Suddenly the car lost all power and slowly rolled to the side of the busy highway. A sinking feeling gnawed at my gut; here it goes again. The same thing happened last month, but the car shop could not find anything wrong with it. So i knew i was riding a ticking time bomb and now it happened just like i knew it would.
Rachel and i had a busy week and were taking a couple of hours to go see a movie during lunchtime before the 10 students were to come over to the house for an overnight “brotherhood/male bonding time”. Now everything was falling apart.
We called the tow truck and they promised to be there in 90 minutes to take the van to the shop. After an hour Rachel went home and i waited at a coffee shop. Fortunately Melvin (staff with Stillwaters Church) came over to keep me company. After 3 hours, the truck finally came and Melvin had to go and prepare for the brotherhood that was suppose to start in an hour.
Forty five minutes later we reach the car shop and stayed there for another hour to make sure everything was okay. I was tired, upset, frustrated. I knew this was going to happen and was mad that the shop did not find out what the problem was the first time. Instead of a relaxing day before meeting the students, i am stressed and exhausted.
On the way home in a taxi, i took out my iphone to listen to a message by John Piper in his series on Romans. Wouldn’t you know, its a message on Romans 8 on how we live in a fallen world that even creation groans. Heaven is what we long for, but for now we live in a fallen world with sinful people. The hope of what is to come is far greater than the suffering we face today. It was balm to my soul. I repented of my complaining heart and started to thank God for today.
Arriving home, all the students were there having a great time. Melvin had brought his Wii and a TV (we only have 2 tiny old 12″ TVs) and the house was full of laughter and fun. Later on that night we had a 4 hour (8 to midnight) time of question and answer about things ranging from doctrine to relating to women. And even the next morning some of the students were still asking questions. What blessing to be with a great bunch of men.
Increasingly, the Lord is teaching me that life is not about getting what I want in the way I want. Instead it’s a life of faith, that even in the stressful things, He has His glorious purposes that I need to trust Him for. I did not like a lot of what happened Saturday, but i would not have it any other way.
BTW,the car shop finally found the problem; the van will require $1500 worth of repairs. That’s another story.
Redbaron5's Blog 
I would like to say: thanks for letting me see a very real side of you brother Phil.
In this post AND in the coffee shop waiting. 🙂
Ohh…I miss those brotherhood nights! Hopefully when I visit I get to relive it again. As usual I will be the most vocal! Especially topics about women! Ha! Ha!