Children’s Story — Stuck on Shadow Mountain

It was early spring of 1971. We had moved to the High Desert area of Southern California, and wanted to witness to our neighbors. An inspired statement says, There is more religion in a good loaf of bread than one would think.

Homemade bread! What a wonderful idea! Soon I took three beautiful loaves of bread from my oven. The Lord had blessed my efforts. In the early evening, I jumped in my Fiat (1967 1100-R model), the steaming hot bread beside me, and zipped over the desert to one neighbor, then another. The last neighbor lived on the other side of Shadow Mountain, but there was a short cut.

The short cut was fun. The sand was churned up and you could speed, turning the corners too fast, sliding in the sand—and yet not get stuck. I was soon there, delivered the bread and started home. By now it was dark, and there was no moon. My headlights stabbed the velvety darkness but I had difficulty following the short cut.

Suddenly I realized that I was driving uphill on hard ground with small brown pebbles. Oh, I should go back and find the short cut. Why? The car is moving along all right. Maybe this is a shorter short cut.

The pebbles became rocks and the incline was steeper. Maybe I should turn around. Lois, do not be a worry wart. You will make it! The rocks got bigger and I came to the top of wherever I was. The adrenaline started to flow and I was getting scared. Oh, why worry? I will just drive down the other side.

By now there were good-sized boulders. As I was dodging them, I saw an erosion ditch to my right. My fear was full blown and I thought of turning around. No, you have gone too far to turn around, and so, I went on. The erosion ditch was getting deeper and deeper.

Suddenly my headlights showed the erosion ditch right in front of me. It was a full sized gully with huge boulders on the other side of it. Well, this is the end of this trip. I had really better turn around now. Not much room. Oh, well, it is a small car. I will make it.

So I backed up with wheels cramped as far as they would go. Move forward with the wheels cramped the other way. About ten times I see-sawed. Finally my little Fiat was headed back up the mountain. Ahhh, put it in low gear, gently let the clutch out and I am home free!

Zzizzizzizzizztt. The tires were spinning on loose sand. Well, the sand cannot be very deep up here, I will just try again. Zzizzizzizzizztt. Oh, Heavenly Father, I have been so foolish. You have been trying to warn me for the past fifteen minutes and I would not listen. Please do not leave me here on Shadow Mountain. Please help me get home.

Now, I had prayed. Surely it would be all right. Put it back in gear, gently let the clutch out. Zzizzizzizzizztt! If I kept on spinning the wheels, I would dig myself in down to the axles. Admit it, Lois, you are stuck! I got out of the car to better assess my situation. A breeze was blowing. It would escalate into a stiff wind. I was wearing a sleeveless light dress and rubber thongs on my feet. No sweater. No flashlight. No moon, and the stars were pale. I was already getting cold.

I humbly confessed my foolishness to God. I freely confessed that I had ignored His counsel. How easy it would have been to turn around when I was first going wrong. I told God that I did not deserve any help from Him and I was willing to take my lumps. With tears streaming down my face, I asked for forgiveness and made things right with my Heavenly Father. Peace filled my heart.

In the distance, like a beautiful jewel on a black velvet cloth, I could see my home. Light was streaming from every window. It meant warmth and comfort, security from the elements and the companionship of my husband. How I longed to be there!

I had two options: Stay in the car all night and be miserably cold. Or I could walk home. It was only one mile, but in the dark I would have to crawl over the huge boulders and feel my way down. I had seen rattlesnakes in that area, and they come out at night. And walking across the desert in flimsy rubber thongs, the cholla cactus were sure to get my toes.

I decided to go home. The breeze whipped my dress and I shivered. Well, (sigh) guess I had better get going. But before I could take a step, I heard the still, small voice. Lois, try it one more time.

Yes, Lord, I will be glad to. I jumped into the car, offered a short prayer, started the engine, put it in gear and slowly let the clutch out. Zzizzit. The wheels started to spin and then stopped. At that moment I felt my guardian angel give the car a little push and ever so slowly it began to move forward. Praise God for His goodness! I carefully retraced my way and was soon home.

I learned three valuable lessons that night.

  1. There is a way that seemeth right—but it does not take you where you want to go.
  2. It is never too late to turn around when you are going the wrong way.
  3. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in time of trouble.

 

Children’s Story — On the Road Home

Going home! Going home! Going home! We were bubbling over with joy at the prospect. It had been a long year in what seemed like a different world. We had hardly gotten used to the extreme cold, the snow that piled high on the telephone lines, the dangers of the tundra, and the habitat of the Eskimo and their Husky dogs.

Thousands had prayed for the war to end and now God had answered those prayers. How thankful we were that all of this horrible war would now stop and our lives could get back to normal.

Life here, could be rather monotonous, and we looked for things to do that would brighten the long dark days and make the best of the almost total daylight. What could be better then to get a car and make it ready for the long trip home. How could we do this, though, when the government had turned all of the steel into tanks and airplanes. Then, there it was, almost a perfect answer to our prayers. An officer from the base had turned over his almost new car out on the icy highway. It was for sale even though the side and top were all bashed in and the fabric inside was all hanging loose. The engine seemed all right and the frame was not damaged. The price tag said $700. We didn’t have very much money, but we decided that with a little fixing up it would be as good as new. There were long hours of hearing the “bang, bang, bang,” of the hammer and the groaning from the sore arms as they sanded out the endless dints and bumps. Then, it was painted and Viola, it looked good! Now, there was another problem. The spare tire had been used and because the war had taken all of the rubber, it would probably be impossible to find another tire. We needed it for the long miles of gravel and dirt road ahead. Our expression must have shown an obvious concern for surely there would not be a tire for purchase no matter at what price. Yes, it was impossible! Oh! but there could be a solution. We could pray, for hadn’t the Lord found us a car?

Days went by. Every available possibility was check out but no tire was found. Sabbath came and we took our usual walk across the Chenna River bridge to where there was a small Seventh-day Adventist Church. We could hardly believe our eyes when we saw a new little jeep trailer sitting in the yard across the street. It had a sale sign on it and it appeared to have two new tires. It was a temptation, but NO, we could not think of doing business on the Sabbath, even though our hearts sank at the thought that it could be sold before the Sabbath was over. We prayed that the Lord would keep it for us. We do not know how He accomplished it, but He did! That was the beginning of our long lonely trip down the Alkan Highway from Fairbanks, Alaska to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

Now it is apparent that the Lord hears our prayer and he answers them if we love and obey Him. It must be in His own time and in His own way. Sometimes it is just the way we wanted, and sometimes it is even better. Sometimes we have to patiently wait and sometimes we think we are disappointed, but then we can remember that He knows what is best for us. So, He answers not always according to our expectation, but always for our good. His final answer will be when he takes us on the road to His Heavenly Home because we love Him and keep His commandments.