When the storms of life get you, trust in the Lord
When I was 24 I went to a rather large church in Portland Oregon. One of the youth pastors there asked if I could help out with the youth summer camp coming up in a week. I asked what I would need to do and he said just drive a truck. I was cool with that.
So on the date we were set to take off, I was to drive a box truck, like a mid sized u haul with a full sized trailer attached, both filled with the camping gear and bicycles. There were a couple of problems though from the start. The truck had to always be jump started no matter what and the trailer brakes did not work, so I had to only use the truck brakes to slow down. On high Oregon mountain passes, I'm sure you see where this is going. The pastor told me to trust in the Lord!
The first night went awesome. We had a caravan of about six trucks and two buses. There were about eighty kids, and twenty adults. We set up camp and had a bonfire on the beach. It was a really nice night.
The next day we were to drive seventy miles down the coast and camp at a state park. A group of the kids were going to do a bike trek about fifty miles or so down the coastal highway.
- It was a really big storm
A big storm came up and started pouring rain down on the campground. We stayed under a tarp and sung songs about Jesus. Then the Park Ranger showed up. He said that the kids that were on the bikes had to pull off because of the rain and I had to come and pick them up with the truck and trailer. So I drove about thirty miles and rescued them. When we got back to the campsite, all the tents were flooded out and it wasn't going to work.
The youth pastor was quick on his feet and called another pastor at a church down the coast. That pastor said that we could stay in their church annex building because there was something going on in the main building. Soaking wet we left the tents up and headed in the convoy south.
About midnight I pulled the truck and trailer over because somehow in the pounding rain I had passed everyone. So waiting on the side of the road with me was a twenty year old guy and a seventeen year old girl.
After waiting for about thirty minutes, the rest of the convoy passed us and I was going to pull out behind. When I hit the gas pedal, the truck engine stopped. I knew I was going to need a jump in the pouring rain. So I turned everything off and I prayed. I said "Jesus you wanted me on this trip, so I'm here for a reason. If you want me here, then you are going to have to take care of me NOW!" At that, I turned the key and the truck started. I had to trust in the Lord.
We pulled into the church and we were the last three in the building out of the rain. It was a small building and fitting about a hundred people in to lay down was no easy feat. I had to sleep with my head under a piano and my body under a ping pong table.
The next day everyone left to go back up the coast to another church. Mind you it was still raining. This time it was just me and the twenty year old guy in the truck with the trailer with no brakes. We were about two hours behind everyone else because we had to go back to the campsite and take down the gear.
As we were going up the coastal highway a HUGE storm came up. I was driving at night with a rock wall on the left and a rock wall on the right blocking the wind. At one place on the highway the wall on the left gave way to a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The full fury of the Pacific Ocean came through that break in the cliff and slammed into the truck and trailer. I put on the brakes to avoid hitting the rock wall on the right. When I did, the unthinkable happened, the trailer brakes came on and locked up. We started to jack knife! The only way to regain control of the truck and trailer was to steer into the oncoming lane. There was a car coming right at us!
Something happened! I drove right through the car! We should have been dead! It was a head on collision. We were square in the middle of the oncoming lane and when I looked in the mirror, the car didn't even swerve or touch it's brake lights. Something or someone was watching over us. And yes I probably did have to clean out my underwear! I believe the word is Little Purple Bricks!
When we got to the church, everyone was happy that we were alive and protected. It was a camping experience I will never forget and this is the honest truth. I guess sometimes you just have to trust in the Lord!
Click the link below to read some of my other weird life tales.
Thanks for reading
John Prochazka
