This Grateful/Thankful Thursday I have to tell you a little story. When we were driving home this past Friday night with our RV it broke down on LaVeta Pass. It is a mountain pass in SE Colorado. It is long and desolate.

The RV had been sputtering and sputtering and all of a sudden it just died. It was partially blocking a lane. It was very scary. We have driven this road many, many times and there has never been cell coverage. Ever. No matter what. I couldn’t imagine what we were going to do. But God!!

We climbed out because Dw was concerned for our safety. What if a semi, truck or car came up the hill and around the curve and didn’t see us quick enough. We could easily be hit and injured or worse yet, killed.

I was carrying Elijah and realized as I was climbing the rock mountainside (at about a 70 degree angle) that I had a choice. I was going to be the determining factor as to how this time on the side of the mountain with our beloved RV broken down would go. Would we grumble, belly-ache and complain or would I lead the kids in gratefulness/thankfulness?? Ultimately I would be training them for circumstances where things are out of their control. I am not telling you to toot a horn or get a pat on the back. I believe God has called me to mentor some of you and so here’s what I did.

Before we even sat down I said, “Okay guys. Let’s play the Thankful Game. What are you thankful for? I am thankful that it is NOT raining out.” Immediately Isaiah said, “I’m thankful it’s not thundering and lightening.” WOW! Me too, little buddy, me too!! We then began naming thing after thing we were thankful/grateful for. We were thankful that the freezing temps didn’t include snow/sleet/hail/rain/thunder/lightening, etc. We were thankful that we had blankets. We were thankful that we had sweatshirts (we had no winter coats, but hey, we had sweatshirts with hoods!!). And on and on.

Eventually the RV started and it crawled about 50 yards up the mountain and died for its last time. When we climbed out this time I was thankful that the slope of the mountain at that spot was less steep. (At the first stop my bee-hind got a real work-out trying to hold the babies while gravity was working to pull us down the mountainside.)

We ended up at that second spot on the mountainside (50 yards from the first) for 3 hours while we waited for a tow. Miraculously a text had successfully gone from my cell asking Josh or Autumn or Tavvy to call the state troopers for us. Really, it was a miracle!! Anyway, three hours later two tow trucks arrived to carry all of us the next 30 miles up the mountain and down the other side.

The RV was left in the WalMart parking lot in Alamosa where we could sleep for the night because all the hotels in Alamosa were full due to college homecoming (of course they were!). The RV was freezing with no heat, but we were thankful that we could snuggle.

Anyway, Graham (on his own) insisted on climbing down to the RV to get my camera cause he thought all of you would like to see our little mound snuggling completely covered by the blanket trying to maintain our body heat. LaVeta Pass was 19 degrees that night as we sat there!!

So sweet friends, we are thankful/grateful that we were protected. That we had only cold weather, not the other stuff that could have accompanied it. We were thankful for our sweatshirts and our hoods. We were thankful that we had each other. We were thankful for the tow trucks. We were thankful for the flares that warned people of our RV on the side.

I pray that our experience reminds you, that no matter what the circumstance, we all have lots to be thankful/grateful for!! Our God is awesome and He is working, even when things don’t look like it – even to get a text sent in a non-service area of a mountain pass!! We praise His name!!

So what are you Grateful/Thankful for this Thursday?? Do tell!!