Pop-a-Wheelie!

Wow, what a day! Today was my third child’s birthday he turned 14 today.

I remember when I was 14 it was a monumental year. It was my freshmen year in high school.  I lettered in cross-country running (if you know me now it’s hard to imagine.) we took my second trip to the most magical place on earth Disney World. We also visited the Dark Continent, Bush Gardens. This year I also lost my roll model, hero, one of my best friends my Mommom (my grandmother). I also stared to have my first relationship that would last longer then any other. My first love Jesus.  It was a life-changing year.

Well, Jonah decided to go to Texas Roadhouse for his birthday for so juicy steaks they were very good. The best part was that we had a gift certificate too! The very best part was having Jonah sit on the birthday saddle and everyone give him a big ye-haw!

Well, if that was not eventful enough my night was just starting. We had driven two vehicles today because of crazy schedules and having to fix a teenager’s flat tire and so on. So I had to go pick up the truck we left at the church. So I Got there and Got out of the van and looked at the truck and felt like something was telling me to look at the tires so I unlocked the truck for Silas to climb in and I looked at the tires one by one the passenger side was well lit with the light of a street light in the lot.  The other side was not so well lit. So I stood staring at the rear tire but not seeing anything. I moved to the front and saw nothing. So I climbed in and we took off.

I traveled about three miles when I felt like we were getting a flat so I started to pull off to the center of the street to get to a parking lot. I went up a little hill and go about 50 feet and felt the tire going down quicker so I hurried to get it in a good position to change the tire just as I got it in place the back end of the driver side fell down. I thought wow this is a serious blow out.

So I jumped out into the 10-degree weather to inspect the damage. As I looked at the tire it was still inflated so I though gosh I have a broken axel. Then a looked again at it and saw that my wheel just popped off. The 3 of the 5 lug bolts were sheered off and the remanding 2 had no lug nuts. I stood there in amazement. So I called Chrissy who was just a bit ahead of me and she came back to my aid. Then I remembered that I had a floor jack in the back of the truck from changing the tire earlier. So I jacked it up and say the damage the tire was fine but the bolts and the rim we damaged.

So I said to Chrissy well were going to need to get it towed. She said well call AAA I said well were going to have to pay because I used our last tow a few months ago with a breaking issue on the truck. She said hey it’s a new year. I said but our card renews at the end of January. So I called and the girl said Mr. Hunter this is your last tow for the year. Good thing you only have 2 weeks to go until you renew. I asked are you sure? She said yes sir. I was like okay thank you. The tow truck came and figured out if you take a lug from the two fount tires you can reconnect the wheel that popped off and get the truck up on the roll back.

So in the truck on the way to the garage I started to count my blessings. It was crazy that I stood looking at the wheels and felt like there was something wrong. Then that I was so close to the parking lot that I could get into and that, the wheel popped off just as I got stopped. If I was on an express way going 50 miles an hour it could have been disastrous for Silas and me. Or if the wheel dropped off, as I was turning or just in the road I would have caused another accident because the roads were slippery.

Today I heard that life is full of coincidences. And the best explanation is the God wanted to be anonymous. Well I know that God was with us on this trip home.  Some times its so easy to see Gods hand in things and others it’s not so obvious. The fact is that God is always with us and things will turn out good. Perhaps things are not enjoyable or easy but good. In the book of Romans 8:28 says: “that we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” So though all these bad things happened its all good. I may never know the purpose but that’s okay. God gave me another day to live and to experience His love and be a witness to His unfailing love to us.