Ladies and gentleman, I have another story to tell (see this blog for the first). It was confirmed to me last Wednesday evening that God does, indeed, have a sense of humor. As you all know, we (my cousin Austin and I) ran into a little snag on our way home for Spring Break when we broke down in the middle of Dayton and turned a 4-hour trip into 14 hours. We both had a good laugh, and a pretty funny story out of the ordeal. We hypothesized that it was the combination of two Watters’ in the same vehicle that caused such an unexpected mechanical malfunction.

Break was soon enough over, the car fixed, and Austin showed up at my house around 7:15pm Wednesday evening to pick me up and begin the disgustingly unwelcome journey back to our doom (school). So, after a quick stop by the gas station to pick up a 5-hour energy drink, we began the trek back to the great city of Cincinnati. We made excellent time, crossing the Ohio border around 8:00pm and ebbed our way ever closer to our sealed fate.

Around 10pm we hit Dayton, that infamous city of previous ill repute. We quickly approached the site of our unplanned stay on I-75 a mere 5 days earlier. We both reminisced about that fateful day. The angry traffickers, the helpful cops, Joel, Jethro and the gang from Summit Towing, it was all so fresh in both of our minds. As we passed that legendary locale of tribulations I shouted out, "Yes! We have conquered! We have overcome!" To this Austin wholeheartedly affirmed, and then stated ominously, "But we’re not there yet." How true... 60 – 120 seconds later we heard a most horrific "POP!" and felt the whole car sag. We began to veer uncontrollably for a few moments until Austin regained control of the unwieldy behemoth. "We blew a tire!" He stated emphatically, "Can we get over?" I quickly checked the lane and shouted, "Clear! Go!" He maneuvered us safely to the side of the road, and upon shifting to park, I literally doubled over in a fit of hysteria laughing. How ironic is that we would break down, not once, but twice within the 5 days of each other, and further still, that both occurrence were within 1-2 miles of each other. As an added bonus, the date was April 1st, April Fools Day. God certainly has a sense of humor . Imagine with me trying to convince someone that you had just broken down twice in the same spot on April Fools Day. We were nearly left stranded for lack of belief.

We quickly emerged from the derelict car and upon examining the rear passenger tire discovered that it had completely caved in and had eaten through the fender. This was no ordinary blown tire. We jacked up the car, used our cell phones as flashlights, and two mechanically illiterate college students tried to discern the matter. Have you ever laid on your back, under a jacked up car, on a bridge, with semis whizzing a few feet past your head and shaking the concrete beneath you? It’s slightly disconcerting. We called the usual mechanical paramedics (Austin’s dad, brother-in-law, my brother), and it was decided that David and Joy would drive up from Covington, KY with a car trailer to pick up us and the car and head down to Cinci.

So, what were we to do but, sit. And we sat. And we sat. We cracked jokes, laughed, wished for food, decided that we would never again ride home together again, agreed to circumvent the city of Dayton at all costs until the day we die, and a host of other absurdities. I remembered that I had a travel chess set in my backpack, and we both realized that trying to play chess at 2am is rather demoralizing because we both were, shall I say dull-witted? Vapid? Asinine? We did laugh profusely, however, as we made each move with twisted accents from a number of different countries.

David and Joy arrived soon after our final ridiculous game of chess, and we had the joyous pleasure of trying to get the car up on the trailer. Because it was sagging so intensely it bottomed out trying to cross the fulcrum point. We actually had to jack the car back up, set it back down (which allowed the tire to roll straight for 1'-2'), and Austin and I lifted up on either side of the car while David drove it up the ramp. I’m sure we looked rather ludicrous to any passersby. After strapping it down, we proceeded uninhibited the remainder of the journey on to Cincinnati, arriving shortly before 3am. Then came the wondrous pleasure of carrying our luggage up 6 flights of stairs.

What a day. But, the Lord protected us, once again, and I learned something about holding the things of this life lightly. Vehicles may come or go. Possessions and money are so easily lost. I am going to put my trust in something Higher. Something that will not break down or fail. I will put my trust in Christ, the Lover of my soul, the Guider of my life, and the King of all I am.

