Texas, Texas and more Texas. We were told the leg from San Antonio to El Paso would seem endless and uninteresting. Well…
My first impression was awe. This is God’s country – such diversity in nature. I was moved to pray … Our truck converted into what I affectionately call our Praise Mobile and we began to pray for so many on our prayer list. We were overwhelmed with God’s peace and presence. We had church! 
It wasn’t too long after that we heard one of our tires blow.
Tire all gone!
Paul, through his side view mirror saw pieces of rubber fly across the road. Effortlessly and gently he drove us over to the side of the road. It all happened in an instant! Tire and rim destroyed, it is clear to me that God’s hand of protection was with us. It’s as if angels just picked us up and moved us over! Wrecker arrived about an hour later. Next stop: Tractor Supply before they close at 7pm. That gives us 2 hours to get there. But wait…
Maggie waits, waits, waits…
Only 8 miles down the road… Spare tire blows out too! What?
Paul recovers tire #2!
Apparently the repairman didn’t notice that a piece of metal had bent with the first blowout. It apparently rubbed against the tire and the rest is history. Again we wait…
Without a spare, the challenge for the Road Service folks was to find a vehicle large enough to tow us to the nearest RV repair place (30 miles away and closed until Monday morning).
Incredible service followed… 1st service man returned, measured our tires and took off to buy us two tires. Several hours later a second service man joins us and figured out a way to adjust the tire placement so we could at least drive it “slowly” to the nearest campsite, He was now off-the-clock and chose to personally lead us to the campsite. By then the truck was running on fumes so he drove to the nearest gas station and got us a few gallons of gas.
As we sat waiting for him to return with the gas, I suddenly realized the man’s name was Michael. Suddenly I remembered the verse “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.” Heb 13:2 NIV Michael the archangel… Later I asked him if he was a man of faith, and he said yes. He opened up to us, shared his grief over his mother’s recent death. Paul led the three of us in prayer. Sweet, sweet unexpected encounter among strangers now united in faith…
We prayed that our travels across America be more than just a sightseeing experience. We prayed that God would open our eyes and hearts to opportunities - to His purposes on our trip. We certainly didn’t pray to be stranded for 4 hours on the side of a major highway. Circumstances however allowed us to meet Michael and we are forever grateful. May God Bless he and his family abundantly.
Maggie Sabatier-Smith
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