The #MightyMeeks: A change of plans...

This weekend, we were supposed to travel to Bozeman, MT for Gabe and Bethany to participate in the First Lego League robotics tournament that is held every year. Both of their teams worked really hard all fall to prepare for the competition, which includes programming robots, preparing a presentation for the judges, building robot components from Legos, and then actually performing missions with their robots. It's a pretty fun event for the kids, and they were really looking forward to it. Jon, Michaela and I were looking forward to the pool at the hotel and a possible tour of the Gibson Guitar factory.

The proposed timeline:
3:30-4:00: I would get off work and head home, we'd pack up and be on the road by 4:30.
5:00: We would drop the dog at Papa's house, grab Mickey D's and be on the highway no later than 5:30.
8:30: We'd be checked into our motel, changed into our suits, and headed down to the pool and hot tub before getting to bed....

Then, LIFE happened.

The actual timeline:
4:06pm: I left work and headed home. Just a wee bit late, we can still hurry up and be on the road by 4:45....
4:30pm: I arrive home, we finish packing, and are out the door by 5. A little late, but so far so good.
5:15pm: Jon drops me at Target, so that I can grab the dog food while he goes over to Wendy's to grab the people food.
5:25pm: I am finished at Target and waiting outside, and as I'm trying to get something out of my eye, my contact lens (I wear semi-rigid gas perm lenses) pops off my eye and onto the concrete sidewalk. A really nice woman helped me look for it for about 10 minutes, but it was gone forever. This should have been the first indication that things were going badly.
5:45pm: Give up the search and head for my dad's house.
6pm: Drop off the dog and get on the road. All is going swimmingly, with Nutty Bars, Ding Dongs, Wheat Thins and Easy Cheese, when...
sometime after 7pm: The oil light comes on in the van. Okay, not a super big deal...EXCEPT that Jon had just filled the oil a few days ago...
Luckily for us, we were only 9 miles outside of Deerlodge, MT. We pulled in, bought some oil and topped it off...only that didn't fix the problem. The oil light was still on.

To make the rest of this long story short, we ended up staying overnight in the Deerlodge Rodeway Inn (which was less than a block from the gas station, thankfully!), got a really great rate due to our situation, and were helped out by family and friends in our efforts to get the van (and us) back to Missoula today. We tried all avenues to get the kids to their competition, but came up dry. As a mom, I felt pretty helpless and pretty discouraged, but there comes a time when you realize that despite your best efforts, you aren't going to be able to fix the situation, so you'd better just make the best of it. We spend the rest of the evening watching Disney channel and letting the kids chow on the snacks. Michaela got to experience a 4B's restaurant for breakfast this morning (loved it!), and my awesome friend Brooke came out and drove us home.

There are still a lot of things to think about...How much is this going to cost? Is it worth it to fix it? Did we stop before the engine was damaged? Is it time to think and pray about a new vehicle?...and yet we find ourselves feeling so thankful tonight for wonderful friends and family who came to our rescue, and for a great God who allowed this to happen not at the top of Homestake Pass, but just outside of a town that has cell phone service and a gas station, motel and restaurant right off the interstate (quite literally!! You take the exit and it's all RIGHT THERE!). For small miracles such as these, and the larger miracles of love and support, I am thankful.