manner of only 20 minutes. I was told to just stand back and tell the folks where to put our things. I tried to help any way, but found that I was only in the way.
On that hot summer day in June, after being stranded on the side of the road for two hours, I now have a new appreciation for God's people wanting nothing more than to help out a bother and sister in need.
Galatians 6:10
As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.
Now onto yet another adventure as we continue our journey...
