Shortgrass
Well-known member
My daughter had't heard this story so I thought I'd share it with all - here goes:
Over 40years ago I was driving a truck for Weaver Brothers out of Kenai, Alaska. I have no doubt that I was a Christian and knew God. But I had a lot to learn about God; the God that I knew would be there to help you out if you were in a real bind. If big troubles befell you, all you had to do was holler, and God would drop what important affairs He was involved in and show up from somewhere (probably Washington DC) and help you through your troubles. I went to church pretty regular, and always put some money in the offering plate. Well, at the time of this story, I had had a few days off, and plenty of hours to drive, and, as always, a little short on cash. The dispatcher told me he had a load of hot oil (asphalt) to go to Anchorage, and his asphalt driver was out of hours; did I want the load? I was quick to jump on it. My assigned unit was a fifth wheel tractor, but for this trip, I would need to drive a body tank with a pup. I had reached Cooper Landing when I discovered a flat. I singled the rear dual on the pup out and limped on. At Summit Lake I noticed the front axle of the pup had a flat tire. I singled that out also, and gingerly proceeded. As I descended Hope Hill (we called it that because the cutoff to the small Alaskan village of Hope was at the base of the hill) I noticed the the steering axle of the pup had the single wheel wobbling. I pulled off at a good wide turn out that I "luckily" was very near. I discovered a broken wheel. Well, with two flats and a broken wheel, all limping was over. I would have to drop the pup (this was in the pre-cell phone era) and go to Anchorage to get tires and return for the pup. As I got out of the truck, I felt a strong urge to pray, but after all if a trucker can't handle this simple task, he needs other work! I blocked the pup unit real well as the hill is pretty steep. I unhooked air lines, unplugged the pigtail, and opened the pintle hook and raised the tongue. As I started to pull the body tank away, something stopped me. Darn! I forgot to take the safety cable loose. As I reached for my tools, I realized that I had left my box of tools in my assigned unit, and I did not have a wrench or any sign of tools in this unit. The cable had a clevis hook that required a 9/16 wrench. Again as I got out of the truck I felt the urge to pray, and again I reasoned that I could do this and wouldn't need to "bother" God with such a trivial matter. This seems so foolish now, and it is, but at the time, it seemed very logical. I began flagging down traffic, and it was not real plentiful there at that time. No one seemed to have even a Cresent wrench. After about an hour, and the third car, a lady assured me that she had one in the back of her tightly packed station wagon. We unloaded it, only to discover a she didn't know the difference between a cresent wrench and a lug wrench! As I reloaded her vehicle, she did produce a pair of vise grips from the glove box, and it worked! At last I was free to leave the pup and go on to Anchor town. The lady had left, and it was just me on the Hope hill. As I went to mount the unit, I looked on the ground and there in the gravel was a rust speckled 9/16 wrench! Had I obeyed the urge to pray for God's help either time, I would have spotted that wrench by virtue of bowing my head. Now, I heard no audible sound, but as I picked that rusty wrench up the thoughts of my mind were as if it was God telling me "I was here all the time, why would you not turn to Me? As I lifted my eyes to gaze through an opening in the clouds to a beautiful Alaskan sky, I saw a vision of a God that was very involved in my life. He had gone to great pains to place a wrench at the exact place where I would need it. He had scheduled every event of my life in minute details. I was no "bother" to Him, nor did I need to call for Him to come. He was and is here with me. I met Hope on Hope Hill. I have Hope upon Hope to this day, and He is more precious than ever. That was a life changing event, and I have been much closer to Him since. Well, thanks for letting me unload this story, and have a Good Sunday mornin'…..
Over 40years ago I was driving a truck for Weaver Brothers out of Kenai, Alaska. I have no doubt that I was a Christian and knew God. But I had a lot to learn about God; the God that I knew would be there to help you out if you were in a real bind. If big troubles befell you, all you had to do was holler, and God would drop what important affairs He was involved in and show up from somewhere (probably Washington DC) and help you through your troubles. I went to church pretty regular, and always put some money in the offering plate. Well, at the time of this story, I had had a few days off, and plenty of hours to drive, and, as always, a little short on cash. The dispatcher told me he had a load of hot oil (asphalt) to go to Anchorage, and his asphalt driver was out of hours; did I want the load? I was quick to jump on it. My assigned unit was a fifth wheel tractor, but for this trip, I would need to drive a body tank with a pup. I had reached Cooper Landing when I discovered a flat. I singled the rear dual on the pup out and limped on. At Summit Lake I noticed the front axle of the pup had a flat tire. I singled that out also, and gingerly proceeded. As I descended Hope Hill (we called it that because the cutoff to the small Alaskan village of Hope was at the base of the hill) I noticed the the steering axle of the pup had the single wheel wobbling. I pulled off at a good wide turn out that I "luckily" was very near. I discovered a broken wheel. Well, with two flats and a broken wheel, all limping was over. I would have to drop the pup (this was in the pre-cell phone era) and go to Anchorage to get tires and return for the pup. As I got out of the truck, I felt a strong urge to pray, but after all if a trucker can't handle this simple task, he needs other work! I blocked the pup unit real well as the hill is pretty steep. I unhooked air lines, unplugged the pigtail, and opened the pintle hook and raised the tongue. As I started to pull the body tank away, something stopped me. Darn! I forgot to take the safety cable loose. As I reached for my tools, I realized that I had left my box of tools in my assigned unit, and I did not have a wrench or any sign of tools in this unit. The cable had a clevis hook that required a 9/16 wrench. Again as I got out of the truck I felt the urge to pray, and again I reasoned that I could do this and wouldn't need to "bother" God with such a trivial matter. This seems so foolish now, and it is, but at the time, it seemed very logical. I began flagging down traffic, and it was not real plentiful there at that time. No one seemed to have even a Cresent wrench. After about an hour, and the third car, a lady assured me that she had one in the back of her tightly packed station wagon. We unloaded it, only to discover a she didn't know the difference between a cresent wrench and a lug wrench! As I reloaded her vehicle, she did produce a pair of vise grips from the glove box, and it worked! At last I was free to leave the pup and go on to Anchor town. The lady had left, and it was just me on the Hope hill. As I went to mount the unit, I looked on the ground and there in the gravel was a rust speckled 9/16 wrench! Had I obeyed the urge to pray for God's help either time, I would have spotted that wrench by virtue of bowing my head. Now, I heard no audible sound, but as I picked that rusty wrench up the thoughts of my mind were as if it was God telling me "I was here all the time, why would you not turn to Me? As I lifted my eyes to gaze through an opening in the clouds to a beautiful Alaskan sky, I saw a vision of a God that was very involved in my life. He had gone to great pains to place a wrench at the exact place where I would need it. He had scheduled every event of my life in minute details. I was no "bother" to Him, nor did I need to call for Him to come. He was and is here with me. I met Hope on Hope Hill. I have Hope upon Hope to this day, and He is more precious than ever. That was a life changing event, and I have been much closer to Him since. Well, thanks for letting me unload this story, and have a Good Sunday mornin'…..