I don’t mind surprises when they are fun or pleasant. But the frightening ones are a different story.
In my last article: “Gonna Do,” I talked about Tim and me taking a cruise on the Tennessee Rive for our 40th wedding anniversary. Earlier that Saturday, we ate lunch at our favorite restaurant, which was in Turkey Creek. After we left, we decided to take a detour to Neyland drive. I wasn’t exactly sure where we needed to park to board the paddleboat. As we were driving up the steep on-ramp from Campbell Station Rd to I-40, we got behind a small, slow moving dump truck. Tim pulled over behind it. This struck me as odd. His normal behavior would have been to zoom around it. When we merged onto the interstate, Tim stayed in the outside lane. Before I could ask what was going on with him, he said: “We’ve got a problem. The check engine light is on. I think it’s in limp mode. I hope I can get us off of the road before it dies.” When I heard that, my heart leapt into my throat and I began to pray for our safety. As you know, it’s hazardous to be stopped on the side of the road, but being stopped on I-40 in West Knoxville traffic is on another level of danger.
Tim was right because my car limped up the ramp to Lovell Rd. He pulled into a Casey’s parking lot. Immediately I said a small prayer of thanks.
Tim jumped out and raised the hood. “Start it up the engine. I need to listen to it.” When I did, I heard the loud rattling noise loud and clear. It sounded to me like an evil mechanical cackle. I knew that was not a good sound. Tim closed the hood. “That’s not good.” I knew we definitely wouldn’t driving my car anywhere else. I dug out my car insurance card from my purse and called for road side assistance. I received a text they would get back with me within 5 minutes. After that time had passed, I received another text that said it would 5 more minutes since they were still trying to find us help. I didn’t say anything to Tim, but I was beginning to doubt that we would be able to catch our cruise that evening.
Soon I received another text saying that they were still trying to get us assistance and it would be another 10 minutes. I didn’t want spend my day sitting in the parking lot while we waited on a tow. So, I Googled the car dealership and called them. Tim asked: “Who are you calling?” I answered: “The car dealership. I know the service department probably isn’t open on a Saturday, but what do we have to lose?” You know what? I was right. Their service department was open. The service tech told me to have my car towed to them. I asked what time they closed since I was still waiting on roadside assistance to get back with me about a tow. He immediately texted me the number to Clinton Highway Wrecker Service. I called and they said they could be there in 25 minutes. They also asked if we needed a ride as well. I told them we did and there were two of us. I thanked God that we didn’t need somebody to drive to West Knoxville to give us a ride. That being said, we would need one from the dealership to get back home. So, I called my stepfather and he said to give them a call when we were on our way.
The wrecker showed up right on time. It was interesting to watch him load my car onto the rollback. I hadn’t before seen that. Once it was loaded, Tim and I climbed into the wrecker, which was high off of the ground. To me, it was strange looking down onto the other cars. It was its own adventure. Once we were at the dealership, we had to clean out my car. Mom and my stepfather arrived shortly after we did, so we got back home about an hour and a half before time to board the paddle boat. I asked Tim: “Do you feel like going on the cruise?” He answered: “Oh yeah. Do you?” With that So we hopped into his truck and went on to the cruise. As for my car, I got it back nine days later. Fortunately for us, the issue was covered by warranty.
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” Psalm 46:1 (KJV)
It was the LORD who kept us safe by allowing the car to run enough to get us off of the interstate. It was the LORD who got us help in a timely manner. In fact, He has helped us with troubles that we weren’t even aware of being a threat. So always be thankful to Him.
After we got back home, I realized something. How many people can say they have ridden in rollback wrecker and a paddleboat in the same day? Kinda cool huh?