The Memorial Day Miracle

Matt and Merrin

We loved the parade, but after sitting in the sweltering heat for two hours, we were ready to get home and go to the pool. Walking back to the van in the scorching sun was miserable. We were drained, and I was anxious to go pick up Kayleigh and Cozette, who were with Betsy. When we reached our van, I told Brad to crank the air conditioning as fast as he could!

Only the van would not start.

And this is when the excitement started.

Poor little Everett was so hot and sweaty. He said, "Great. Perfect timing!"  Since then, we have discussed just how perfect the timing really was.

I will list all of the little miracles that happened.

1. I immediately called Betsy's husband to tell them we were in a pickle. "No problem. We will take Kayleigh and Cozette home with us."  I am not sure what we would have done with Cozette being in the heat. It was a relief knowing they were safe.

2. When I was on the phone with Mike, Brad was opening the hood. A very nice man just happened to go to his van which was parked beside ours, and he offered to help.  (Truthfully, we were waiting for Nikki to arrive, because she was parked down from us). The first charge did not help, so we charged it again. The van would crank, but it would turn off after a few seconds. This man helped us in a way that we realized it was not safe to drive the van. We thanked him, and then he left. We waited for Nikki who would drive us home after we had the van towed.

3. Nikki arrived with Merrin, Matt, and Lane (Merrin's brother).

4. We didn't know that Matt was a mechanic. Matt was an answer to our prayer. We did not know there was an Advanced Auto right across the street. We could not see it, because we were parked down a hill, and it was across the street located at the bottom of a hill. Matt said that we needed to push the van across the street.

I said, "No way!" Everyone looked at me like I was nuts, and Brad asked, "Do you really want to pay a towing fee?" I did not, but I also didn't want everyone having to push the van up a hill and across a busy street. Plus, our van was parked at an angle on a hill. It had to backed out at the opposite angle. I told Brad there was no way I could do it.

5.  So, Nikki did. Poor little thing. She told me afterward that there was no way I could have done it, and at one point, she was so nervous that her leg started shaking. Merrin said that she was going to help push the van. I said, "Merrin, you are not going to push that van across the street. Not even I'm going to do that." We about fell over from laughing when she responded, "Jeannie, I grew up with four brothers. I'm practically a man!" She is a character.

6. I will never forget watching Brad, Merrin, Matt, and Lane pushing that van up that hill. Merrin's long pony tail was blowing in the wind. Nikki said that Matt literally ran with the van giving her detailed instructions along the way. I could not believe the momentum they got from running. The van looked like a speeding bullet as it crossed the street. Nikki said that she looked in the rear view mirror, and Lane was hanging on the back of the van like Spider man when she was coasting down the hill. The biggest miracle was that at the exact second the van had to cross the street, there was not any traffic. We were concerned about that. Right after the van flew across the road, traffic suddenly backed up again. We all noticed that little detail.

7. Matt saved the day when we arrived at Advanced Auto. He and Brad replaced the battery, and Matt did a test to determine if that was the only problem. We were so grateful that it was, and we did not have to replace the alternator. He saved us the cost of a towing fee, too.  I have never been around people who were so willing to help. Matt and Merrin made us feel like it was their pleasure to help us. I kept thinking that I hoped to be like them the next time I have the opportunity to serve.

If I had to choose a time to have vehicle issues, there never could have been better timing.

Even Everett now agrees!