You won't believe where I took my kids......

I know you all are anxiously awaiting the posts about our recent trip to St. Augustine. And those will be coming soon but I wanted to share something that happened on our trip home.

Because Steven had to be in Savannah early Saturday morning to take the Ga. Teacher Certification exam, we took separate cars on vacation. He left St. Augustine for Savannah about 4 am on Saturday. Then the kids and I left later, headed for home.

We were south of Sav., when Emma and Dougie needed to make a pit stop. I pulled off the highway and made our way to a gas station. I let the kids run in and stayed in the car with the little boys because we still abide by that whole never wake a sleeping baby rule, even if they're 1 and 3! When we got back on the road, I noticed that the AC wasn't blowing cool air. In fact, I realized that the faster I drove, the hotter it was getting. So I shut it off and we rolled down the windows.

Now you may or may not know that back in May we had a brand new air compressor put on the van to the tune of $900 and a few weeks before vacation, we were still having trouble. I don't know exactly what but the mechanic fixed it at no charge. So you can understand why I was a little aggravated that it stopped working again but I was thankful that it hadn't happened while we were in FL.

Not long after the kids and I had gotten back on the road, Steven called. He had finished his test and since it was close to lunch, we decided to meet in Savannah for lunch. We talked about meeting downtown but then decided to find something right off the highway. We got off at an exit where there wasn't really a lot but we found a new shopping center that had a hamburger place and a Mexican restaurant, we went for the burgers. As we parked and got out, Steven noticed that their was a weird smell coming from the van. I told him about the AC. We chalked it up to overheating and hoped that it would cool down while we ate.

After lunch, Steven said he would drive the van. So Emma and I got in the car and started to leave. I noticed that after Steven backed out of the parking space, he drove forward but then stopped. I pulled up beside him and asked what was wrong. He said there was no power steering and something was seriously wrong. So we did what everyone who's having car trouble does, we popped the hood and looked at the engine with absolutely no clue what we were doing. I don't mean this as an insult to my husband, he will readily tell you that he is no mechanic.

Within a minute, I'm serious, a man and woman walked up and the man asked what the problem was. Steven told him and when the man looked under the hood, he immediately pointed out the problem as he pulled out a belt which had broken. He told Steven that if we could get another one, he could put it on. When Steven asked him how much he would charge, he said, "nothing." The man told Steven that there was an auto parts store just a few miles down the road and said that the kids and I were welcome to hang out in their store until he got back. While the man was saying this, he pointed towards the store, I looked towards the shopping center to see where the man was pointing and saw the bold letters that spelled out~

L-I-Q-U-O-R S-T-O-R-E

Gulp....

Immediately the inner struggle began. Do I really go in this store? Do I begrudge these people the kindness they're showing us just because of the place that they work? I decided to wait to see what Steven would say and he without hesitation said ok. As I was thinking, "really?" God spelled out another word for me~

O-P-P-O-R-T-U-N-I-T-Y

I told Emma and Dougie that we were going to wait in this store and that it was a liquor store. I had to inform Dougie that it was not a place that sold licorice. But that these people were being very kind to us and we should be grateful that we don't have to wait out in the heat. So as the kids and I headed in,

I began praying.

This was no accident.

I'll stop there for now, this is longer than I realized. Part 2 coming soon!