Trouble Overcome

We left Bend, OR around 9AM expecting to arrive at North John Day Horse Camp by late afternoon.  Stops for gas, groceries, and septic dump took a little longer than expected and we revise our ETA to 5PM.  We kept the pedal to the metal so to speak (Dave hates it when I say that!) but stopped in the town of John Day to talk to the people at the national forest office.  Not our ETA was 6PM..Still not too late to have daylight to set up camp with.  We were making good time when suddenly...
BANG!!!...I jumped and slowed down realizing I
had had a blowout on the trailer.  I radioed Dave, who was a little ahead of me, on the walkie talkie.  He said to limp on up to his location because there was a good place to pull off. 

Corrals and water for the girls

Indeed it was...and across the street was an Indian conservation area with corrals out back.  The temperature was approaching ninety, so it was not going to be good if the girls had to stay in the trailer.  I crossed the street to look for someone to ask if we could use the corral for a little while.  It took some hollering and poking into doors, but I found a young lady that said, "Sure, no problem."  As I moved the girls over, a young man came driving in and told me where to find water and the girls were all set.

In the meantime, Dave had run the trailer up on the trailer ramp, only to discover the lug wrench we had did not fit the trailer!  I looked up the nearest tire store (we had cell and data connection!)...Les Schwab in John Day.  Dave called them and, yes, they had roadside assistance.

The young man arrived very quickly considered how far away we were and had the blown out tire off the trailer in a jiffy...but getting it off the rim was another story.  He whacked and whacked and whacked on that thing until I thought he was going to have a heart attack from the heat and exertion!  I suggested we just put the spare on and drive back to the shop to replace the tire.  Maybe it was my doubt of his success, but he went back at it with renewed strength.  Whack! Whack! Whack! Ka-Thong!  The tire finally released its hold on the rim.  A few more whacks on the other side and he skillfully removed the old rubber and rapidly placed the new tire on the rim.  A few buzzes with the impact wrench and we were nearly set.  He checked the air in all the tires and we were saying our thank-yous and good byes.

Through it all I was reminded once again of what Jesus said, "In the world you WILL have trouble,

but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."   (John 16.33)

Having a blowout when we were on a tight schedule was definitely trouble, especially in the heat and in a remote area with no lug wrench.  But God provided a comfy place for the horses, cell service, fast tire service, and we still got to the campground during the daylight...Only God!