Angels on the Road
by: Jon Crane

Saturday Ramblins, Vol. 2, No. 11 (June 5, 1999)

They say that the journey of a 1000 miles begins with a single step. My recent vacation was a little more than that for a total of 2100 miles. And while it may have begun with a single step, it took 36 hours to traverse the last 300 miles home. In two words: car trouble.

After driving over 500 miles the first day heading home, I'd stopped in Blytheville, Arkansas - a pretty and delightful old cotton town near the Mississippi River. After a pleasant night including a meal at Harry's ("The Best Steaks in the South"), I continued on my way New Orleans.

Just below Batesville, Mississippi where I'd stopped for gas, my engine began to smother every time I tried to give it gas. You know that sensation: you step on the gas pedal and your motor does nothing. It doesn't quit; it doesn't rev up. It does nothing.

My heart sank. Gnawing at the edges of my denial were two words: timing belt. Now anyone who has ever replaced a timing belt or bought a Rolex knows we're only talking a difference of mere dollars. I had about $18.00 left - just enough for another tank of gas and a bite to eat during the last few hundred miles to New Orleans.

Being Sunday, I could find no one to work on the car so I decided to stay the night in Grenada, Mississippi. Early Monday morning I set out to find a mechanic who would work on the car. Two shops said they didn't do that kind of work, the third said, "Sure. Have it here at 8 a.m. Thursday morning and we'll get right on it." I think they missed the point.

I did manage to find someone in a small town near Grenada to look at it. He tightened the belt by rotating the distributor cap an eight of an inch. The engine ran okay after that so I decided to make a run for New Orleans.

About twenty miles north of Jackson, Mississippi, the temporary repair gave out and I was limping along again.

The first repair shop I stopped at referred me to a second. The second shop referred me to a third. The good people at the third shop agreed to take the car, get to work on it right away and get me back on the road as soon as possible.

This was 10:30 in the morning. At 20 minutes to 8 that night, I pulled out of the bay with a new timing belt installed. A mechanic named Lewis worked virtually without stopping all day (he took one break to pick up his little boy from school). He worked two hours beyond closing time.

Christ is where you find Him in the hearts of people. Keep your faith and trust in a desperate situation and let Him lead you to help. A timing belt is no simple or quick job.

Angels are where you find them, too. The personnel at the garage did everything they could to repair the car and have me on my way, even if it cost them other jobs they had pending. They did not charge me for the extra time but instead stuck by their original estimate of labor. They could very easily have taken advantage of this traveller under the circumstances. This is the Christian spirit at it's best.

My thanks and gratitude to Butch, the manager, and Putnam's Automotive Service (a Napa AutoCare Center) on North State St. in Jackson, Mississippi, for responding to someone in need. Good business practices and Christian principles can exist in the same place. These good people were proof of that.