Huh?

Lions and Tigers, and Engines Oh My!

I was all excited, I was heading out of town on my way to the Tri-cities. For those of you with a working knowledge of Washington State, you realize that there is already something wrong here. Being excited about going to the Tri-cities is like being excited to go to Lewiston when you're from Moscow. They are very nearly equal in their resemblance to a geographical arm pit. So, here I was excited to be getting out of town, enjoying the wind in my face, well I didn't really have wind in my face, it was 10 degrees with the wind chill, nonetheless, I was glad (not the NJ Glad, notice no capital letter) to be going somewhere besides Pullman for the day.

I recently installed a very nice stereo system in my pickup and I was testing the limits of the base and speakers...I was having a good time. I just crested a hill coming out of Colfax (a town that is populated by law enforcement people that have nothing better to do than to carry large microscopes in the hopes of finding a crack in one of your tail lights that warrants a citation) when I felt a little pause in the power of my pickup. Thinking nothing of it, I continued on, with the air of one who is not bound by the silly little realities of life (at least on this day). A few miles down the road my perspective changed, as did my deameanor and mood (I can never remember if mood=demeanor). I heard a gastly clunk, followed by a clank, and topped off with a bluwump. The pickup suddenly became lifeless, almost listless. So doing as any red-blooded American man would do; I stopped in the middle of the road to make sure my inconvenience was shared. No really, I pulled safely off in a wide spot of the road and got out of the vehicle and, you guessed it, I opened the hood. I opened the hood even though I'm only vaguely familiar with how a diesel engine works. I confidently and knowlingly stared at all the parts of the engine and even nodded to myself, as if to say, "at least peope passing by will think I know what I'm looking at." After opening the hood, looking at the engine, and discovering that I was no more informed as to the cause of my truck stopping than before opening the hood...I shut the hood and went back to the truck to try and start it. It wouldn't even turn over. After towing it back to town and having someone who, here's a thought, "actually knows something about engines," look at it. We determined that in fact, my truck is in need of a new engine. Two days of frustration and 20% of my yearly salary later, an engine is on its way from New York.

I think what was brought home to me is how serious God is about the fact we only make plans, what comes to pass is his. Oddly enough this whole episode really hasn't bothered me. It's given me an opportunity to see how eager some of my friends and family are to help me. That's a very cool feeling, and something that I'm so grateful to our Lord for.