Monday, June 20, 2016


Phone call:
me: hi, steve. How are you doing?
steve: good
me: where are you?
steve: at home
me: good. are you busy?
steve: no, not right now.
me: i am on my way home from Mangalia. and I am on the Bucuresti centura (beltway). the van i am using broke down and the engine fell out of the car, is there any way you can help me tow it and find a mechanic near you?
a long pause.
steve: okay, it will take about 2 hours to get to you from here and i need a few minutes to collect some tools….
what an afternoon! :-)
so, we waited on the beltway for almost three hours. I sent our gps coordinates of exactly where we were at. being a hot day, there was still a breeze to cool off with. how much was it going to cost? how, where, and who was going to fix this issue? to me it looked like a huge problem. i could tell that the motor mount bolts had sheered off and the motor was sitting on top of the cv joint. the timing belt was eaten away so bad that i do not know how it did not break. 
while we waited i counted the semi’s driving by- 100, 101, 102….. one of them rolled down his air conditioned cab and asked if we had help coming. i said yes and thank you. he then offered me a two liter bottle of ice cold sparkling water- ahhhh, that hit the spot. now if only steve’s gps would get him here quicker. 
steve and i secured the motor with wire and a hook so that it was higher off the ground and towed the car about 100 km to his house. by the time we got there the mechanic was gone. so we had to wait until morning. 
the mechanic was very optimistic and pleased that the timing belt had not broken. the owner of the vehicle was pleased that the mechanic thought he could fix the engine. 
a trip that was supposed to take from monday to thursday turned into a trip that lasted until sunday morning at 1am. the van was fixed and amazingly only costed me the exact price i rented the van for.
van: ford galaxy
km on the van: 914,234 (ALMOST A MILLION KM!!!!!) 
after getting it fixed we made it home in 8 hours with no problems. Praise the Lord. 

1Thess. 5:16-18   

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.