While I was growing up, I often heard the expression: “That went crossways.” Have you ever heard it? In my family, it meant that not only did something not work the way it should have, but also there was no going forward or backwards. Tim and I recently experienced this.
Saturday October 3, started out like a normal one for us. Tim loaded our dog Roxy and the trash into his old gray truck to take it to the dump. It’s also the only vehicle we’ll let our dog ride in since she sheds so much. Each time I vacuum, I say that I have enough hair in the canister to make another dog. After Tim closed the garage door, I began to get ready for the day. I was so excited about sitting at the HUC booth in the Union County Heritage Festival. Within a few minutes, Tim called on my phone. I assumed the truck had died and they were sitting on the road not far from our house. I was wrong.
“I’m sitting crossways in the driveway. The linkage has come loose.” Not having any idea what that meant, I didn’t say anything. Finally, he said: “I can’t change gears.” I answered: “It’s okay as long as we can still get our cars out of the garage.” When he replied, I could hear the frustration in his voice. “You don’t understand! The driveway is completely blocked!” Immediately I put on my shoes and ran out to the garage. When I opened the door, I saw the gray truck sitting sideways and across the front of the garage. You see, I had assumed Tim had turned around in the driveway next to the road. He does that sometimes.
Unfortunately, he was right. There was no way we were getting our vehicles out of the garage. Tim hopped out of the truck and slammed his door shut. “Do we need to call a tow truck?” I asked. I tried not to think about what that would cost or how long it would take. “No, it’s happened before and I can fix it, but we need to move the truck.” He opened his door and began to push it toward the front yard. So, I went out in my pjs and opened the passenger side door and began to push too. Too make the situation better, it was raining. Somehow, he had managed to shift into neutral, so it didn’t take long to get it into the yard.
Then he got his white truck out of the garage and backed it to where the two tailgates weren’t that far apart. Next, he connected the white and gray trucks with a strap. After he finished, he told me to get into the gray truck and turn the wheel as if I was going to back up the driveway. I did, but I also kept my right foot just above the brake. If for some reason Tim came to a sudden stop, the gray truck needed to as well or it would crash into the back of the white one. Can you imagine the call to our insurance agent? “We had a head-on collisions in the tailgates while sitting in the driveway.” So, when Tim put his white truck into gear, the gray one jerked backwards. I was keeping an eye on the white one when I saw the strap break. I slammed on the brake. Tim took that strap off and went into the garage to get another one. As he did, I worried about not making it to the Heritage festival after I promised I would be there. I imagined making the disappointing phone call. Soon Tim had the other strap on both trucks. This time, when Tim drove the truck forward, the gray one was pulled backwards with it. Once the gray truck was facing the garage, Tim put on the brakes and I slammed on the gray truck’s brakes. No collision. Then I got out and Tim climbed into the driver’s seat. He let it roll downhill and safely into the garage. At that point, he calmed down and I felt relieved. Then I realized, I shouldn’t have assumed the situation in such a negative manner.

“Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” Philippians 4:8 (KJV)
This verse encourages us to have godly and positive thoughts. I hate to admit it, but that was not my first reaction with the crossways truck. Instead, I immediately envisioned a worst-case scenario. I think many of us do that. Next time, I’ll try to be positive and praise The Lord.
A little later, I did begin to see the situation somewhat differently. I told Tim things could’ve been worse and we were blessed that this didn’t happen why he was on the road or at the dump. Also, this was something he could fix himself. He agreed. Then I said: “Best of all, I’ll get an article out of it!”

Brooke Cox is an author, speaker, and storyteller. She was a 2016 Selah Awards Finalist for Debut Novel. Her children’s book: “Dinosaur Eggs,” is now available. It is based on Ephesians 6: The Armor of God. Her novel “Until the Moon Rises: A Conniving Cousin Mystery” is also available. Also, she has two books out in her storytelling series: “Saucy Southern Stories.” The Amazon links for her books may be found on her website: brookecoxstories.com. Please feel free to contact her. She would love to hear from you.