Salvation Summaries

Hebrews 11:1 What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see. (NLT)

This post is about our experience in getting a flat tire more than 200 miles from home, wondering how long the spare donut tire would hold up, experiencing an answer to prayer, and understanding what faith really means.

The Shop Guy in Bird City

On July 6, after having delivered a 2021 VW Jetta to my brother, Troy, and his wife, Lisa, in McDonald, KS (they graciously agreed to buy the car from our son, who was selling it to get an all wheel drive car) we had started our 3.5 hour trek back home and only made it nine miles down the road when a warning light came on our dash: Underinflated tire. We pulled over just as we were entering the town of Bird City, and sure enough, the front left tire was low. Fortunately for us, a gas station and tire repair shop were just across the street, and we thought there might be a hose we could use to air up our tire and get back on the highway. We drove there and found a hose, but when I started to air up the tire I heard a hissing sound, and saw that it was coming from a small bubble on the outside of the tire. That couldn’t be good.

Fortunately for us, a guy who wasn’t supposed to be there that Sunday afternoon, but was because of harvest season, was willing to help us out. He took a quick look at the tire and said it couldn’t be repaired. My wife asked him if he knew of anyone in Goodland – the next bigger town where we were heading – who could sell us a tire. He reached out to one of his contacts, but they didn’t have a 19 inch tire that fit our car. He then volunteered to put on our spare donut tire, and we gladly accepted his offer.

At that time a number of questions and concerns began running through our heads. Would there be any tire store in Goodland, KS (about 40 miles away) that could fix our tire? My wife knew there was a Walmart in Goodland – does it sell, or repair, tires? If we didn’t find anything in Goodland, should we try Colby, even though we’d have to backtrack to get there? If Colby didn’t have anything open, should we spend the night in a hotel in Goodland (even though we didn’t pack for it) and get the tire fixed there the next day? Should we try to have our son, Aaron, or Scott’s Dad, Elroy, drive the 2.5 hours from Colorado Springs to Goodland to pick us up, and then we’d drive back the next day to get our tire fixed?

After a few minutes of frantically calling a few places in Goodland and Colby, and not having any luck, we decided that heading to Goodland was the best option, even though we weren’t sure what we’d do once we got there. Also, when the shop guy installed our donut tire, the instructions on the outside of the tire said the maximum speed was 50 mph. That wasn’t good either. We thanked the shop guy and tried to pay him, but he wouldn’t accept it. This completed the first leg of our ordeal.

On to Goodland

As we headed toward Goodland at 53 mph and with our flashing lights on, we tried to settle down a little and think of other options, which led to more questions. Should we drive all the way to Burlington, which was 70 miles away (it was our understanding that you weren’t supposed to drive more than 80 miles on a little donut tire), and then have someone pick us up there? Would there be any tire stores in Burlington that were open and could help us? Should we contact a relative of Scott’s who lived there, Bari, and stay with her while we waited two hours for a ride? Or, should we really push our luck and try to drive all the way to Colorado Springs (more than 200 miles), knowing that if the tire blew out between Burlington and Limon, we’d be stuck on the highway and have to wait a few hours for a tow truck, and then need a ride from a relative?

When we reached Goodland, KS, we still didn’t know for sure what we’d do, but we tentatively planned to try to make it to Burlington. At that time we also reached out to Scott’s Dad to see if he could pick us up in Burlington and what his thoughts were on trying to make it all the way to the Springs. We also reached out to Sheila’s Dad, Will, for his thoughts, and he mentioned that we should have put the donut tire on the back of the vehicle where there is less weight, and move one of the regular tires up front. We wished we had thought of that. This completed the second leg of our ordeal. Two down, two to go.

Aiming for Burlington

As we started to drive to Burlington, we still hadn’t decided whether to seek a ride from a relative and park our car there for the night, or chance it and drive all the way to the Springs, even though that was was another 143 miles. Not knowing what to do, we decided to pray to God for guidance. He needed to let us know somehow, and in some way, what we should do.

So, my wife prayed, and within a few minutes after that, my phone rang. I was expecting a return call from our son Aaron, so thought it might be from him, but it was from Troy instead. I’m not sure why he called at that time, but after updating him on our predicament, he then told us of a time when something similar happened to him. He was on the outskirts of Tulsa when his car got a flat tire, and he had to drive with the donut tire for a good two hours on the way to Joplin. Let me repeat that. He said that he had to drive his car, with a donut tire, for a good two hours. At that point we were still 2.5 hours out or more, but it was the number we needed to hear to make us believe that we could make it all of the way. Upon hearing that story, we knew that God had just answered our prayer, so it was onward to the Springs, even though that would put more than 210 miles in total on the donut tire.

A Scare between Burlington and Limon

My wife and I were excited and relieved that God had answered our prayer, but at the same time, it still required faith on our part, and that wasn’t easy. Why? Expecting the donut tire to hold up for 210 miles, especially when it was more than 90 degrees outside, seemed unlikely, and after driving another 40 miles, with cars on the interstate passing us left and right, something happened.

Another warning light popped up on the dash: Underinflated tire. It was clear that the donut tire was wearing out, and no longer holding its air pressure. How could this be? God answered our prayer, so this couldn’t be the end of the tire’s life. We pulled over at the next small town and went to a gas station several blocks north of the highway to look at the donut tire. Yes, it was lower than before, but it wasn’t flat. What do we do? Keep going.

From there we drove another 35 miles to Limon, where we hoped to find a gas station with an air pump and hose. Fortunately for us, we found one, and aired up the tire. Sixty five more miles and we’d be home. At that point it became clear that we would make it to the Springs even though the donut tire would have more than 200 miles on it.

Understanding Faith

When we stopped in Burlington to let the tires cool a little (thinking it might help prolong the life of the donut tire), we looked up the definition of faith in Hebrews 11:1, and read it in several translations. The Good News translation, which was the easiest to understand, says, “To have faith is to be sure of the things we hope for, to be certain of the things we cannot see.”

We knew that God had answered our prayer, but we had to really believe that it would come to pass even though the odds seemed against it. This was especially true when we stopped in the small town of Arriba after the Underinflated warning indicator popped up again. That, we reasoned at the time, was more likely a test of our faith rather than the end of the tire’s life.

From there to Limon, each mile we drove was still a little trial, and we were thankful for each mile we had just driven. We still believed that we would make it home, but that doesn’t mean our stress level wasn’t elevated, for who knew what else might arise over the next 90 miles.

In the end, we made it, just as God “said” we would, but it took more faith than we expected. Also, we learned that faith may sound simple or easy when you read about it in the Bible, but faith in a trying circumstance is not. That is when you have to trust God completely – that He’ll do what He said He would do – even when the odds seem against it.

Final Thoughts

In looking back upon our ordeal, it was clear that God was “with us” the entire time. Why? Well, it just so happened that our Underinflated tire warning light came on a block from a gas station that had an air hose for our tire. It just so happened that a guy was working at the gas station on a Sunday afternoon when he normally wouldn’t be, and who was willing to put on the spare tire for us. It just so happened that we received a call from Troy just a few minutes after we prayed as an answer our prayer. And it just so happened that we found another gas station in Limon where we could fill up our donut tire with enough air to make it home.

Why God, the maker of the heavens and earth, would care about two ordinary people and a spare donut tire in northwestern Kansas and eastern Colorado is not easy to understand, but He did, and He does. And if He cares about something that small in our lives, we’re sure He cares about the small things in your life too.