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Sunday, April 25, 2010

You’re kidding…we’re out of gas?!

So after our youth service last night around 7:30, we were driving home, just like any other Saturday night, looking forward to an evening of mediocre leftover pizza and a movie with David and Kristina. A few minutes after we left the church, Chase said “the car is driving really strange”. My first thought: Oh my goodness. Car trouble again! We just bought this car – please don’t let it be another ‘93 Honda Civic mess all over again! Lord, you know how much I loathe breaking down in the middle of the road, especially after having done it 20 or 30ish times in the aforementioned Civic. Please, please, please, let the car go back to normal and everything be ok.” While these thoughts were taking place, our car was slowing to a stop, as it had turned off. I feared the worst, but Chase said “I think we are out of gas” and strangely, while we both felt stupid (even though the gauge said we still had a quarter tank and the fuel light never turned on), I was comforted. Ok, we need gas then. We call Jeremy (our boss) who wouldn’t be far away and he agreed to come and see what he could do. He comes, Chase and Jeremy talk for awhile about what to do and then it’s decided that Jeremy will go get a 3-liter bottle (a Nica taxi driver’s recommendation) full of diesel for us. Jeremy gets in to turn on his car, and the battery is dead, as he had left his lights on. Next, we call David, who graciously comes and brings us the 3-liter bottle of diesel (pictured below). IMG_2200We put it in, try to start the car, and lo and behold, our battery has died as well. We had our headlights on to prevent us from getting hit (we were stopped in the middle of the road, right after a curve) and it turned out unfavorably for us. Oh, and at that moment, our gas light came on. Thanks for that. So David jumps Jeremy’s car, then tries to help us jump ours. As we are attempting to do us, another Nicaraguan man comes by and tells us that when a diesel car runs out of gas, you can’t just put in more gas and start it up…especially with a dead battery. By this time it is 9:00pm.

We call a guy, Jason, who just happens to know absolutely everything about cars and whose ministry is partly to be a mechanic for missionaries. We know he is extremely busy, but hope he can give us some insight as to what to do. We call, and he says he’s on his way. He arrives and says we will need a lot more gas. So David, again, goes to the gas station for us and fills up that beloved 3-liter bottle again, along with another car fluid container of some type. Meanwhile, Jason and his neighbor who came along for the ride, Dave, were tinkering under the hood to restore fuel pressure, connecting 2 different sets of jumper cables to their car and ours, and hand pumping something else, while another Nica guy turns up from nowhere and “helps” them by using his cell phone as a dim flashlight. David comes back with gas, and the starting attempts begin. They pump, rev the other car’s engine, Chase tries to start ours. No luck. Again. No luck. Again. No luck. Over and over this went on. I was losing hope, when all of a sudden, it worked. All I could say was “Praise the Lord!”

Chase and I have been feeling a little lonely, friendless, and sorry for ourselves recently, but maybe this was God’s way of reminding us about what a great community we are blessed with. We so appreciate the help of Jeremy, David, Jason, and Dave, and can’t help but think about what we would have done without them. Lock the doors, cry, and sit tight til morning, maybe. So glad we found our way home eventually, even if it was 10:15 PM. And the best part, we had that leftover pizza waiting for us. 

3 comments:

  1. Chase, you look like you are about to burn something to the ground with that bottle of diesel.

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  2. What's embarrassing is to run out gas when your gas gage is working perfectily fine. Glad it came out ok.

    Love you guys!

    Dad

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  3. I laughed out loud on this one! I am so sorry, but I'm glad it worked out and that God used it to remind you that He's always with you, and surrounds you with His people! I love you guys. Sorry to have a good laugh at your expense!

    ReplyDelete

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