Wow! What a day! It is the hottest day so far by a long shot, flirting with 100, my minivan thermometer said 99 degrees! We got out early for a walk and play at the park since we knew it would be too hot to go later. Came home, had lunch and the J whizzed through 2 more lessons. Only 48 to go! We then set out for Walmart to buy a wading pool and a few other things. What happened next could have been viewed as a catastrophe but it was very clear to me how blessed we are through it all. After we got off the busy highway and had made our way to the small low-speed parkway that we take home, there was an awful screeching under the car. Almost immediately it became very difficult but possible to steer. At the next stop sign though, I realized I had lost my brakes almost entirely. Thank God we were able to pull off the parkway and park at the side of a street without getting hurt. I then realized we were still in a predicament as we were 10 blocks from home, the sun was high in the sky, and the baby's sunscreen was surely worn off by this time (I had applied it nearly 5 hours previous and given him a sponge bath since). But we were in a residential neighborhood with no payphones to call Ryan or anyone to pick us up so I grabbed the ham and eggs from the back of the car and started walking.
We saw a woman in her front yard and I offered her our ham and eggs as I was realizing they would be food poisoning material by the time we got home. She asked what was wrong and insisted on driving us home. She even had a car seat and a car large enough to fit us all despite the fact that she did not have children. We were so grateful to her and God for leading us to her. The kids and I said a prayer of thanks when we got home and Joss made a thank you card (to be delivered when it is much cooler or we have wheels). We could have been on the highway when this happened and been in a terrible accident, or we could have gotten sunburned and dehydrated walking home, but God saved us from both. The van needs work now, obviously, and I'm not exactly sure how we will pay for that but the God has always looked out for us in the past and I have faith he will provide. He has all ready blessed Ryan with a fine mechanical mind so that is in our favor. Well, it is too hot to type so I am going to hand out another round of popsicles and lay with the baby in front of the fan and just give thanks that we are all okay.
P.S. I am really growing up: I didn't cry at all when this happened although I bawled when I got home and it really hit me how my kids could have been hurt or my baby's skin burnt, but I held it together till then. I tend to cry (and yell) very easily, but it is upsetting to the kids so I have been trying not to lose control of my emotions. I guess I owe God a big thanks for that too!