Its been a fun week in TN as we had an unexpected extention to our summer events. As you already know, 8 days ago our transmission in the new truck died during our financially driest part of the year. James 1:2-4 teaches us to "count it all joy when you fall into trials of various kinds." Laurie & I have had a very joyous week as we have put our hope & trust in our Provider. God has supplied us with so many fun opportunities in the mountains of TN during this trial - like daily swims in amazing swimming holes, kayaking down whitewater, jogs thru mountain trails, touring historic small towns, playing with the dogs on open fields, nightly campfires, meeting great southern folks in the Bible belt, relaxing tired bodies on hammocks, reading a GREAT "couples" book together, having wonderful devotions with God in His beautiful creation, and sleeping late if the body asks for 10 more minutes... again & again. And He has also supplied us with provisions through others during this trial - like free cabins at a wonderful camp (plus they sent a van to pull our trailer the rest of the way to the camp), free wifi to do office work, 0% interest on a short-term loan from my parents to pay for the transmission, free towing thru AAA with our annual membership dues, a FANTASTC & trustworthy mechanic to work on the truck, over $250 of discounts off the cost of the repair, a free $200 upgrade in the transmission (plus Alvin - the owner of Aamco - gave us $40 to have dinner out of his own pocket), and amazing weather from the "Weather Man". In summary, its not been a good week... its been a God-awesome week... and it all started with a trial. The trial continues until we raise the funds to pay back the loan, but our faith is firm that where God guides, He provides :)
