The Van

Saturday morning I got a text from Chris asking what we were doing that night. I told him we had a gift card to Chili's and were going to have a date while my parents watched kids. He asked if we wanted to see a movie, too. I wasn't sure we had the money for that, but he said they had a gift card and he would pay. We were kind of excited to have a double date. Our relationship needs to be rebuilt so it was exciting. Not to mention, Angie & Chris lined us up so it was kind of like rekindling the relationship from where it began :)

We had a hard time getting to the restaurant and theater because there was a hockey game and a basketball game going on. But we thoroughly enjoyed the company. We had a great time talking and laughing. The movie was late, so we didn't pick the kids up from my parents until after midnight.

We loaded them all up, and shortly after we got on the freeway, the van was overheating. We pulled over, let it cool down, and then decided to get to the nearest gas station and buy some coolant. That didn't work, it overheated again.

We called my dad, no answer. Called Aaron's brother/mom, no answer. Text Angie and Chris, they had just gotten home (about 40 miles away from where we were). Chris said he would help, but we didn't want him to turn back around. The kids were freezing, it was after 1am, and we were STUCK. Chris decided to come rescue us. My dad called back, he had been in the tub, but he came and let the kids warm up in his car while we waited for Chris. We hooked our van up to Chris', and were on our way. They kids were now in Chris' van, and Aaron & I were in ours. About 15 miles later, our dash lights and head lights started to fade. Then the radio. (sound familiar? read the previous post!) The wipers started going, and washer fluid was spraying but Aaron wasn't doing it. We smelled something burning, and I called Chris to have him pull over.

We didn't dare tow the van any farther. We left it on the side of the freeway about 16 miles from home. We had to rely on neighbors and a friend to get us to/from church and then to go sit with the van until the tow truck came. $1400 later, and 3 days in the shop, our van is running great again :)

This was a rough night. We didn't get home until about 4am, and the kids were awake at 8:30. Somehow, I was still feeling pretty good. Another reminder of how we are being watched out for. Sure, the travel club was STUPID and wouldn't tow our truck on Sunday morning like we wanted. Sure, the van broke down TWICE on the freeway in freezing weather with all the kids inside. It was horrible timing, too since we're  starting to get the bills from Aaron's hospital stay, and he hasn't yet been paid for the two weeks of work he missed. But, we had friends to help us. We were shown how many people love our family, and are willing to help us out. I hate asking people for things, and always feel bad when I have to receive service in any form (even if somebody offers me something they're sharing with everybody, I turn it down). This was, apparently, Heavenly Father's way of showing me that it's OK to accept help from others. They may have needed the blessings of service as much as I needed the act of service. Aaron's mom even paid for the van repairs. We had no way of paying for it, because we have no credit cards, and there is not enough money in our savings account to cover that. There are truly so many blessings, even in the middle of trials.