Yes, I've been delinquent. I've been unbelievably busy, so I'm going to take the wimpy way out and post what Janice wrote about our visitation adventure 2 weeks ago.



Puertorican Potholes and Providential Provision

If you know anything about Puerto Rico, you probably wonder the same thing I do. Where does all of the toll money go? Because it surely does not go to the roads...I officially met a Puertorican pothole Monday night - in "met" I mean hit it dead on. And this was no ordinary pothole - no, this was the "Grand Canyon of all potholes."Sarah Nething and I were on our way to visit one of my students as all good Calvary teachers do on Monday nights. We travel about a half an hour away from the school, up near the mountains, and the road was worse than usual - even for PR. We arrived at what I thought was the correct street 25 minutes early. Not wanting to alarm the family, I decided that we should drive around and "explore." So we did, but on the way back, it was starting to get dark. And....it had rained that day. So the combination of those two things made it hard to see all of the potholes....thus the inevitable meeting. As soon as we hit it, I heard the air escaping from the front passenger side tire. "Great! I thought! Of all the things - this is NOT what I need." (It's funny...Sarah and were just feeling like "grownups" an hour before because they were "letting" go on visitation by ourselves...)Conveniently, the next safest place to pull off was the road that I thought the student lived on. I call the family letting them know what happened, and we were actually farther up the road than we should have been. So they tell us to stay where we are (what else are going to do?) and they would come find us. So, I proceed to get the spare tire, the crowbar, and the jack out of the trunk, having no earthly idea what to do with them. As we're getting ready to attempt to change the tire ourselves (in skirts!!!). we notice a man sitting up on his balcony in the house right next to us. We notice him because he is giving all kinds of advice as well as telling us what tools to use. My flesh immediately thought, "Why don't you get up and offer us some help?! If this were the South I'd have two or three gentlemen stopping to help by now!" I finally asked Sarah to ask him if he would help. She does so, and he reluctantly agrees. So we wait for TEN minutes for the man to come downstairs...."What is taking him so long???" I think. Finally, he comes around the corner, and I am instantly rebuked because the man has a prosthetic leg and is walking with a cane. I felt horrible! He hobbles over to us and attempts to turn the lug nuts, which were put on last time with a machine. However, because he had no leverage due to his fake leg, we were stepping on one side of the crowbar while he pushed on the other with his weak arms. The bolts wouldn't budge. We tried for a good twenty minutes, with him going all the way back inside to get more tools.Finally, my student's parents arrive on the scene. At the same time the man from the house across the street comes out to offer some help. I selfishly think, "Well, where have you been all this time? Watching us from your window???" Again, I am instantly rebuked when the man tells us that he is a mechanic. Of all the jobs he could have had and of all the roads we could have stopped on, the Lord providentially placed us across the street from a mechanic. At this point, the bolts were starting to loosen a little, but the miniscule jack that we had was not placed correctly under the car, and the car falls off. So our handy mechanic goes into his garage and gets a professional jack and proceeds to get the car back in place.We change the tire, and the mechanic takes my old tire into his garage. Now this is no "leave your work at the office" mechanic. This is a "I have my own air machine in my garage" mechanic. He tries to fix it, but alas, it was ruined.The job being done, we say "Muchas gracias!" to everyone involved and have our visit with the family. Of course, I have to drive extra slow on the way back to school - which, as all of you who know me well, know I don't like to do.I thought that this would be the end of the story, but God's provision was more than I ever expected. Our school's Mr. Fix-it, Mike, says that he will take the car on Tuesday to get a new tire on it for me. He ends up not having time, so I wait until Wednesday. All day I wait for him to come and tell me what I owe the tire place. I never hear from him, so I called him after school. An anonymous person paid for me to have not one, but TWO new tires for the front of my car. I knew that replacing two tires at a time is always better, but I only had money for one, so that was what I was going to get. But the Lord knew my need. He was the only One who knew my checkbook balance, and He provided over and above what I could ever ask or think!All of this has shown me that we serve a God who is in control of every situation and that nothing is too hard for Him!

I'll provide my own commentary on the event at a later date, provided I have a chance to breathe/email.