I swear it was the GPS’s fault!
Monday morning Hannah, Lauren, Amber P., Amber M., and I woke up, packed up our van, and left Austin, Texas heading for Bonham, Texas. Our plan was to stop in Waco and go to Magnolia Table for lunch before continuing on to our next ministry host. Everything was going according to plan. We arrived in Waco and got to do a little sight seeing before enjoying our lunch at the restaurant. We were back on the road with plenty of wiggle room before having to arrive in Bonham. Our first hiccup happened when we turned around to see the tulips.
Mistake number one: We were driving down the highway when we see this field of color off to the right. Since we had the time we pulled off the next exit to turn around to go see the flowers. I turned off the gps so that it wouldn’t yell at us to turn around the whole time. We get to the fields only to find that they are closed that day. So we take some very far off pictures and then hop back on the highway. It wasn’t until we reach downtown Dallas that I realize I never turned the gps back on. As we are in bumper to bumper traffic, I turn the gps back on and we are quickly back on our way.
Mistake number two: We are following the gps and have just made it out of traffic. Off in the distance we see a Buc-ees, but I quickly realized the gps was making us turn before we got there. We were just going to call it a loss and keep going when we saw the sign. It said Melissa!
I took it as a sign (pun intended) and whipped the van around at the next turn and off we went towards the Buc-ees. This time we did not turn off the gps. (You see! I did learn from the first time.) As we pull up we quickly see that the Buc-ees is still under construction and not yet open to the public. So we pull over and take a picture of the sign and off we go again.
I assumed the gps would flip us back around and put us back on the same road we were on, but it didn’t. Suddenly we find ourselves on back country roads. We trust the gps and follow where it is taking us. We go through small towns and beautiful countryside. There is a point where Lauren sees a sign for a town called Pecan Gap. As we pull up to the town she makes sure and gets a picture of the sign. Little did we know that the Lord had plans for us in Pecan Gap.
The BIG mistake: Our team had called to tell us to make sure we have gas before we arrive at the ministry sight since its outside of town, so I didn’t question too much when the gps told me to turn down the dirt road. After double checking the gps and seeing that it indeed was saying that we were going the right way, I take off down County Road 3550. We got about 1,000 feet down the road when I feel the tires start to slip. Being raised in the country, I know that if you start to slip you have to keep going or else you will get stuck. So I kept going. It didn’t take long before we were good and stuck. That’s when I start laughing.
You know how some people get angry when stuff like this happens? Well, I tend to laugh. I start uncontrollably laughing at the fact that I just got a new 15 passenger van stuck in the mud in some random backwoods country road in small town Texas. We hop out to assess the situation and immediately sink into the mud. As we try to push ourselves out, I have to call and let our other van know that we would definitely be arriving later than planned.
Alleigh picks up the phone and through my laughter I have to convey the seriousness of the fact that we are very much stuck and very much in need of help. Because I could not stop laughing, video proof was asked for before they truly believed me.
We tried everything we could think of to try and get ourselves out, but we finally had to admit defeat and call for help. At this point we have ditched our shoes (they were only making the mud worse) and we were all pretty much covered in mud. A few of us decided to walk back out to the main road to wait for help to come. We were sitting out there when up pulls this flatbed truck. That is when we met Ed.
Ed pulls up and quickly reverses back down to where our poor van is sitting. He didn’t hesitate to lay down in the mud to hook the chain up around the spring on the back. It took no time and he soon was pulling us to freedom. As we exited the mud we began to cheer!
We unhook the chain and finally get to meet Ed. We ask if we can take a picture with him since he saved us.
We have a short conversation and then ask Ed if we could pray for him. We get his phone number so we can send him the selfie and he helps us get back on the right road and headed off in the direction of Bonham. As we watched Ed drive off, we all feel like we are supposed to see him again. We have no clue when or how but we know we feel the Lord stirring our hearts to come back. We talked as a team and decided to reach out and see if we could meet back up with Ed while we were still in the area. Today we were able to make that happen.
This morning we woke up and drove back to Pecan Gap. We met Ed and his wife at the Methodist church and were able to share with the congregation about who we are and how we ended up in Pecan Gap. I found out later that our coming and sharing testimonies of what the Lord is doing here in the states aligned perfectly with what the pastor had envisioned for the service this Palm Sunday. He had specifically left space in the service for someone to give testimonies, he just didn’t know it would be for us.
After service, we split into 2 groups. One group went to another small town nearby to speak to their church while my group went to the baptist church next door to speak to them as well. The pastor of the Baptist church said that this was the First time he had ever not preached on Palm Sunday since becoming the pastor. It was so humbling to know he trusted us enough to allow us the opportunity to speak to their community. He also shared that what we spoke about lined up perfectly with what he had planned to speak about that day. There was no doubt that God was moving.
After church was over, Ed and his wife and a few others from the church took us to The Pig and Whistle cafe for lunch. It felt like home. We got to just sit and fellowship with this incredible community that the Lord had blessed us with. It was my favorite part of the day.
As we finished up lunch and are saying our goodbyes I felt like we were leaving family. How could this community, after only being there for a few hours have made us feel so at home? I am wowed by the hospitality they showed us. I am grateful for the way they blessed us so much in our short time there. I pray one day I’m able to see them again.
Pecan Gap and road 3550 could have been a disaster, but I fully believe that the Lord wanted us to end up there. If it weren’t for those mistakes, we would have never met Ed and got to meet the incredible people we got to spend today with.
Ed, I cannot express how glad I am that you said yes when someone asked you to come pull some kids out of the mud! I was so blessed by the time we got to spend with you. I pray that you and everyone in Pecan Gap know just how much we love and appreciate you guys! You’re our hero! Thank you for everything!
