Never a dull moment!

So, for anyone who knows my family, you will be quite familiar with this story.

It begins with me driving a vehicle that I do not own...

It is very rare that you will find a Guatemalan who drives well. Even more rare to find a Guatemalan woman who drives at all. Therefore this last week as we took 17 of our young ladies to the Lake for a retreat I was asked to drive one of our vans. Without hesitation I agreed. :) Early on Wednesday morning we loaded some very excited girls up and headed on our way. Let me take this moment to describe the road a bit. After you overcome about an hour of absolutely illogical construction and millions of muddy holes, or shall I say craters, you make your way down....down down... a very windy and and steep road with a cliff to the side. Scared yet? Well as we are singing and laughing our way down...

On the second to last curve, i hit the brakes....only surprise! ...nothing happens. So I pump the brakes a little and they grip just in time to keep us from smashing into the back of our fellow van. I think to myself, "did I hit the wrong pedal? well, hmm...that was odd." So then comes the next curve. Fortunately our other van was far enough ahead by this point. Again, no brakes. So I pump and pump....nothing. Thankfully the road was flattening out and I could downshift enough to stop us with the hand break at a check point. Then, we proceeded to drive through town (the flat town) avoiding crossing vehicles and pedestrians and such with 1st and 2nd gear and the oh so reliable hand break.

WE ARRIVED AT THE DESTINATION ALIVE!

Praise the Lord for His mercy and protection over us. I can't imagine how the story might be different if it was the first two curves and not the last. He is good and faithful.
The other drivers were glad it was me, able to remain calm and rational, and not them. :) I think I am glad of that as well!!

Well, to end on a delightful note. The retreat was a blast! It was so much fun to see most of the girls enjoy the lake, a hotel, room and a beautiful restaurant for the first time! Such a great contrast from the rough moments previously. What a privilege to be able to just enjoy being kids! While we enjoyed the lake and some great talks the van was repaired. We loaded up Friday afternoon and made all the way back to the Oasis safe and sound.