Someone's praying for patience again!

When Joshua and I met in the ministry in 2002, we and our good friend, Nathan Reavis, often joked after hard trials in the faith. We would say, "Someone doesn't like me. They're praying for me to learn patience!" Those young, pre-matrimony days were so beautiful in communion and fellowship, and were filled with lots of brotherly love. But they were also the days in which Joshua and I learned a lot of patience, and learned to lean on the Lord's strength through the trials.

As you may read through our blog, we've been tested a lot this summer. From the many breakdowns we've experienced, to the robbery of the tools that sustain Joshua's remodelling business, we've seen the Lord's provision through it all. Through the trials, we've learned to hold His hand as he walks us through those valleys. The growing time with Jesus has been challenging and sweet.

Once again, we are in the middle of a trial. This time, it's the transmission on the truck. The fact that there's a huge bulging bubble at the bottom of the transmission, where something crashed down and made it's mark in the box, doesn't surprise us one bit. After almost 280,000 miles, it was an inevitable occurance. This transmission has seen the last of it's days, and after crossing the Ozark Mountains, the Rocky Mountains, and the Sierra Madres, all with pulling our big 6'x12' trailor crammed from front to back and loading so much that our axle is bowed out on both sides, it's no wonder that the transmission finally said "Adios!" last night. In the middle of the highway, heading home to the church where we sleep in the nursery room, the accelerator stopped working and we coasted into the parking lot of an abandoned (but safe and well-lit, praise the Lord) parking lot.

Please pray that we can find a good mechanic who will fix the transmission quickly, and affordably. We are told that there is no "reparations" to be made, but rather, we just need to rebuild the whole thing. Neither one of us knowing much about cars, we've resorted to the advice of an acquaintance in Las Cruces Calvary Chapel who, although not a mechanic, has lot's of car knowledge and has sacrificed much of his free time away from work to walk through this trial with us.

We appreciate your prayers.