By The Side Of The Road | Previous Challenge Entry

how it works

TITLE: By The Side Of The Road | Previous Challenge Entry
By Mary Lou Tiner
06/11/09
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BY THE SIDE OF THE ROAD

I glanced over at the gas gauge of our old ford van, as we had parked by the side of the road. Half full! Doubt starting splashing up around me, like ocean waves when the tide comes creeping in. My eyes traveled from the gauge to my husband, sitting behind the wheel. Was there uncertainty in his eyes? How would we manage to drive over 500 miles on a half tank of gas, especially considering that our old van peaked at around 10 mpg!

The real problem wasn’t the half full tank of gas; it was our empty wallet. For the past three months, this old ford van had been “home” for our family of six. We were newly appointed missionaries, traveling from church to church, sharing our passion and vision for the calling God had given us. We had made a commitment: we would share our mission with any church that would invite us to come but we would never beg for money. God was our Provider. We were convinced that the Holy Spirit could do the job of speaking to those churches and individuals who were to partner with us. And it had worked – until that chilly November day.

We had been invited to this church in Michigan and the pastor had made it clear that they planned to give us a special offering. I must admit, I greatly anticipated this forthcoming gift, as we had been traveling a great deal and our travel funds were depleted. But had I lost my focus? Was I looking to this church to provide for our needs? I rationalized my reaction to this promised support as being simple relief.

We are a musical family and as was often the case, we also performed a concert as well as sharing the mission. It was a blessed evening. As the last echoes of music floated out the door, along with the congregation, we made a startling discovery: we had received no money! We packed up our equipment, puzzled and perplexed. I went to bed that night, only to toss and turn, tangled up with the anxiety of how we would manage to travel to the next church – and eat!

Early the next morning we loaded up the van and headed out of town. Right before we got on the freeway, my husband pulled the van over to the side of the road. “We have a problem,” my husband began, looking in the rear view mirror at the wide eyes of our four children. “We don’t have enough money to make it to the next church, for the next scheduled program. We don’t have enough money for food. We need to pray.” That’s my husband, getting right to the point! Once again, I glanced at the gas gauge, and finally forced my eyes closed to pray.

Each of our children prayed their own unique prayers, including their own perspective on what we “needed”. As Dad was closing with a final prayer, the honking of a car next to us interrupted his “Amen”. I was afraid that when I opened my eyes, I’d see a police car pulled up beside us, ready to give us a ticket for illegally parking. Or perhaps an irate driver, shaking his fist at us, accusing us of blocking traffic.

The driver was motioning to my husband to roll down our window. He greeted us with a cheery “Good Morning” and with just a few sentences, this man, who we didn’t recognize, rocked our world. “I am so happy I found you. I forgot to give this to you last night. Have a safe trip.” And with that, the man handed my husband an envelope stuffed with cash! The envelope contained more than enough money to fill our gas tank several times over and even buy food!

We remained parked at the side of the road for a few minutes longer, as once again we prayed around our circle, this time emotional prayers of praise! God had overwhelmed us and reminded us in a very poignant manner just Who our Provider was. His provision came after we prayed – after we reached the point where we knew we had no other options.

We have served as missionaries for 19 years. It has been a great adventure! The Lord knew we’d need this lesson of faith, learned by the side of the road.

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