Family Vacation

We just got back from a 6 day trip to Colorado where we were visiting friends, partner ministries, sight seeing, and seeking the Lord on potential headquarter locations.  I could blog about the things we did and the places we went and the foxes and deer and the strange animals we saw.  But instead, here's a story of God's hand at work...

Can I brag on my husband a bit?  Greg does an awesome job of maintaining our van.  From changing oil to changing transmission fluid to brake pads and more... Greg knows his stuff!  And when he's working on some part of the van, he'll often check the parts around it.  Changing the oil?  Might as well check the water pump at the same time and make sure it's not going bad.

We had planned Wednesday as our last day in Colorado.  Plans included a meeting with a key ministry friend in the morning and then a drive back to Kansas at noon.  Friday through Tuesday went as planned with various trips and visits.  My sister Lucinda was with us and we turned on Adventures in Odyssey tapes during our longer car rides.  "Family Vacation" was the episode playing on Tuesday's trip back from Salida and we laughed over the Barclay family having to change their vacation plans because of a failed fuel pump.

We returned to our Colorado Springs host home late Tuesday evening and climbed out of the van to the smell of... coolant?  Greg poked around the van for a few minutes and discovered that the water pump was leaking.  We weren't driving back to Kansas with a busted water pump; instead, we decided to postpone our return trip by a day, giving Greg Wednesday afternoon to get the new water pump installed.

Wednesday morning, we kept our meeting with the key ministry friend and had a good visit.  A really good visit.  And as we delved into critical things that the Lord was wanting to work in our lives, none of us wanted to stop.  So the visit continued until we reluctantly wrapped up at 4pm.

We picked up the part at the local dealership and headed back to our host home where Greg capably swapped out the water pumps and we enjoyed supper and more conversation with our hosts.  We drove back to Kansas on Thursday (after visiting the zoo).

So, the hand of God?  That water pump failing.  Can I tell you how many times I've seen Greg check the water pump for signs of failure?  Lots.  That water pump had gone for 170,000 miles.  Why fail now?  But if it wouldn't have failed, we wouldn't have had time in our schedule for that extended conversation on Wednesday.  And that conversation was really of the Lord.

God, thanks for hearing our prayers asking you to guide our time and our plans.  And thanks for making the water pump fail.  We needed that. :)