-Ryan
P.S. I knew people wouldn't believe us, so I took a few pictures

Tags: Break, Car, Adventure

Ladies and gentlemen, I have a tale to tell. I find it ironic that in my last blog I said, "It's sometimes kind of funny how God works. He so rarely tells you ahead of time. He just plops you into situations, and then gives you the grace you need in the middle of it." Well, I proved that statement true last Friday as I headed back home on Spring Break. Here's how it happened...

My car decided to be obnoxiously obstinate and blow the transmission a couple weeks ago, and so I was left carless when it came time to head home for Spring Break last Friday. So, my good cousin Austin offered to let me ride home with him in his parent's convertible. Perfect! It was a gorgeous afternoon when we left Cincinnati around 2:30pm that fateful day. The top was down, the wind whipping overhead provided a pristine drive. We were rolling along quite uninhibited and carefree until we reached Dayton, where we hit some heavy rush hour traffic. For those of you who are familiar with the area, you know how dense the construction is just as you reach the center of Dayton. They're in the process of rebuilding a bridge which kind of bottlenecks traffic. Definitely not a good place to, say, break down, or something, for sure...certainly not. Well, we're rolling along and then we suddenly, weren't. And then came that horribly disconcerting feeling that kinds of grabs the bottom of your stomach and begins to wrench it up through your chest and eventually into your throat. As we rolled to a stop Austin tried furiously to get the car restarted, but, to no avail. It would turn over, but no ignition.

So, there we were. Stopped on I75, in the middle of Dayton, during rush hour, in heavy construction. Could it get any worse? Never ask that question. (To be perfectly honest, I was slightly, amused? enlivened? ). "Maybe we ran out of gas" Austin posited. However, according to the gauge we weren't even on "E." But, it was worth a try. "There's gotta be a gas station around here somewhere" we said. So, Austin stayed with the car, and I jumped the median, and headed down the embankment to a main road that ran under the overpass. I stopped someone and asked them where the nearest gas station was. "Down that way" the man casually drawled with an apathetic thumb jab to his left. So I took off running (literally, and in my clodhopper dress shoes nonetheless), expecting it to reach the gas station shortly. Two miles later I drag myself into the Marathon station. Thankfully they had gas cans for sale, and I bought a can and two gallons of gas. It was, well, a rather run-down section of town, lots of bars on the windows, etc., and so I was quite a spectacle as I jogged down the sidewalk, casually dressed, and carrying my little red gas can, being heckled by a homeless guy on my right, and being cussed out by someone driving by on my left, I trudged on. I traversed the two miles back to I75 and ran back up the embankment to the car, which, by this time, had two police cars behind it.

We quickly dumped the two gallons of gas into the car and Austin hopped in the drivers seat and turned the key. Nothing happened. "Well" the cop inserted, "we have to get this car off the road, so I'm calling a wrecker." Traffic was backed up for miles as they tried to merge into the adjacent lanes to bypass us. The cop disappeared in his car for a while to take care of some paperwork, and soon returned stating that the wrecker would be here shortly. "You're going to a really bad section of town, so be careful," he stated. Wonderful! Just what we wanted to top off our day

The wrecker arrived shortly thereafter, and out hopped Joel, a guy in his 30's with so many tattoos you couldn't even see his arms. He got us hooked up, we piled into the tow truck and headed off to the impound lot. All the way there he kept telling us, "We're going to the worst section of Dayton, the West Side." And, indeed, he was right. They don't have bars on the windows in the daytime for nothing. For those of you who know Dayton, the Gettysburg Rd. area can be pretty rough. We arrived at the impound lot/junkyard about 20 min. later, and settled in. It really wasn't too bad inside the compound, besides the rather, shall I say, begrimed state of the garage/office where we spent most of our time. Well, OK, it was downright filthy. But, you get used to it after a while, and forget about it.

The original plan was to have Austin's sister and brother-in-law bring a trailer, pick up us and the car, and head onto Michigan. However, they couldn't get the trailer hooked up, and so they just went on without us, and Austin's Dad started out on the three-hour drive down from Michigan to pick us up. So, we waited...and waited. We did get to know some of the guys there pretty well. Jethro, Joel, John, Glen, and the rest of the guys, they were all pretty nice. Crude, to be sure, but hey, we were able to be a light. I was able to witness to a few of them during our unplanned stay, and I pray God will use those seeds that were planted during that unanticipated afternoon.

