Day 40 - It's been rough!

So today I realized we've been on this ride and in this bus as long as Noah's family watched it rain from the ark.....I know I know.....we are not trapped inside like they were, but I can TOTALLY begin to understand how they must have felt! As I type the rain is beating down on the metal roof of the bus. I wonder if it thundered during the flood? I wonder if they knew what lightning was? I wonder if they really understood God's plans for AFTER the water succeeded? I wonder if the animals actually stunk....I KNOW little boys do! I could wonder all night!
Today has been hard from the very start, mentally, physically, and spiritually! We woke up this morning to the bus sitting all the way down on the back tires, and it was stuck that way! Normally the automatic air leveling system will allow the bus to "pump" back up to regular position when you turn on the engine so that the bus frame and tires are separate allowing the wheels to rolls freely....but not today! After a while of working on it, we finally got the leveling system to pump up the back wheels enough to roll and went ahead with the days ride.
As soon as the guys started pedaling we could tell it was going to be a hard day physically. The wind was hitting them straight in the face and was just brutal! The stuck to it, but the first 16 miles took almost 3 hours!! They were even having to pedal on the downhills! Once they turned back to the east the wind stopped being a straight headwind and became a sidewind. It was pushing the out into the already busy road and was hard to fight still. To add insult to injury they each had a flat tire today! Things were going south quickly!
There was a little boost of encouragement at lunch time when a local sheriff stopped to say hello and told CJ that he had already heard we were coming. The local paper in Eldorado, TX also had CJ's ride across the USA as the front page story this week!
After lunch things quickly went bad again. Inside the bus the little boys were whiney from staying up late last night and there was no cell service or internet access to do the things that needed done. There was no where to get out and play today....so everyone was in kind of a rotten mood. The spiritual battle was ON!
Then another bit of encouragement happened. Along the route a man stopped to talk to Craig and CJ and somehow got on the topic of the issues with the bus. He told us to come up into town to a diesel mechanic here who works on lots of busses. When we FINALLY got here this evening, after another 50 miles even on this WINDY day, the mechanic had already left for the day, but we are planning to go back in the morning. We believe that God put this man along the route to show us a shop that could help with the bus. We do NOT think it is a coincidence that we are here less than a mile from his shop. We are thankful for the connection that this man gave us and are praying that in the morning the bus will be able to be fixed quickly and easily!
We are striving to look at things knowing that God is totally in control! This is His bus, His benefit bike ride, and we are His! We will praise Him in the good times and in the hard times.
We were thankful to have dinner tonight donated by the owners of EL Corral Restaurant here in Eldorado, TX and a FREE plug in spot on the local courthouse square! Please pray with us that tomorrow will run smoother than today!!