A Divine Appointment

Timing is everything…that’s what the experts all say. God’s timing is incredible…that’s what this nobody says.

My September vacation in Michigan was way too overdue. I hadn’t experienced a time to unplug from reality in over a decade. Oh, I’ve unplugged for a day, or part of a day, during that stretch but not a week or more.

It was great being on my old stomping grounds again. Some of the leaves were turning colors. Most were still green.

My hometown of White Cloud is dying. They didn’t even field a varsity football team this year. Not enough players signed up.

Ten miles south of there Newaygo is growing. I counted three traffic lights there now. They didn’t have any back in the day I was there.

I thought about secluding myself to get some serious writing done in the two weeks between the 40 year high school reunion and the Maranatha Christian Writers Conference. My youngest sister even said I could stay at their lake house to do it.

Instead I decided to spend individual time with each of my siblings. With six of them I needed all the time I had to get it done.

Maybe it’s because I live over a thousand miles away that I still get along with each of them. Some of them haven’t even visited a few of them. Their loss.

One of the major challenges to this vacation was driving Clifford, the big red van, all the way there and back. He’s nineteen years old. That’s about 135 in human years.

Everything went along just fine until we crossed the Michigan state line. That’s when the charging gauge went to off.

I found a car parts store, had it diagnosed for free only to be told it was still charging fine. Apparently a bad elderly gauge.

So I kept going…until the battery went dead a few days later. So I took the alternator off and had it checked by a guy who rebuilds such things. He concurred with the first assessment.

When I put it back on it worked fine…until half way up to the lake house where I planned on spending the day before the conference in solitude with my LORD.

While I recharged, Clifford’s battery got charged externally.

I limped it back to the guy who rebuilds alternators to have him rig a regulator on it because the consensus was that the regulator in Clifford’s computer was out.

It appeared I would miss the first half day of the conference. My brother took me back to my sister’s place so I could spend the night there.

I made a comment to my sister that my persistence was being tested. I no sooner got those words out of my mouth when my phone chirped. It was the rebuilder guy.

“I found your problem. I can have you back on the road in about twenty minutes.”

Back into town we went. He showed us the brushes inside the alternator were shot. By now I could hook the alternator back in Clifford blindfolded.

I made it to the conference and only missed the first few minutes of the opening keynote address.

At the end of the conference I received a phone call from my illustrious illustrator, Dyann. She wasn’t up to a visit as we planned so I headed straight back to Texas from the conference.

Once I crossed the Mississippi River things got interesting. I had to get gas because I was on empty. I risked getting that far to save 40 cents per gallon. Clifford holds over 30 gallons.

In Texas we call it coolant. In Michigan it’s called anti-freeze. I had another trucker term for the green liquid on the ground in front of my van.

Small town America has a few things going for it. Businesses closing for Sunday is usually a good thing, unless you need a water pump for a nineteen year old van.

Fifteen miles down the interstate had a car parts store opened and with my part in stock. All I had to do is supply the labor. It took five hours to complete the task and hit the road again.

I expected to make it home Sunday evening. I made it to Forrest City, Arkansas. Since I didn’t have to work until Tuesday I was till okay.

As I approached Texarkana I checked my gas station app to see where the lowest price was located on Monday late morning. It was a grocery store station about a half mile off I-30.

After I filled I parked in the parking lot and walked to the burger joint next door. A young man approached me and got my attention.

He explained that he had just got out of prison where he served a year for a crime he didn’t commit. He needed some gas to get to Atlanta where he was going to start over.

I told him to pull up to a pump and I’d help him out. As he pumped gas into the car I told him to make Jesus a part of his new life if he wanted a true fresh start.

He smiled and said he already is making God a big part of this life.

I don’t know how many other folks he asked to help him before this guy who became an amateur mechanic the day before showed up but God knows.

He also knew I’d help him out. That’s why I showed up when I did, not a day sooner.

Divine appointments are interesting animals.

That’s what this son of God says.

I’ll see you later. Wade