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View Full Version : Arrrrggghhhhhhhh!!!!!


Outcast
08-21-2008, 12:51 PM
Hey guys,
Had kind of a rough past few days. Been stranded here at the Stay Lodge and unable to drive or go anywhere. Ther eseems to be somethign wrong with my car. I had it checked out when the troubel started in June by Precision Tune and I have 110% trust in the man who checked it out. A Christian and the owner of the franchise. Supervised the testing and checking out of the prob himself. Wouldnt hear of charging me for it. Seems the alternator and battery are fine but it may be a problem with the starter. If i leave it parked for more than a day, leave the IPOD chargign without the car running or don't actually turn my automatic headlights off manually with the switch then the car will not start. This has been time tested since June. As long as I start the car and drive it a littl edaily...no prob. Anyway, I have had to leave it parked since Monday night because my gas is so low and I don't have money for gas. I have been gettign with friends slipping me a couple of dollars for a gallon or two and just using it responsibly. Also, I have sold my music cds and other things between pawn shops and hastings enterntainment store to help not be a burden.

Anyway, I have been sending out emails to the church email and havent gotten a reply to my SOS. The car won't start and well, I need someone to come here with a gas can and jumper cables. Yet other needs, emails and prayer requests have been sent out through the church network with no problem. This isnt the first time...three other prayer request/needs have been ignored/mysteriously lost and not sent out. I get strange musical sing song talk from one lady who is in charge of it and she tries to tell me that maybe I thought I emailed it but didnt...then promises she will look for it later and quickly walks away. The wierd thing was that with one of my "lost e-mails" no one had seen it and didnt know what i was talking about...and quickly brushed me off saying they would love to listen to my prayer need but they are really busy with important things...revival things..."Kingdom work" and I am "dismissed". Yet on the same night this incident happened, the pastor while walkign around and making small talk stopped when i got hsi attention and he asked about the specific things i had listed in my email...not really listening to my news about how things turned out and smiled and walked away. I think my emails are being controled and deleted which isnt fair. But finally this time I re-sent the email last night and forwarded a copy of it to a friend asking him to email it for me to the church as well...not telling him about my concerns but instead just maming an excuse and saying I wanted to make sure it got there in case my emails were accidently going to spam. Guess what? The pastor just emailed me insisting I call him. Fake nice and wantign to knwo what was wrong. No jokes or misinterpretations about the fake niceness. The sad thign is...he wasn't even listening. He was concerned about whether or not I had food in the room and had everythign I needed. Also said that he couldnt guarantee anything but woudl try to see if someone could help me get to the store today and maybe get me to church. But expalined that I may have to be stranded a few more days or another week or so because the church couldn't guarantee or be responsible for my car troubles and repairs. he kept repeating this no matter how I worded it. car repair was all he could think about. I simply stated if some oen were to bring a gas can with a little gas and jump me off that it would get the car runnign again and with a little gas help...maybe filling up my car once (i havent known a full tank since early June) or even halfway, that i shoudl be fine as long as I can keep it started and maybe make a little trip to the store or a quick little drive around the motel area. I told him the car troubles could be lived with for now and woudl have to wait until I managed to bring a few paychecks in. The repair and money isnt the problem anyway. Once again, I got like stutterign confusion and silence for a moment liek he didnt understand. And then it was repeated that I would have to remain stranded...that maybe someone could help me get food for the room and maybe pick me up for church...but he couldnt guarantee anything. The church is just less than 3 minutes down the road from the motel and we are having so far 75 days of non-stop revival since june. Is it me or are people wierd in my church? Or am I maybe not being listened to or considered "confused" you know being a "wheelchair" and all...so that peopel dismiss what I say and think for me? Or are they just so "cult conditioned" they are slightly whacked and can't understand common things fo the real world?:) *shudders as church people smile and blink...gazing ahead with wierd glassy looks in their eyes*(not joking about this)

Update: Uh-oh, someone emailed me asking if I had water to drink here at the motel...and if I had power here at the motel. Yes, they said the word motel in their question....*sighs*

LauraA
08-21-2008, 03:45 PM
I would think that a church would be willing to help. It all seems so odd. And duh...I would think that any motel would have water and power. Hmmmm. It must be frustrating.

Praying for you, Jeff.

mom4Him
08-21-2008, 05:18 PM
This just infuriates me!:mad: People should not "think for you" just because you use a wheelchair...your mind works!! Do people not realize how fragile our bodies are and that all of us are putting ourselves in danger every time we step out the door? We don't know what tomorrow or even the next minute holds for us. Just because we're walking today doesn't mean we'll be walking tomorrow! If we're not, does that mean we won't be able to put a rational sentence together?! grrrrr!!!!

Alrighty then....I feel better!;)

I found this website...not sure if you know about it already.

A Handicapped Help Line
http://www.ahandicappedhelpline.org/

1-888-820-4357(HELP)

Their motto is:
We offer Referrals, Guidance and Someone to listen with care

I hope this gives you a little bit of hope. I'll keep you in my prayers!

LauraA
08-21-2008, 08:56 PM
^^^That's awesome!

