El Paso - "the first step" to a great adventure

"I don't know how to say it because it doesn't make sense," Tim looked over at me as we pulled out of El Paso yesterday morning, "but...I'm sort of glad we broke down."

We drove into a city of strangers...and left with a caravan of friends. We arrived with a big scare...and ended with stronger faith. It was as if God was whispering to us, "I've got you."

After our transmission blew up, our friend Joe (from Tucson) contacted his friend Mike in El Paso (he was a great help, by the way) who contacted his friend Emily (who was the Public Relations Manager at Casa Ford).

Emily totally blew us away with her kindness. After barely meeting Tim and hearing our story, she invited us to her sister Leslie's birthday party at a cozy Italian restaurant [see right - their family took up the entire restaurant - it was awesome]. We wondered if it might be awkward. But...her family welcomed us and warmed our souls. They loved us so well that we both got tears in our eyes when we recounted the experience the day after.

And the entire team at Casa Ford? Incredible! What a love-filled place with good-hearted people (how often can you say that about a car dealership?). We highly recommend them if you want to buy a car or need to get your vehicle fixed in El Paso. See left - that's Tim with the owner (a really cool guy with Christ in his eyes).

Go here to "like" the company on Facebook.

It's funny. At first, we were terrified to be stuck at Walmart with a bad transmission.

In the end, we left with an unexpected expense. More importantly, however, we left with encouraged hearts and a huge circle of new friends.

We also want to extend a BIG thank-you to Rhonda, Gene, Leslie, the entire "Garcia" family, Keith & Amy, Johnny & Christina, Claudia, Steve, our parents, and everyone else who encouraged us more than we can put into words.

Also - we stayed at a campground in Fort Stockton, TX last night...and we're in Canyon Lake, TX now! We took showers, turned on our lights, and cooked a real dinner tonight! We are counting our blessings.