Mom, It will make a Good Story (It's a long one)

I have come to realize that our children respond better to situations, delays and inconveniences than I do. Although I am externally attempting to exemplify peace and patience (for I have found it has an incredibly positive affect on our children), and at times even manage to suppress my worry, I can feel the tension growing and have to battle against all my natural responses.

So, when we found ourselves in a challenging situation with few options, I cheered to hear our eldest child enthusiastically respond with “Mom, this is going to make a great story.” My response: “You are right! What an adventure.” My outer response, “....when it is over.” Apparently as I age, my adventurous heart is fading. Or maybe it was just being in a feverish and weak state. After a lengthy introduction, comes the story......

Have you ever been aware of a situation in which you had the opportunity to lend a hand and found yourself awkwardly persuading yourself it wasn't possible or necessary?

Well here in Ethiopia, I no longer find myself occasionally finding myself with inconvenient opportunities to help. They have become part of daily life. And so I have intentionally decided to view interruptions as opportunities. This has allowed me to face interruptions with intention and grace.

But it can wear me down and I have to remind myself that I am not able nor required to help everyone that comes with a need. I am still called to respond graciously to every situation. I am still called to love those that come to my door. I haven't figured it all out and there are still days when I become frustrated at “interruptions” instead of seeing them as opportunities. My daily prayer is to respond with discernment, grace and love.

Because I find it so challenging to say no to a valid request, I am always amazed when other people can respond in the negative without a second thought. In fact, there are times that I worry after I have turned someone away, what will happen. Will that mother actually take her feverish child to the clinic even though we weren't able to take them? Will that family have no food because I didn't have any money left to buy their beadwork?

And so it was intriguing to find ourselves in a position of need. We were completely dependent on someone saying yes. Our car battery had given out several weeks earlier but by coasting downhill and putting the vehicle into gear, our land cruiser's engine was able to start up. And so it was a surprise to find that the hill hadn't been long enough on the morning of our departure despite working perfectly the night before. So there we were with a fully packed vehicle and an unmoveable land cruiser.

Manpower was not going to help. We needed a 4 wheel drive pick up truck to pull us up the hill.

Although we live near a main road, vehicles pass infrequently. Rolf ran up the hill in hopes of flagging someone down. After a surprisingly short wait, we prematurely celebrated his finding of a pickup truck. It was not 4 wheel drive and the driver was dutifully helping.

After hooking up his truck, he hit the gas and his wheels spun. There was little movement. After thoroughly splattering the windshield of our land cruiser with mud, he made it clear he was done. No, he didn't have time to put on chains. No he didn't have time to try another option. So we found ourselves looking at a now filthy and quiet land cruiser.

After another 1/2 hour without any willing help, Rolf hopped on a motorbike and headed to town 10km away. There are only 3 potential vehicles available: an ambulance, a vehicle at the Catholic compound and another organization's vehicle. Upon his arrival, he quickly discovered that the ambulance was gone and the Catholic driver was unable to come due to an appointment in another town. The only hope was to persuade the driver to add some inconvenience to his day. He refused.

Rolf is not too proud to beg a man for help and so he followed the driver to his office and found his boss who ordered his driver to come out an help. Once the driver and saw the situation, he actually seemed excited to help.

It was literally a 30 second pull up the hill. Rolf was then able to let our land cruiser roll down the hill backwards, put it into gear and hear it roar to life. So simple. The driver cheered and drove away. 

                                          (This picture was taken a few days before.)                

We loaded up and headed away from Gesses without a working car battery but hopeful that we would reach our destination (home of another missionary family) that evening. We did.

It was a restless night as I dreamed of all the possible places we would end up broken down. But Rolf and a fellow missionary had the car running at 6:30am. While the pickup truck was running, the battery was removed and placed in our vehicle. Then it was a short pull start on a flat surface. It seemed so easy.

I consoled myself that if we stalled out for any reason, we just needed someone willing to transfer their car battery to our vehicle and give us a pull start. It's a busy road to Addis and so we started off that morning with little fear.

I had been travelling on a camping mattress in the middle seat still feeling rather weak from my previous feverish nights. I woke with a start at the sound of the words:

“Oh Lord have mercy.”

This is a common phrase that the children are used to coming from their dad's mouth. It generally means that there has been an accident ahead. We all sat up and looked out the windows seeing nothing but barren fields and grazing animals. That is when the kids and I noticed the car was at a quiet standstill. This was not good news. It hadn't stalled. The engine had just stopped. There was no town in sight. This could potentially be a very big problem. I was already envisioning hours of waiting for a tow truck that may or may not exist in the nearest town.

This was when our eldest responded with: “Mom, this is going to make a great story.”

Several vehicles passed by our raised hood but a short time later a truck pulling a fuel tanker stopped. He would willingly give us a pull (he wasn't moving down the highway at a very fast pace anyways). Unfortunately we needed a car battery placed into our vehicle first.

Rolf tried flagging someone down but there was a general unwillingness this morning. Finally Rolf stepped out on the road and flagged down a very familiar vehicle. It was the Catholic driver. He turned us down once but what would he do this time.

SECOND CHANCES?

Interestingly, he stuttered and stammered about needing to get to Addis like he was in a great rush for a meeting. A 5 minute delay over an 8 hour drive was not going to delay the man so Rolf felt no pain in engaging the man to help. He was greatly dismayed at the idea of Rolf taking his car battery but relieved that he wouldn't need to pull start us. The tanker was still willing to do this.

The Catholic driver stalled out his car and became agitated that he was holding up traffic. Rolf persisted in finishing the job and within only a few minutes we had been successfully pull started.

My children made the connection remarkably quickly: “The Catholic priest was kind of acting like the Jewish priest in the story of the Good Samaritan. He wanted to pass by.“ Unwilling to be delayed. Unwilling to get dirty. Yet it is a reminder to all of us. Are we only willing to help when it is convenient?

We don't always cheerfully help those who come to our door with a need. Sometimes we respond out of duty or even guilt but Jesus called the Samaritan a neighbour because he had a willing heart. It was no more convenient for him to help. In fact it cost him time and money and possibly his reputation. Culturally, he had no obligation to help for he was an enemy of the injured Jew.

No one would blame him for not helping. There were plenty of reasons not to get involved but he heard God's call to help in a time of need.

I am happy to say that the story ends well. We drove the next 20 minutes without difficulty, arrived in the only town large enough to sell car batteries and have a suitable mechanic. After Rolf dropped off the kids and I at a nearby restaurant, he went in search of a battery.

He was told by a garage that they were sure there was one sealed gel battery in this town. The other batteries available were batteries that needed to be filled with water. We would then need to wait 3 hours to use it. In faith, Rolf went in search of the gel battery and by God's grace and helping hands, found it. The mechanic temporarily fixed the broken wire and soldered it back together.

After lunch, the children and I found ourselves in a restaurant where a luncheon was being served to over 60 people. This meant we were receiving far to much attention to be comfortable. The children were gracious despite lengthy questioning but we were all quite relieved when Rolf called to say he was on his way!

Due to the short 1 hour delay, we were able to arrive in Addis just after dark. We praised God for all the willing hands that helped us get back on the road. We were completely dependent on help coming from the outside (which is not really an easy place to find oneself). Yet we were filled with peace because ultimately we knew that God would send us someone. We were not alone.

And for myself, I pose another question: Can I let allow myself to trust that God will provide for the person in need that I am not able to help or have missed helping?