Abandoned Vehicles

Oh…what a day!

My wife and I left this morning from our home in Lexington, KY to drive north toward my hometown of Amboy, IL. We visiting my parents for a few days for the last time before I leave for Basic Training in a couple of weeks.

We loaded up the car with our luggage and then set ourselves up for the long drive of two vehicles five hundred miles north into Illinois. I was in my truck and my wife was following me in our car as we made our pilgrimage home. We filled up both gas tanks and then hopped on the interstate and began to drive north. Everything was fine…for about the first thirty minutes…

About a week ago, I called ahead, told them that we were planning to come up for the weekend, and asked if we could stay with them while we were there. They were only too happy to hear that we would be coming home for a few days and were glad to put us up for our time in Illinois.

I then called my brother to see if he would like to buy my truck. It is a gray 1990 Ford Ranger. I have owned for almost a year and it has basically been my little, beat-up work truck. I told him that I would let him have it for five hundred dollars. I just put new tires on it and it has a really nice diamond-plate steel tool box on it. It runs…err…ran great. He had seen it before and said that he would be glad to take it for that price.

I offered to drive the truck back to Illinois since I was coming that way anyways. He was obviously quite happy to hear that offer and I could tell in his voice that he was looking forward to owning a nice little work truck. And so we find ourselves at the beginning of our story.

My wife and I left this morning to drive to Illinois. Everything was fine…for about the first thirty minutes.

I suddenly felt a jerk and my truck immediately felt as though it had no driving power. Instantly it returned to normal. My eyebrows raised just a bit in curiosity as I began to try to figure out what it was. It honestly felt like something heavy had slid across the bed and shook the truck just a tiny bit. I don’t have anything heavy in the back…do I? I looked at the dashboard. 70mph. Temperature was good. No engine lights.

Suddenly it happened again. Oh no! I gave it more gas hoping to give it the power that it needed to overcome whatever it was it was struggling with. I’m no mechanic...it had a hairball for all I knew. I could hear the engine revving while at the same time I could feel the truck slowing down. Oh no!

Oh no! I have no fifth gear. Quick. I’ll shift it into fourth. And so I did. Oh no! I have no fourth gear…no third gear….I don’t have any gears!!! Aaaaahhhhhhh! I began to panic…but only for a split second.

I’ll say that I then shifted it into neutral and then pulled it off to the side of the road, but in all reality it already was in neutral. I made some phone calls to some friends who are mechanics and eventually came to the conclusion that this was not going to be a very cheap fix. In fact, whatever I did to fix it was going to cause a lot of hassle and a bunch of money that I don’t have. I called my brother and we decided that it probably wasn’t in either one of our best interests for me to continue trying to get this vehicle up to him.

Hmmmm. I’m planning on getting rid of it anyways. Hmmmmmm.

I weighed several options and finally made a decision. I walked back to the car to talk to my wife. Honey, could you help me unload the truck while I remove the license plate.

I called a couple of friends who are mechanically inclined, told them the situation, and told them that if they wanted a free truck that they could have it.

If any of you want it, it is located on I-75 just north of Lexington about 25 miles. The keys are located just inside the bracket that holds the rear bumper on located directly below the Ford emblem on the tailgate. If you decide to take it, let me know and I will sign the title and mail it to you. If no one takes it…well then Mr. Impound can have it and auction it off.

F-O-R-D --- Found On Road Dead

P.S. I made it through the entire situation without swearing, fretting, or even getting upset about it in the slightest. Honest. I have a really good God and I’m not really too worried about an old beat-up pick-up truck!

Besides, I believe that sometimes when God takes something away from us it is a test to reveal how much we love Him and then he will often reward us with something greater. Remember all of the stuff that Job got after the trials. I’m sort of hoping that God may have something positive in store for me if I just keep on trusting Him. Even if he doesn’t, I’m not too worried about…He’s been pretty good to me!!!