A salvaged salvage trip: part 5

God leads us home

That night I was praying that God would lead us to a tire store that could help us. I looked up Merchant’s Tire and Auto and was relieved to see they opened at 9:00 a.m. Sunday morning. They were across town. Would the tires we had manage to hold up under the load of barn wood and get us there? Would they have the required tires in stock?

We prayed as we set out that morning. A little while later, we pulled into the lot at Merchant’s and a few minutes after arriving, we learned they had the tires and would get them on that morning.

We thanked God for His provision as we said the blessing over sausage biscuits at a nearby Burger King. While we waited for the tires to be changed, we walked around the shops nearby, keeping an eye on the old red pickup, which we could see up on the lift in the bay of the tire shop.

Around noon, the truck was off the lift and ready to roll. New tires all around.

As we paid the bill, Scott, who was manning the front office, asked me why I was hauling all that barn wood. Was I building something? I explained that I was an artist and was using the wood in sculptures. “Each sculpture is hand stamped with a Scripture,” I said. “I call them ‘Salvaged Messengers’ because I use salvaged wood that would be thrown out or burned up. And I think they’re a little like all of us. We are lost, in one way or another, separated from God and in great need of rescue. God has salvaged us through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ. He’s saved us from destruction and stamped His message of love and forgiveness on our hearts and lives. When we accept God’s gift of eternal life by inviting Jesus to be our Lord and Savior, we become living salvaged messengers ourselves.”

Hannah and I headed home to Hanover, praising The Lord for protecting us and providing for us at every turn. We saw up close what Nahum wrote about in the book that bears his name:

“The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knows those who trust in Him.” Nahum 1:7