So, earlier this week I was offered a modeling job in Chicago- it wasn't glamorous and I only turned over a small profit, but it was with an agency that had just offered me a contract, so I was hoping it would be a chance to get my foot in the door for higher-profile jobs. The plan was for me to leave Wausau at 4:30am, meet up with the client and his wife in Hartford (near Milwaukee), drive to Chicago with them, and then return that evening to Wausau.
Well, Wednesday night I went to meet up with my good friend, Maria, for a bit, and then help out with AWANA at church. Just as I was pulling into our meeting spot, though, the "Brake" light came on in my car. I checked to make sure the emergency brake was off (it was...which I knew, since that car won't go over 3 mph with the e-brake on!). I was concerned, but I enjoyed my time with Maria, drove the car to church afterwards, and then drove home after AWANA. The brake light was on the entire time, even though I made absolutely certain the e-brake was off. I mentioned the problem to my dad when I got home, and after verifying that I had NOT just driven across town and back with the e-brake on, he decided it was probably an issue with the switch on the light. Annoying, but nothing that should stop me from driving to Milwaukee and back.
So, I left at 4:30am as planned on Thursday and made it to the client's home with no problem, successfully completed the modeling gig (easiest job ever, by the way. I literally had to stand there and look pretty for a few hours), then returned to Milwaukee with the clients and hopped into my car to drive home, expecting to be home in time to have dinner with my parents. I stopped to get gas before hitting the interstate, and as I pulled in I felt like I had to hit the brakes awful hard to stop...maybe I was going faster than I realized? Hmm...well, I filled up with gas and headed back toward highway 41. I slowed to a stop before turning onto the on-ramp, and that's when I realized my brakes were complete mush! Um...okay, how about if I don't get on the interstate and drive 75mph with mushy brakes?! (By the way...if you were one of the drivers that I confused with my sudden lane change out of the turn-lane, I apologize!)
I went further down the road hoping I could find a gas station or body shop to pull into, but all there was were residential areas and farmland. I finally pulled over in a residential area and called my dad to ask what he thought I should do. He advised me to find someone to look at the car and not drive it home until it was fixed. Thankfully, there happened to be a mom playing with her kids in front of one of the houses, so I approached her and asked if she knew who I could call. She turned out to be a police officer for the county and arranged for the sheriff to come out and call a tow-truck for me. Unfortunately, there was no way my car could be fixed until morning. The repair shop offered me a rental car to drive home, but my insurance wouldn't cover that, so it would cost several times more than what I had just made at the modeling job! Thankfully, I discovered I was actually in West Bend, where my (biological) sister, Justice lives. Actually, the auto repair place was just around the corner from her boyfriend's mother's house, where she was babysitting his little sister. Justice came to my rescue and picked me up, and they were nice enough to let me crash on their couch for the night. As frustrated as I was that I wasn't able to get home, it was great to catch up with my sister and meet her boyfriend's family (and so wonderful not to have to pay for a rental car or hotel!). My car was fixed by 1:00 this afternoon (it turned out that a brakeline had rusted through, and the brake fluid had leaked out), and I was back home by 3:30.
Reflecting on this whole string of events, I am awed by God's hand of protection and His provision. My brakes could have fallen apart in so many other places- as I was driving home from church on Wednesday (and my church is on top of an extremely steep hill!), before I made it to Milwaukee (which would have meant having to cancel the modeling gig and probably never being booked by the agency again), or, had it been 30 seconds later, as I was going 70 miles an hour on the interstate! The timing couldn't have been better on that one! Then, God lead me to a safe neighborhood where the right person to help me just happened to be standing outside with her children. To top it all of, I happened to be in the same town as my sister...even just a few blocks from the place that repaired my car!
What a great reminder of how, even in a time of frustration and uncertainty, God was still present and at work!!
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