Nancy’s Story:
“The power steering just went out,” my husband said.
We were driving on I-25 through north Denver during a President’s Day snowstorm, coming home from a hockey tournament. Our 17-year-old minivan had begun making a squealing sound only a few minutes earlier.
“Oh no!” I said. “Do you feel like you’re going to lose control of the car?”
“I can still steer manually, but we should probably get off the road,” Michael said. Breaking a coffee mug unsettles my husband, but somehow he seemed calm about losing power steering during a blizzard on the interstate.
We looked for the next exit and saw a sign for Thornton. It was snowing so hard that we couldn’t see buildings beyond the exit ramp. Soon after pulling off I-25, a Chick-Fil-A became visible on the right; we pulled over for a bathroom stop.
“I better keep the car running,” Michael said, popping the hood.
After I returned from the bathroom, a man had joined Michael, and they both were looking at the engine.
“We’re going to follow this guy over to the Sears’ auto center,” Michael told me.
“There’s a mall right over there,” the man added.
Our three sons came out of Chick-Fil-A, looking disoriented and disheveled from rolling out of bed right before the return trip.
We loaded up and followed Good Neighbor Guy slowly down the road to the mall parking lot, where we pulled up right in front of the Sears Automotive Service center. At that exact moment, the minivan engine died.
Relieved we had made it, we all piled into the waiting area while Good Neighbor guy and Michael talked to the clerk.
Surely, I had prayed when we were on the interstate, something theologically profound and eloquent like,
“God, help!”
Whether I remembered to pray in that moment of panic, God did help.
At that time, I didn’t have data on my phone. Yet God had led us not only to an exit with an automotive shop, but also to a bathroom stop, where he had provided a stranger to help us. Then God kept our car running until the last second in order for us to make it to Sears Auto Center.
Psalm 91 has been a comfort to me since my young adult years. “He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge … For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways” (vv. 4, 11). These verses came alive to me that morning.
But God wasn’t finished showing up for us. When we talked to the clerk about the need for a new serpentine belt and tensioners to hold it in place, the clerk told us that Good Neighbor Guy also wanted to pay half our bill.
A complete stranger wants to help us pay for our car repairs?! I thought, amazed.
Then I took another look at my three sons, ages 10, 14, and 16. They were wearing raggedy sweatpants, looking exactly like kids who had rolled out of bed just in time to get in the car an hour ago. Our minivan looked pathetic too, with rust on one side.
We were paying our bills during those days, but there wasn’t much to spare. I stayed home with my kids, focused on being a full-time mom and homeschooling for most of their education. Living on one income was tough, especially now that all three sons were involved in activities to develop their interests. Hockey was the most expensive one, so Zane, our 14-year-old, had waited until high school to play travel hockey. He even helped pay for it from summer job money.
We weren’t used to accepting handouts, but we accepted the mysterious stranger’s offer. After we walked across the mall parking lot in the snowstorm to a restaurant for breakfast, we found out about its early bird discount breakfast special. It was the cherry on top of God’s loving protection and provision that winter day.
I got the man’s number and texted him our thanks for his kindness to us, also sharing that we believed God put him in our path that day to watch over us. His answer wished us the best but did not acknowledge God.
His response didn’t discourage me. If anything, it further convinced me that God was “guarding us in all our ways,” inspiring someone to help us who maybe didn’t believe in him at all. Proverbs 21:1 says, “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases.” If God can direct kings according to his plans, he can direct Good Neighbor Guy at Chick-Fil-A in the middle of a Colorado snowstorm.
Rarely in my life has God shown me so clearly how his hand is protecting and guiding me and my family through life’s many storms. Yet that day, God gave me a glimpse of the lovingkindness he has had for me all the days of my life.
Photo by Natilyn Hicks Photography on Unsplash
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