in praise of moms and dads

Dara and I have had a strong sense of being cared for by God and by the people he used to accomplish care for us on this tour.

A particularly touching experience happened this weekend. I was driving to meet Dara in Southey, planning to park in front of a business I know. Well, I had just turned off the Strasbourg grid onto highway 6, when it felt like driving on really rough road. A flat tire. Shredded, in fact.

A few days ago, driving to Regina, I had suspected the tire was weakening and added air. Now I was stranded on the side of the highway, about 10 km north of our rendez-vous point. I flagged down the first vehicle to come along and hitched a ride with the chief from Daystar First Nation.

I met Dara at our rendez-vous point, we drove back to get my stuff from the van, left it on the side of the road, and dropped the keys at a car dealership 'just in case'. We didn't need the van for the weekend and, worst case scenario, I could take care of it on Monday.

After some pondering, we thought to call our friend Heather's parents, Dale and Pat. Her father, Dale, said he was going to be in and out throughout the weekend but he would have a look.

Dale called my cell phone on Saturday evening to say that he had taken care of everything: bought a used tire and put it on the van and parked it in their garage.

On Sunday we were surprised to see Dale and Pat in the audience in Moose Jaw, along with a couple of friends from Southey. We also learned that they had been wondering what they could do to support our tour and this gave them the opportunity they had been looking for

When Dara and I arrived at their farmyard just after 9:00 p.m. it was so comforting to feel so taken care of like that by a mom and dad. Not only did they donate a 'new' used tire and park it inside, Dale checked and topped up engine fluids, replaced wiring for the battery and block heaters.

We couldn't have done this tour without the support of our own parents, especially Dara's mom and dad who provided childcare throughout the two and a half weeks. These two small sentences don't do justice to the immense value of their giving!

And it was so good to see my parents briefly as they passed through Regina last week, to get their opinion on some CD covers and have a little visit with them over wonderful food at Melrose Place restaurant.