Pressed down, and shaken together, and running over.

 I've been in pretty close contact with my daughter this weekend. Apparently, after spending a fun-filled few days in the Chicago area with her husband interviewing and the family having a blast with our friends in Bourbonnais, their return plans hiccuped a bit. There they were, driving along hwy 80 in their faithful car that has about 1 million we're-going-to-visit-someone-we love miles when it broke. The blahdia-blah started more-mechanical-words and all they could do was take the exit that miraculously presented itself, blow through the as-luck-would-have-it empty intersection and coast around the World's Largest Truck Stop a few times until the car came to a stop. Not a fun situation to be in with a 3 yr. old and a 1 yr. old.  With this problem solving opportunity presenting itself my son-in-law visited with the people inside the truck stop of all truck stops. They recommended an honest and skilled local mechanic who would definitely be their guy except he was currently attending an event in Cedar Rapids and wasn't due back till the evening.

In the meantime, 3 yr. old had accidently dialed our friend in IL who had tried to return the call. While they were sitting in the parking lot considering options my son-in-law saw the call and, not realizing that 3 yr. old had initiated the correspondence, called our friend to see what he wanted. It was during this conversation, which not one of the adults would have thought to instigate, when our friend revealed that it was this exact spot in the middle of nowhere in the center of America where his family and his in-laws lived. In a very short time my daughter, her husband and children were picked up and welcomed into a warm home. Their certain afternoon fate of walking the gas station aisles, perusing the overpriced candy, cookies and chips,trying on camo hats, and choosing between Iowa key rings and magnets would, in actuality, be spent with friendly faces in an Iowa farmhouse.

Beloved stranded student family waited patiently since solutions to their plight really couldn't be decided until the condition of their car had been professionally diagnosed. Good guy car mechanic got held up in Cedar Rapids and couldn't help them on Saturday, but promised to put them at the top of the list and look at the car for sure on Sunday. This was a generous offer since I'm sure he would have liked a free day on his weekend. The afternoon hospitality stakes got a little higher, but the generous hosts offered not only a place to sleep but a car to use so my daughter and son-in-law and babies could attend church in the town nearby.

Unprepared for Sabbath on the road, my posterity attended church with the adults in jeans and children in pajamas. The church strangers welcomed them kindly. Upon learning the fate of my cute people, one new church friend offered to let them borrow his extra car and return it later when they picked up their car, if and when it was repaired. The benevolent hosts at the farmhouse had also offered the use of their second car while they were on vacation. When friends from home discovered my daughter's plight they called and said, "We're driving 4 hours to pick you up right now and you can use one of our cars." As a mother who was hearing the story unfold, but not in a position to offer much in the way of help, I was overwhelmed with love and gratitude to the kind people who took care of this little family. In the end, the awesome mechanic fixed the timing belt for a very reasonable price and declared their car to be in surprisingly good shape.

Today in seminary we studied Luke 6:38 "Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again." When I read the words "pressed down, shaken together, and running over I thought of the day I was getting a holiday package ready to send. I was so excited about giving the items, but they just didn't fit in the container so I pressed them down and shook them together to make all the surprises I wanted to give fit. Then I thought of all the tender mercies and kind offers given to my children in their time of need. God is kind and these people were kind and I know they will receive blessings for their giving; pressed down, shaken together and running over.