Over the weekend I enjoyed a ladies' retreat in Papallacta, the same place where our family spent Thanksgiving. It's a small mountain town at about 10,800 feet above sea level. It's a place where you have to wear sweaters, drink lots of water, and hope that the clouds burn off sometime during the day so you can see the beauty that surrounds you. I went to the ladies' retreat honestly not really feeling that I needed one--I'd been in much better spirits and seriously had gotten somewhat used to all the rain we've been experiencing (BTW, someone told me that Shell is something like the third rainiest place on the planet. I think they might be right.). Yet, I knew that by going on this retreat I'd have the opportunity to meet several women in our organization. These are women that I hear about continuously and some have been gracious enough as times to send me things that I need. Besides, the price tag was fairly remarkable. For van transportation four hours away, two nights, and six meals, the cost was $30. I thought it was a steal of a deal and Doug said it was too good to pass up.
So, away I went and met up with 27 other ladies for the weekend: four from Shell, two from the States, and the others from Quito. Our first speaker during our time there started with an amazing story from her childhood of when she lived in an African nation during their time of war. One night as her father was led away at gunpoint, the rest of the family evacuated to safer territory in a neighboring country. The speaker's mother prayed for God's protection and strength to withstand the awful circumstance. She shared that their vehicle went through numerous check points along the way and at every stop it was as if there was a cloud protecting them and seeing them through to the end. Eventually they were reunited with her father and knew without a doubt that God had guided their journey.
Thereafter we were privy to the second speaker's amazing stories and so many words of wisdom and admonition. She encouraged us to ponder a number of things and really pushed us to make some deep, introspective observations about our thoughts and beliefs. Dig to uncover lies we believe. Time well spent.
Well, on Saturday afternoon we had a couple hours of free time and so the suggestion was made that we should visit a hummingbird sanctuary about 10 minutes out of town. Since I'd been holed up in the big house for nearly 24 hours, I decided I needed to take in some of the great outdoors. Nine of us jumped into two cars (one of them borrowed) and drove till we found a little private driveway which led to a garden filled with sugar-water feeders. As we watched, scores and scores of hummingbirds darted in and out and around the feeders suspended from the trees. There were more than ten different varieties of these amazing little birds including the swordbill which has a four to five inch beak jetting out of it's only three inch body. We got so close as we watched them that we could feel the wind from their flying past. One black and green hummingbird actually hovered close to my face. We were all surprised at how unintimidated they were of us.
After an hour there, we jumped back into our cars and headed for the big house. Less than two minutes into our drive the four of us in the second car noticed a strange sound. I rolled down my window and we discovered that our front driver's-side tire had gone flat. Much to our horror, we had to pull to a stop on this very windy mountain road that has no shoulder and only has one lane in either direction. Panic set in. No place would be a safe haven to change a tire. Thankfully we found a bit of a straight away so that the cars in either direction could see us briefly before they arrived at our exact spot. Well, this was the perfect storm for an accident. I knew nothing about changing tires, and since we were in the borrowed car, I knew nothing about the car either. The four of us began brainstorming what to do and where to look for the spare and the tools. Growing more and more nervous I did what I could only think of: I prayed. I prayed that the Lord would protect us from the cars speeding past us in either direction at approximately 50-60 miles an hour. I prayed that the drivers would wisely slow down to avoid us and each other as they had to share only a lane and a half or less. I prayed that the Lord would send someone to lend us a hand because none of us were expert mechanics.
Well, within a minute a very large, black auspicious looking vehicle pulled up, and praise the Lord, on the side it said Policia National (national police). This monster looked like a bullet-proof Winebago minus all the windows and bumper stickers. It parked about 40 yards behind our car and provided a nice barrier between us and cars approaching. Out came two camoflaged, pistol laden police officers who made a bee-line for our tire and began assessing the situation. Since my prayer was answered so rapidly and progress was being made car-side, I began pacing and praying aloud for their safety in the space between their big black box vehicle and ours. Fear began to leave and in its place came a surprising peace. After about 10 minutes of their seeking out the spare, dislodging it from the underbelly of the car, and discovery that the jack was less than ideal for the job, they also discovered that the tool for removing the bolts on the tire wasn't going to do the trick. So, I added, "And Lord, please provide us the right tool to get the job done." No more than one minute later a car loaded with four men pulled over just in front of our car and out popped, apparently, friends of our police contingency who knew exactly where to find their wrench in the trunk. We were back on track. Prayers were being answered.
So six Ecuadorian men worked on our tire while the four of us prayed and watched the scene unfold. It was amazing. Cars, buses, vans, trucks, diesel engines, and eighteen wheelers would roar around the bend approaching us from either direction and inevitably slow down by the time they'd reached us. At no time did we have close calls or feel overly anxious. Fear had gone completely. My prayers were being answered left and right so I began asking for traffic to alternate. Sure enough, cars would approach from one direction with none from the other and then after a while they would cease and cars would only come from the other direction. Crazy. Couldn't believe that we were not only getting out of this situation alive but also with a glimpse of some tremendous God protection.
In the end, we exchanged smiles and handshakes all around letting the troops know that we were extremely grateful for their investment in our cause. We hopped back in our borrowed car and began laughing at how we just had witnessed a miracle. It was amazing (glad it's over too!).
Blessings, kim
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