Every bus trip has its own story–a redemptive analogy– otherwise we might get bored and never see God at work.
On our 2nd 10 day GO WEST in late July, 2014, we had a flat tire but this one was odd: it was on the same rim –the same inner side of the 4 wheel drive axle where another new tire had blown just 2 weeks earlier.
WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN AN UNEXPECTED INTERRUPTION DELAYS YOUR LONG AWAITED EXPECTATION?
• Unfortunately: this brand new $600 tire on the hardest to reach, inner drive axil “BLOWS” out (goes flat) on the way to Badlands National Park, SD.
• Fortunately: We plan to have a long lunch and sightseeing break in Wall Drug, SD, 30 miles away and AAA says they will be there to change the tire in 1 hr.
• Unfortunately: AAA does not arrive in 1 hr.
• Fortunately: We have extra time to shop at Wall Drugs.
• Unfortunately: AAA does not arrive after 2 hrs!
• Fortunately: We find a local swimming pool & showers at Wall Drugs.
• Unfortunately: after 4.5 hr wait, AAA says they cannot find a repair truck big enough to jack up the bus to remove & change the inner tire. Ugh!!
• Fortunately: AAA does not contract with all repair companies, otherwise we would be without hope.
• Unfortunately: it will cost $481 out of pocket to get another repair truck to help us on Sunday ….
• Fortunately: but he arrives 45 minutes later & changes tire in 30 minutes! (And 1 month later, AAA reimburses me for the full $481!!!!)
• Unfortunately: it’s getting late to see Mt Rushmore
• 
Fortunately: we get to Mt Rushmore at sunset and wait another hr to capture the best night pictures that we have never experienced on 70 previous GO WEST trips.
WHAT DID WE LEARN?
• What did we learn about the tire that blew?
• Oddly, it was the 2nd flat on same wheel rim in 2 weeks on BRAND NEW $600 tires!
• Looks like both were stem related
• On the FL beach trip 2 weeks earlier the 1st tire blew when its stem rubbed against the wheel rim causing the tire to blow after only 350 miles of use!
• Knowing better, the 2nd mechanic did a better job of adjusting the stem to fit the wheel rim but it looks like he failed to put in a tiny valve core–the essential little plug that holds the air inside the tire. So, it too, blew.
• Here is what I think God is trying to tell us in this situation:
What lesson is God showing us as lesson about life in general…aka a redemptive analogy?
• Have you noticed that without air, life doesn’t exist on earth, in tires, in our body and in our spirit?
• Lesson to be learned (also known as a “life lesson” or “the moral to the story” or a “Redemptive Analogy”): Do each of us realize our complete dependence on Christ and the filling of His Spirit as the core of our lives?
• Do you suppose God allowed this event to happen so that we could see a “redemptive analogy”—something He reveals so that we can remember it the rest of our lives?
IS CHRIST THE CORE OF YOUR LIFE?
“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20
