As I shared on my blog last Saturday, John and I were to be enjoying a three-week vacation mid-March through the first weekend of April. But after one day at our campsite and the fast-developing crisis with COVID-19 we left early Tuesday morning to head back home.
Stories are emerging of beautiful acts of kindness as we all come to grips with what is transpiring in our world. They sure are uplifting me.
So I wanted to share what happened to us on our brief travels south as it was truly a blessed intervention.
Sunday around 5 pm we’d made our last stop for gas at a small gas station off I-65. After filling the tank of our van, John jumped back in the driver’s seat. When he turned the key in the ignition the dashboard lights lit up and the van wouldn’t start.
He realized that the shifter was loose and wouldn’t go into drive, park or reverse. It was like a wet noodle that wouldn’t shift into any gear.
Now what?!
John went inside the station to ask the clerk to call us a tow truck. As he did, I sat in the van, folded my hands in prayer and said out loud, “God, we could really use a miracle, please.”
When John came back out he fiddled more with the shifter and said, “It must be the linkage that broke.”
We weren’t quite sure what to do at first, but then John came up with a plan. We’d have the tow truck pull us to the nearest wayside where we’d boondock for the night. For those not familiar with boondocking, we’d have a place to sleep in our R-pod, but no electrical or water hook-up—we’d kind of be like truckers who pull over to get some sleep before heading out on the road again. In the morning we’d call a tow truck to take us to the nearest mechanic.
I felt comfortable, well, as comfortable as I could be with that plan. Just then a white pick up truck pulled into the gas station parking lot. I didn’t say it out loud, but I thought to myself, I wonder if that man is a mechanic?
It was only a few seconds later that John said, ” I wonder if that man is a mechanic?”
I looked at him in surprise and said, “He just has to be since we both just thought it!”
A few seconds later another man pulled up in a red pick up truck and walked inside the gas station. When John entered the station again the two men were conversing. John interrupted them to ask if the one was a mechanic.
He indeed was. The other guy owned a tire company and they were buddies. When John told them what was wrong with the shifter they both said in unison, “It’s the linkage.”
Soon enough they were all standing outside our van. The mechanic crawled underneath and took a look and said the coil that held the links together appeared to have rusted through. We needed a welder.
So, I’m not kidding you. As he discovered this, another man pulls up in a pick-up truck.
You guessed it. He was a welder and he was buddies with the other two men.
And it gets better… the man had a shop which was only about a mile away. He was willing to fix it for us and said it wouldn’t take long.
So the mechanic got the linkage to work just enough and actually put it in drive which meant we couldn’t stop once we got moving and we couldn’t shift gears or it would break the linkage again. But it would be enough to follow the welder down the road to his shop.
As it turned out, the pin was missing to the coil that held the links together. The man just happened to have one in his shop. He had it fixed within less than a half-hour. All the time he never made eye contact and said very few words.
When John asked what he wanted for fixing he said, “Just a few bucks is fine.” Though John gave him more than that and we were on our way.
I realized as we drove away how both John and my intuition served us well and how had we not followed it the situation would have turned out far differently and cost us so much more.
As we drove down the highway amazed at what unfolded we gave thanks for our prayers being answered and how we were sent three angels disguised as a mechanic, a tire guy, and a welder.
After writing this for my blog, I let it sit before publishing it as I sometimes do.
It was then during the night when I woke thinking about how those three angels could also be called oracles. And oracles being symbols and signs in the outside world that help guide us to our highest good. One never knows how oracles will appear or present themselves.
Typically when I do an oracle reading for myself or a client I do a three-card spread. We begin with the question that the person is pondering.
Then drawing three cards each represents an aspect of the question to guide us to an outcome.
The first card represents the current situation, second card the next right action step, and third card the possible outcome should they follow the suggestion of the next right action card.
Every day our lives are playing out as a story in motion. So thinking about the three angels from Alabama or a.k.a. oracles, here is how I saw it unfold as our story in motion via an oracle reading. Note: I purposely chose three cards from “The Wisdom of the Oracle” that I feel represented each aspect of the unfolding.
Card one – our current situation: Fork in the Road
Our situation was that we were stuck at a gas station on a Sunday evening at 5 pm in a state where we didn’t know anyone and we were in need of a mechanic. We had to come up with a plan of which there were many avenues we could consider.
Card two – Next right action step: Deep Knowing
This is when we’d be asked to be still and tap into our intuition, but most importantly, follow it as it does not always show up as an obvious sign or like a flashing sign saying, “This is it!”
Both John and I had the same thought when a man in a white pick-up pulled into the parking lot – was he a mechanic? We trusted that ‘knowing’ which led us to discover he indeed was a mechanic and that he was also with a man who owned a tire business, who would be another link to what unfolded next.
Our action step was that we needed to move from our current location with help from someone to get our vehicle fixed. The man who had the tire business was symbolic in that he would get us ‘rolling or moving’ to where we could receive the help we needed.
Card three – possible outcome: Blessed
For our situation, the tire man who just happened to know the next man that showed up at the gas station who was a welder. As the mechanic temporarily rigged up the linkage that put the van in drive, we put in place our faith that all would unfold and would help get us on our way as we followed the welder angel to his shop about one mile down the road.
Considering our options (Fork in the Road), following our intuition (Deep Knowing), staying calm, asking for help, and trusting the three men that showed up as our oracles made for a very happy outcome (Blessed).
Seriously! Isn’t this so cool how the universe guides us if we just get out of our own way?
P.S. Perhaps you are wondering about the clerk who called a tow truck? Did the tow truck show up? Turns out when I went inside to ask him to cancel the tow truck he told me did never made the call. For a moment I felt annoyed that he hadn’t but realized soon enough it was all part of the plan. 🙂
xo,
Barbara