Outcast
08-22-2008, 01:12 AM
Thanks to bothof you for the prayers and the advice. I will definitely look into this phone number...especially with what has just happened. One thing is certain, I really chose an appropraite name fr this thread/topic. Fits perfectly:)
I won't let it stop giving testimony and praise to God however...that is just like the devil...to send somethign your way to spoil praise and the joy for a blessing. Help came through! Wednesday I called an old friend of mine who used to attend Jones Chapel UMC here in Newnan. I met her and her husband and family back in 2003. Anyway, we still keep in touch off and on and i called her to catch up and talk about life and all. Anyway, I felt a prompting on my heart to call her and just tell her the need honestly...and just liek that by 6:20pm today she was here at the motel with a 2-gallon can of gas, jumper cables and we got the car running. As I had to drive around a little and charge it up., we said a quick goodbye and she slipped something into my hands...60$ telling me this is for gas and a litlte extra to help tie you over until things work out with the job...Well, I decided to makea little circle of the area...cutting down a road near the motel and simply planning to come out at the light on the other side of the bypass...about a 7 minute tour. But as I turned on that road and gt half-way down it I heard a funny noise and heard a pop and sudenly the power/battery light came on and the steering wheel hardened up as the power steering went. I knew I had to try and find a place to pull in with a wide drive to allow for a turn with a locked steering wheel...i came to a stop sign and suddenly everythign shut off. When I got out fo the car I flagged someoen down for help that had a cell phone and called a friend to come and get me...also I would need help with finding a towing service. I looked at the ground unde rthe front of my car and saw water and antifreeze coming out everywhere...I knew then from an expericne I had in 2004 that my water pump had burst. Saw a man out jogging and he seemed to be straining to see me and then realized who i was and called my name. It was the Taco Bell franchise manager where i had worked many years during my college summer breaks and even after graduating between jobs. He was the original manager when it was one store insraed of a seven store franchise in the metro-atlanta area...so it was like finding an old friend...he was kind of stunned as he had never seen me in a wheelchair before...he insisted on staying with me until help came and helped direct traffic around my car as people came by. A white van pulled up...some kind of painting or contractor services and the driver checked on me...then i heard a voice saying hey., wait, let me out here...i know this guy from the stay lodge ...and then i had anothe rperson staying with me to make sure i was ok until my help arrived. When my friend arrived anothe rvehcile stopped and it turned out to be a mechanic...he took a quick look under the car and confirmed my suspicions:( And then they pushed the car a little further down the road to an orthodontists offices parking lot. Anyway, after saying goodbye my frien dtook my neighbor back to the motel and then drove me to the store to get a few things for the room...it was good to have help as i needed someone to push the shopping cart as i really needed to stock up for the next few days.
So praises to God fo rnot leavign me alone when i was really stranded. I stil need major prayer because I dont knwo if the car will work again. When my water pump broke back in 2004 I was able to make it to a safe place to turn off the car. The mechanic later told me that if i hadnt stopped when i had the engline would have overheated and I would have had major damage and major $$$ to pay...so i am fearing the worst but holding on to hope that this shut down was safety thing...besides, i had none of the symptoms like steam and vapor coming out of the hood...and the leaking appeared to have started just shortly before i stopped at the stop sign with a final huge puddle where i stopped...Pray hard because I have no way topay for mega-high repairs or to get another vehicle even if i had started a job tomorrow...or to get a loan right now...with my present circumstances so i need a miracle to come through for me and my car...

I made it home by 8:00pm to check my email and find that the pastor had finally figured it out more or less what i needed and had finally posted something among the church email list over my "needs". I still cant help but think how he and so many peopel had to drive right by my place to get to the church for revival tongith at 7:00PM...the bipass in newnan is the only way to get to my church...anyway...that isnt worth worrying about anymore. And I had to stop myself tonight, because i foudn myself about to ask my friend to drop me off at the church for the revival praise and woirshp meetign liek every other night. I realized that i need to stop being so self-abusing and break the "conditioning" i let happen to me...so i stayed at home and had a nice homemade burrito dinner with mexican rice and just rested. Trying to relax and let tomorrows worries wait until tomorrow:)

Outcast
08-23-2008, 07:33 AM
Well, now i can say i am emitting a happy scream/shout. Turns out the car's water pump was the problem...and the serpentine belt went out too. Both had to be replaced...thanksfully the car just simply shut off because the serpentine belt had broken...not because the engine had overheated or anythign lie that. So I still have a vehicle!:) But I am looking at about 300-400$ bill that is being put on "account" by the owner of the place who is a Christian to help me out for now.

Also, with the email that was sent out with the confusion/misunderstanding of me not having food in the room or drinking water, to my surprise i got a knock on my door. Shiloh Chinese Church is on the church mailing list too so next thign i knew i had some 15 bags of food a huge pack of bottled water being brought to me as a gift from their church. Really amazing because they came here as a congregation relocating as sort of missionaries to start a church here too...and the only thing on their mind upon their arrival here in Newnan is what could they do to share God's love and how could they serve others in the commuity. Really sweet people!:) I plan to try and take the surplus and put together a food box for my neighbor a guy named anthony. seems he and his wife lost their home to a fire. he is jobless and the wife has just come down from birmingham to join him. Their 1 year old baby just had surgery in Birmingham...some kind of skin grafting...he has spinal bifida...a clubed foot and other problems yet to be diagnosed...unable to walk and on oxygen tanks now... I felt so bad last night when anthony knocked on my door to ask if i could help him get to the store to get some food...and there i was without my car!:( These guys need a lot fo prayer too for providence from the Lord and most importantly to know Him. Thanks guys!:)

LauraA
08-24-2008, 09:23 PM
Awesome testimony of God's faithfulness and provision! You should write a book, Jeff. Really. I'd buy it! Can I have your autograph? :)

I will pray for your neighbors and also that God would bless the church that helped you. And that God's love would spread among all the churches....

Praise God.