The Hippo Thing

It was Sunday evening around 8:30 and I was heading to meet up with my son and daughter in law Gord and Jade, I was going to see their new holiday trailer they had just tried out for the weekend. It was mucky up my road so we agreed to meet at a better, drier spot.

The heavens had just decided to start rumbling and rain threatened to start. On my way I received 3 calls from Gord but each time the call dropped or I could not hear him. I finally got him on call 4… “we broke down.”

I pulled over immediately and asked what had happened, the motor had blown up in their SUV. Now the dealership knows all about these motors and this major motor company cannot afford to replace every motor out there like it, so they extend their warranty for 2 additional years in the hopes that this would never happen. But it did.

I ran home to get my truck so we could haul the trailer home since the SUV was dead in the water. That is the problem with this flaw in the motor – it literally stops, like right now. There have been many accidents caused around N. America because of this. When I got to where they were pulled over and I realized they had to coast into this spot that was mostly off the highway, I was so thankful that God had gotten them to this point.

They had just traveled over the Taylor bridge, the bumpy metal one that you can see right through, and the Taylor hill that is so long and has no shoulders. God allowed them to get up the Pouce Coupe hill and right at the top it happened and the vehicle either coasted or was angel pushed to a pull over spot big enough for them and the trailer.

It was starting to get dark and the rain had started and the thunder rolled. Gord had on summer clothes and sandals, none of us was weather prepared. Gord had called a tow company to come for the SUV, now we had to worry about the trailer.

I had asked if anyone had stopped to check on them. At the beginning an older fellow stopped to ask if they were okay, he was driving a convertible (in the rain storm) with the top down and a rain jacket on. Bless him, he was the only person to stop and ask. That makes me annoyed that only one stopped in a period of over 6 hours.

Listen, I know Brian stopped and I stop when the Holy Spirit tells me to, but come on, why do we not stop to check on each other? I heard a story about a person locally from our area, who was alone and was having medical issues, pulled over and no one stopped to check, they died there alone in their vehicle beside the road. How sad and unnecessary.

“Am I my brother’s keeper?” the answer right from the Bible itself is “yes”. The story of the good Samaritan, who rescues his enemy is what comes to mind. Yes, Yes and Yes.

Do you have to be mechanical? Do you have to have tools? Do you even have to get out of your car? No, No and No. But you can roll down a window and say, “Hey is everyone okay? Can I call someone for you?”

For us the evening unfolded quite a bit more – at one point I did look up and yell at the sky, aiming for God, “Hey can we get a break down here?” as the rain poured down upon us.

Turns out for me, that I did not have a “receiver” hitch necessary for using the proper trailer hitch so I ran home to grab it. I picked up what I thought it was and rushed back to the scene. I noticed I did not have lots of fuel in the truck so I then ran to a gas station to get more, then ran back to the scene.

The receiver hitch was not the receiver hitch, and I asked Gord what does that mean… I will not give you his answer but suffice to say it was kind of like we were in more than just a “pickle”.

We called a friend to come and get me and take me home to my car. Bless her heart, she and her grandson came and together all 3 of us scoured everywhere at my property to try to find the receiver hitch (which is always stored in the back of the truck). Notta.

I sent them home with my heartfelt thanks and drove back to the scene with my car. The tow truck was now here, a 2 ½ hour wait. He drove away with the SUV, I will not shock you with the bill amount. My truck was now attached to the trailer to ensure the trailer lights and hazards were working. Man, people do not slow down when there are people on the side of the road, if you do, Bless you!

Jade and I took off for Grande Prairie in my car, Gord stayed with the trailer and unusable truck. It was midnight. We got Gord’s truck and then each drove a vehicle back to Gord waiting for us, it is an hour each way so now it is 2:00am. Still no one else had offered to help or come check on us.

We got Gord’s truck hooked up, had delivered mine to my house and I caught a ride to my truck so I could drive it home. I was crawling into bed at 3am and they at 4:30. Long, long night.

Grateful that God kept us safe on the side of the highway, extremely grateful of all the places the engine had to go, it was close to my house and close to a wide enough pull out spot. Just so extremely grateful.

Hupogrammos – a Greek word meaning to copy for imitation or example, to outline or sketch.

Remember for us older ones and maybe some of you middle ones, when we learned cursive writing or even printing, the teacher gave us those letter sheets and we traced the letters over and over learning how to make an “A” or a “B”.  We learned to write by copying the letters until we could write them on our own.

Jesus showed us by example and the disciples how to care for others. Maybe, just maybe we need to take the time in our own lives to do some copying. To trace or copy the behaviour of Jesus and His Kingdom. Is it always going to safe or wise to stop? No, but God is able to give you a heads up or tell you if you should. Ask Him the next time you go by someone stopped on the side of the road, get over as much as you can, give them space to be safe and pray for them for sure. Then please listen and obey if God says, "stop."

You may never remember that word: Hupogrammos but if anything the next time you pass by someone stopped on the side of the road – you will remember, “Oh ya, Jane said pray and do the Hippo thing.”  Safe travels my friends!