Sinking Sand: Part 2

See Part 1 here.

I had been waiting for hours for my husband and three of the children to pull into the driveway and I kept thinking every car that I heard would be them. I nervously called the towing company AGAIN and asked with a shaky voice what they had heard.

NOTHING!

At this point, every worst case scenario I could conjure up was racing through my head. Was my husband pinned under the truck? Had it happened as he tried to dig it out of the sand? Had he had a heart attack brought on by the digging?

I convinced myself that the receptionist did indeed know something, but she just didn't want to be the one to say it. Who wants to be the one to tell a frantic lady over the phone that she is now a widow and good luck, by the way, taking care of those 7 children with the handful of change you make selling aprons and bonnets?

I called the dentist back and told him that I was going out there myself, but he talked me out of it. He said for me to just sit tight a little while longer and wait for the neighbor to call. In the meantime, he would be getting ready to go himself. For the first time, I could hear the slightest bit of panic in his voice, too.

I knew something had to be VERY wrong. The ranch was only about a 45 minute drive from town. The towing company AND the neighbor knew he was out there with 3 children. In the cold. In the dark. Why wasn't anyone telling me anything?

I began to pray. Not only for their safety. I figured it was too late for that. I prayed that I would be able to accept whatever God had already ordained would be my course from that point on. I prayed that I would glorify God even under a heavy load to bear.

That's when the phone rang. I took a deep breath and answered it with my eyes closed. It was the neighbor. I prepared myself to hear the worst.

Instead, I was flooded with relief as the neighbor told me that everyone was fine! I have never taken as deep a breath as I took at that moment. EVERYONE WAS FINE! Praise God!

The neighbor recounted that the first tow truck had become bogged down in the sand along with my husband's truck. The driver had hiked 2 miles to a ridge to get a cell phone signal and called for another tow truck. That tow truck had arrived and tried for half an hour to get the first tow truck unstuck. When they both came perilously close to sliding into the dark waters of the pond, they decided to call it a night.

It was determined that a THIRD, more powerful tow truck would need to be called to try to get the whole sandy mess resolved. In the meantime, it was nearing 9:00 and they all decided that my husband and the kids should pile in the cab of the unstuck truck to be taken home and the effort would be made in the morning light.

The towing crew rode back to town on the flat bed of the tow truck and my husband called me from the warmth of the cab when he could finally get a cell phone signal.

I was never so happy to see 3 smelly, dirty children and one big smelly man! My husband KNEW that I would have been thinking the worst and he was beside himself with worry over how much I would have been worrying!

My husband's truck was towed out the next morning, but not before a total of 3 tow trucks became bogged down to the axles in sand and 2 cables had snapped in the effort! A BULLDOZER finally had to be called in to remove the three stuck tow trucks. After that, my husband's truck was finally rescued by a 5th vehicle brought to the sandy scene; the tow company owner's 4 wheel drive pick up! I guess sometimes bigger isn't better!

There were some mighty big fish in the bed of the truck that regretfully had to be thrown out, so we had to miss our traditional fish fry.

During our morning devotions the next day, we talked about how sand can deceive us into thinking that it is stable when it isn't. That is why we build our lives on the Lord, Jesus Christ, like the wise man who built his house upon the rock.

Matthew 7:24"Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. 26Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell--and great was its fall."

Then, we sang and I soaked up having my family with me for one more day.

The Solid Rock

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus' blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus' name.

Refrain:
On Christ the solid Rock, I stand -
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.

When darkness veils His lovely face,
I rest on His unchanging grace;
In ev'ry high and stormy gale
My anchor holds within the veil.

Refrain:
On Christ the solid Rock, I stand -
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.

His oath, His covenant, His blood
Support me in the whelming flood;
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my hope and stay.

Refrain:
On Christ the solid Rock, I stand -
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.

When He shall come with trumpet sound,
O may I then in Him be found,
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.

Refrain:
On Christ the solid Rock, I stand -
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.


Edward Mote, 1797 - 1874