Friday, March 3, 2017

The Lion and the Mouse


The title may have thrown you off a bit if you aren't into literature....The quote "No act of kindness, no matter how small, is never wasted." is a part of Aesop's Fables from The Lion and the Mouse.

 

Some of you may remember that when we had our Veracruz years ago that as we were driving down the highway (an hour and a half behind my parents) that our car suddenly stopped working! We had no gas, no lights, no power at all! I was scared and crying, after all we had our 8 week old baby in the car with us and I wasn't even driving. I called my parents in tears as Kevin pulled off the highway, we rolled down an exit and coasted into the gas station. Dad talked me into going into the gas station to see if there was an auto repair shop close. There was! Of course....it was just down the street and all we had to do was get there. With 4 kids in the car and me a mess!

We coasted out of the gas station and couldn't drive more than 5 mph. We hugged the side of the road the best we could and there we saw it...Auto Zone! It was a big hill, the kids and I saying we're never going to make it up that hill. Kevin said he had it and he'll make it don't worry. Well, he did and parked us perfectly all while coasting! I was still crying. We didn't know what was wrong and I never thought to stop and pray about it. The guys inside were THE BEST! I have never been to a better Auto Zone. They checked our battery and it was dead! But wait, how does it just die while driving? Well, our Alternator went out. So, now we are hours away from a Hyundai service place, but there is a guy in town named Steve that can help us out. He'll put the new one in for $80. Wow! Ok, we'll take it. Now, we had to get there!

The guys inside Auto Zone played with the kids to keep them company, came out to check on us and even took the time to find an alternator that fit our car. The problem....it was a couple of hours away. No problem they said we'll have that store meet us half way. We'll drop it off to Steve's for you. They arranged for pickup and charged our battery in the car to get us to Steve's ok. We followed their directions and made it there. We ate lunch in the waiting room at the auto repair place and it took Steve a while to get it in. Guess he wasn't really used to working on foreign cars. But, he got it in and we were off. 6 hours late leaving Ohio. But, we left humble, and made new friends. One of those guys we still keep in touch with and him and his wife are our new friends now. We have actually made special arrangements to see them when we are passing through. We ate at a great restaurant and saw some historic sights, which we can never turn down with the kids!

Well, today Sean and I had the girls with us and saw this truck driving down the street and his transmission seemed to be out. You could hear him pressing on the gas and the truck would just rev. He pulled off and happened to pull down the same street that we needed. We knew he would still be there when we rounded the corner and he was. I put down the window and asked if he needed help. He thought maybe we could just push him with our truck so he could get in the parking lot. Sean and I looked at each other and thought I'm not doing that! I told the man that I would go home and get my husband and I would be right back. At this point, I'm not sure he believed me or not, but I had to have Kevin do it. I called Kevin and interrupted his day. Told him to get shoes on that he needed to get this guy in the parking lot. When we pulled in the driveway, there was Kevin ready to go, we got straps and the tow hitch and off we went.

We got to the guy and his truck and he was so thankful that we came back. I knew he wouldn't believe me! But Kevin got the hooks on his truck and the straps on ours and Kevin pulled him into the parking lot, around the corner and into a few parking spaces to wait for the tow truck. The man and his wife were so thankful, he said no one besides us had stopped. People even were mad because they were blocking some of the road. Really! How mean can people be? They offered for us to come to their home for some "pop", yes, they were from the north. They also offered for Sean to come. They never saw the girls, but that's ok!  They're down here for the next 6 weeks, so, we may take them up on their offer and just stop by some time. We love to meet new friends!

I thought I would tell you all about this story so you can see how we meet new friends. The point is, you never know why God placed them in your life, or you in theirs. Always be willing to help people when God places situations in your life. You may need the help someday too...Pay It Forward.

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