Not Our Plan But His

Once upon a time in a land far, far away… well, not that far away. My family drove across the border from Texas into Mexico. My dad prayed that we would not have any breakdowns during the trip, and if we did break down, it would be the Holy Spirit guiding us to someone. An hour into Mexico, we hit a speed bump, and our trailer broke.

We parked in a nearby lot, and a police truck drove up. The officer asked if we needed some help. Abraham and Luis, very kind policemen, helped us find a welder in town. Meanwhile, the missionary community in General Cepeda (four hours away) were doing their best to help us fix the situation too. Don Toño, our missionary leader, told his friend that we broke down in his town. While we were waiting for the trailer to get fixed, we ate lunch. It took about two hours to fix the trailer. Don Toño’s friend, Señor Hever, tracked us down and found us at the restaurant eating lunch. His family were like angels! They generously invited us to stay the night with them. They had one son who loved to play board games. We played all afternoon. We ended the night praying a family Rosary with them in Spanish. I slept with their mascota, their pet, Wickey, all night.

The Holy Spirit was a’movin! I saw Jesus meet us in this breakdown just as He tells us in Luke 11:9, “And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” We prayed before we broke down and after we broke down.

We were persistent knockers! God certainly answered our prayers and brought us safely to our new home in General Cepeda with one unplanned stop along the way.