40 Miles on a Blown Transmission

We had just replaced our transmission in our van and the next week we were traveling with our Boy Scout troop from North Dakota to Montana for a ski weekend. When we were 70 miles from our destination, we heard a loud clunk and soon a high-pitched squealing noise. We pulled over, not knowing what it was, and thought maybe it was a belt that was making the noise. We could smell something burning but did not know it was transmission fluid.

We were 40 miles away from the nearest town so, not knowing what it was, we continued hoping it had cooled down. As we drove the noise got louder and louder and I knew we were in trouble as we had a van full of Scouts and equipment. Suddenly, I realized that even though we prayed for safety before we left, I was too busy trying to figure out what was wrong that I hadn't prayed about this situation. I then prayed that the Lord would deliver us safely to the nearest town and no more than two minutes after that prayer the now very loud squeal started to fade in and out. I was thanking the Lord over and over and soon the noise completely stopped and it seemed like the problem had quit.

We were now about 5 miles out of the nearest town and 35 miles away from Bozeman, our destination. I wondered if we should just drive to Bozeman which was a bigger city with better chance of finding a Dodge dealership. I decided to get it checked out sooner rather than later. As I found out where the dealership was, I noticed that the closer we got to it the less power we had. I could see the dealership several blocks down and soon I could barely get enough power to accelerate through the next light. I ended up running the last stop sign and coasting into the dealership with no transmission left; it was dead.

Come to find out, this was the only Dodge dealership in the state that has their service department open on a Saturday. The transmission was covered under warranty but only at a dealership and if we would have taken it anywhere else it would have cost us $1,600 instead of nothing.

They just had a rental van returned and within an hour we were back on the road with the Boy Scouts.

The mechanic said that in all his years, he had never seen so much metal and chunks of metal in the bottom of a transmission pan before and said we were "lucky" to have made it there.

Hebrews 1:14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to do service for the sake of them that shall inherit salvation?

I truly feel that the Lord answered my prayer and sent His angels to push us to exactly the destination we had faith for. I believe that if I would have had faith to get back home or for the transmission to be completely restored, it would have happened according to my faith.

This was a great testimony that weekend to many who are of the Catholic faith of how God is so faithful and how He took care of us. It was also a good lesson in faith for my family.

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