life really is an adventure, and last week that truth became more evident in the Greer family.  Last Thursday we set out to Chattanooga to see a very good friend get married.  We were so excited to get out of town for a couple of days, and even more excited to celebrate with our friend as she got married.  About half way into our trip our van made a funny noise, then jerked pretty hard, produced a terrible smell and came to a permanent stop in between Montgomery and Birmingham.

We called roadside assistance, and about an hour later a tow truck showed up to tow us in.  Did I mention that our family of five went on this trip together?  Yep. . . all five of us.  So there we were the tow truck driver, Kristia beside him sitting on her left butt cheek, Josie on her lap Makenzie under Kristia’s right butt cheek and under my left one, Maddie on my lap and me leaning against the passenger door.  Thirty minutes later, we got off at our exit, and the driver took us to a motel beside his garage, and that’s where we stayed for the night.

The next morning I walked around the corner to the garage only to hear that our transmission was completely dead.  We were contemplating renting a car and coming back home, but decided to try to make it to Chattanooga for the wedding.  Glad we didn’t miss that.  We rented a car, a PT Cruiser to be exact,  from Enterprise, because “they pick you up.”  Even that was an adventure initially.  They pick you up, but they don’t tell you that you gotta drop them off, so yet again the greerfamily5 and a random driver were crammed into yet another vehicle.  At any rate we made it to Chatty, just in time to see our friend get married, and came home late the next day.

I’m recapping the highlights of this exciting trip more for my own sake than yours.  You probably aren’t interested in the particulars of what happened, even though many of you offered kind words of encouragement and the assurance of your prayers.  I’m writing the details of our adventure down, because I will look back on this adventure one day and see how God brought us through it all in a miraculous way.

Its not over yet.  We still have to get a transmission and I’m not sure how we’re going to afford that here at Christmas time, but so far the van has been towed back to a local garage with no expense to us, and I understand that a mechanic friend is looking for a transmission for us, and may be willing to install it FOR FREE.  So  I know God’s working all of this out for us.  Still, these challenges are never easy, and the faith that I know I need right now, hasn’t been very easy to come by today.  I’m thankful for a wife who’s seemed to have enough faith for the both of us today.

The reality is that life truly is an adventure, and the events and happenings of life that make it such could never always be good, easy, and silverlined.  Every adventure has its challenges, because it’s in those challenges that you’re strengthened with endurance, and its there that you learn to appreciate the good times and the presence of God in your life.  I’m just thankful that God promises that we don’t have to go through the tough times on our own.

so what’s your story?  what adventure have you experienced that strengthened your faith in God and your endurance?