Usually, each post shares some blessing from God. Some of you may begin to think that we have not faced any challenges as we begin the process of developing this camp property. Allow me to share three recent challenges.
Early one morning, we noticed a trail of oil behind the backhoe. Because of a lack of knowledge of the hoe and the lack of tools, we decided to call someone to come and work on the backhoe. Unfortunately, we could not find a local mechanic that had time to check the leak. With the help of the neighbor, we finally tore apart the backhoe and found the leaking hose. Because it was Ford specific part we had to modify the tractor a bit to make the new hose fit. Finally about 2:30 in the afternoon, we got the backhoe back together. We topped off the oil reservoirs, with the hope of getting back to work. The tractor , however, would not move forward or backward. After lots of checking, we called the Ford dealer early the next morning. The mechanic drove the 1.5 hours one-way to work on the tractor. After he tore the tractor apart, he remembered that this particular tractor has two reservoirs for the transmission fluid. He added oil and everything worked fine. Yes, we lost a lot of time and we received $410.59 bill. Yes, God is still good!
A few days later, while we were dumping the new dump trailer (one week old), the hydraulic cylinder lifted right up in the center of the trailer and made a huge kink in the trailer (see picture). After many more hours of work, we reinforced the trailer and made it useable until the manufacturer could fix it correctly.
After a huge rain last Tuesday evening, the job site and lane turned into a wet spongy mess. A few days later, we ordered stones for the foundation. When the truck arrived at about 10:45, it got seriously stuck and sank almost into the axles. We tried to get it out with our backhoe, but to no avail. We finally ordered another load of stones. The drive was convinced that a truck with a full load could pull him right out. You guessed it! We now had two stuck trucks. About 4:30 that afternoon, we finally had both trucks our on their way home. Yes, it was a very stressful day.
No, I do not know why God allowed each of these adversities to come our way. I do know, however, that God is still good, and He has a purpose for everything. In one of these situations, I can already see why God allowed the problem. The mechanic that came to work on our backhoe had a serious accident back in June. The day he came to work on the tractor was his second day back to work. He came to the property with a “hope-so” salvation. Perhaps God brought him to our property to learn that he can have a firm assurance of his salvation.
In each case, it is not our purpose to question God. It is our purpose to remain faithful to our faithful God. He is good!