During this time Austin's sister and brother-in-law had broken down themselves about an hour up the road, and were sitting in a parking lot waiting for us to come rescue them. How ironic, the rescued were soon to be come the rescuers. Well, we arrived at the lot approximately 4:00pm and Austin's Dad arrived with the trailer right at 12:00am. So, we put in an 8-hour shift at Summit Towing. If only we were getting paid...hmm. But, after much grunting and a few hernias we finally succeeded in pushing the now deceased Chrysler Sebring up on the trailer. 20 minutes later we had everything strapped down and Austin and I left our home-away-from-home, car in tow. An hour later we came upon the derelict dualy of David and Joylene’s. There was nothing to be done with the truck, and so it was decided that we would all pile into Austin's Dad's truck. Well, I'm afraid you can't exactly fit six people and a baby in the cab of a pickup truck. What were we to do? Well, we basically had one option, the back of the truck. Yep, you guessed it. We threw a tarp over the back, Austin and I donned a couple extra coats and crawled in. It was 34 degrees...yeah...it was cold. But, in we crawl, laughing and cracking jokes all the way. We settle in (you know, it's kind of difficult to get comfortable in the back of a pickup truck. But, I digress), and we begin our 2 1/2 hour trek back to Michigan. The tarp conveniently gaped on one side allowing a nice icy breeze to freeze one side of by body, and form a perfect downdraft at our feet, thereby ensuring that we could not feel them for the remainder of the journey. We continued to laugh and crack jokes for a while before I eventually threw a hoodie over my face, curled up, and fell asleep for an hour or so. Isn't sleep the first stage of hypothermia? Hmm. Anyway, I woke up to Austin singing Jesus Loves Me, so, why not, I joined in. And we sang, in the back of a pickup truck, covered by a tarp, half frozen, but thoroughly amused (well, at least I was ). "Where are we at?" I yelled. "Squawfield Road" he shouted back. Yes! We were about 5 min. from home. And that leg of our adventure came a close a few minutes later as we pulled into their driveway.

As Austin and I crawled out of our little habitat, I noticed that it was a little tricky to move my legs, and as I slid off the tailgate I stumbled and swayed into the car a few feet away. My legs were so numb I couldn't even feel them and they wouldn't support me A very funny feeling! I was laughing, as was everyone else around me. We were greeted by piping hot chocolate and after a few minutes I could once again feel my legs and was walking normally. After switching my belongings over to my Mom's car (who had come to pick me up) we began the hour-long trip back to my house from Austin's. We arrived a little after 5am and I was once again in the safe confines of home!

What an experience! A 4-hour trip that turned into a 14-hour exploit. I am once again amazed at the grace of God as He leads us along. We really don't know what the future holds, but that's why I stick close to Him, because He does. All things considered, I really don't regret the experience. Who else can say they had a 14 hour escapade on their way home for Spring Break? Granted, I wouldn't want to do it every weekend, but.... The key verse for our trip that eventful Friday evening? Psalm 34:1 "I will bless the Lord at all times, His praise shall continually be in my mouth..."

Tags: Break, Car, Adventure

A few days ago the ABS light came on in my car, indicating a mechanical problem with my anti-lock braking system. I could feel there was a problem soon after. It felt like you were stopping on ice, except on dry pavement. So, my Mom decided it would be best to switch cars with her so she can attempt to get it fixed up by our house. It was decided that we would meet halfway at my Grandpa & Grandma Plemmons house in Waynefield, OH. So, we decided to surpise my grandpa at work before heading over to a gym where their church youth group was meeting. It was really good to see my grandparents and cousins again! I took a few pictures which you can see here. I arrived safely back on campus around 5:00 P.M. tonight with a new (to me ) car. Incidentally, if you can pray that the repairs on my car will not amount to a significant amount I would appreciate it. Thanks!

Ryan

Tags: Car