Two dead cars in one morning. Help (please) !

Something NOT funny happened on the way to church today.

We filled our 2002 Honda Odyssey with our family, two college students, an electronic piano and headed down the road to go to church. Before we had gone very far, the transmission gave out.

Fortunately, we were still close to home and were able to get back before it was completely unusable.

Well, we loaded up the 1992 Toyota Previa and tried again. We were about half way on our 45 minute drive to church when something else happened. I smelled something burning. The car was making a loud whining noise and getting difficult to steer. It seemed like something was wearing out in the rear-differential and causing friction, heat and noise.

I decided not to risk the mountain road to church and called a church member to open up the church for me and tell everyone I could not make it. Tina said, "Everybody, Let's pray!" and we had an impromptu prayer meeting in the mini-van. We then nursed the car back home by driving about 10 miles an hour for 15 minutes or so and then stopping to let the car cool down for another 15.

Our prayer was answered. We made it all the way home without an accident, lose of life, property or sanity. But let me tell you, a car full of loved ones, a church full of waiting people and a drive home in a dangerous car make for a very stressful Sunday morning.

Please pray for us and our new problem. We have both cars simultaneously needing expensive repairs.

We are grateful for being spared a tragedy today. But we do need some mobility so we can get the work done here on the mission field. Please help as you can.