Transmission Troubles

One of the hardest things for me serving overseas with college-age chidren in America is the sense of helplessness when they have times of crisis or health issues. I just survived the first one of these.

Our son James flew from Wheaton with his fiancee (thanks to a cheap Southwest one-way airfare) to Albany, NY to visit my side of the family as well as to pick my mother's old car. They had a great weekend and Bethany felt welcomed into her new family.

Three hours outside of Albany, the car's transmission decided it was time to go the way of all old transmissions. Stuck at a rest stop, James called a tow truck who towed it to the next exit on the NYS Thruway. $150 later he and Bethany were stuck in Geneva, NY without a car or a place to stay. They booked two rooms at a local hotel and began making phone calls.

Forunately, one of our colleague's father lives only 20 minutes from where they were stranded. They called him and he stepped in to help in any way.

After a night of rest they were escorted by this man to the place where the car was towed. The news was not good. To replace the transmission would cost more than the car was worth.

James then chose to sign the car over to the garage man and rent a car to get back to Wheaton.

The good news in all this is that James had a credit card to use and probably maxed it out with expenses for the tow, the hotel rooms, the car rental and the gas to get back to Wheaton. The bad news (besides paying back the charges) is that now James does not have a car to use for his student teaching that starts in a couple weeks.

This incident is stressful anytime. But when you are separated by thousands of miles, it seems that much more difficult. Compounding this problem was the $1,000+ that my mom put into the car before signing it over to James.

We all feel sick about this. Please pray for James to secure alternate transportation.

Thanks.

Trent