En route to Knoxville, Tennessee, we experienced a series of incredibly adverse situations. On highway 75, just north of Knoxville, the back rear-passenger tire on our fifth wheel blew out. The tire cap broke the entire back fender/molding that extends from the tires to the back of the trailer. This was just the beginning…………..

We located a tire shop, and agreed to have all four replaced. With five hours left until the evening service, we had plenty of time to get fixed up and get on our way! Well, that’s what we thought would take place, at least.

After an hour at the tire dealership, the nice gentleman that quoted us the initial price on the tires, said that he “discovered a problem.” He said that the price he initially quoted for four tires, was substantially lower than what he could sell the tires for, and that the difference would be approximately $75 higher per tire.

After utilizing the GPS, we discovered that another tire shop (on the other side of town), could sell us a set of four tires for $160 less than this company. We kindly asked them to place the spare tire on our trailer, and we were on our way across Knoxville to save money.

That’s when we realized that we were approximately 3 1/2 hours away from church service, and decided to purchase the tires the following morning. We finally arrived at New Life Ministries, and in a matter of time we would be able to set up our fifth wheel, and relax a few minutes before church.

Wrong! The moment that we plugged our electricity into the outlet at the church, the changeover box burned, and we lost all electricity to the trailer! This was not cool! We had to find an RV repair shop, and pull our wounded fifth wheel back across town.

Arriving at the repair shop at 5:45 PM, the manager took a look at our problem, and said that he could get to it some time the following day. Luckily there was a hotel across the street…We could relax for the night, have them fix the problem, which we thought would be minimal, and we could get started the next afternoon.

We discovered that the business closed at 6 PM. As I made my way to the gate, I spoke with one of employees, who advised me that only one gate was still open, and it was at the opposite end of the parking lot. As I walked in that direction, he drove there in his golf cart (Mr. Employee, if you are reading this, please know that you are a dork…. Thanks for not asking me for a ride).

I made it to the hotel, checked in, and came back over to meet with Julie who was still at the trailer, grabbing some clothes for the night. Noticing that she was on the ground, I thought she had fallen. I quickly realized that she had gotten down on her hands and knees, and crawled under the fence…. It was her only escape! LOL! Thanks again, Mr. Dork Employee.

At this point, it was around 6:20 PM. And there was still one problem… we had to leave the truck attached to the trailer at the shop. I was able to contact one of the men from the church, who sent someone to pick me up.

Julie and I decided that there was only time for one of us to get ready and since I was preaching, it would only be appropriate I for me to go! So my lovely wife took the evening off and relaxed at the hotel.

I was ready in record speed, and out the door at 6:45 PM. I still had 15 minutes until church! Sounded great, at first…until I realized that my ride had not arrived. We finally made it to church…at 7:05PM!

The service was fantastic, and the presence of the Lord was simply wonderful. A sweet teenage girl received the Holy Ghost! The entire youth group has been very active in the altar service.The next day, we were able to pick our fifth wheel up, and try this once again. However, the damage was substantial, and they decided that I would have to pay $568, if I wanted to sleep in my trailer ever again.

We decided that the $568 was not an option, and so we paid the repair shop, and headed down the street. Our next stop would be the tire shop. After getting four new tires, we were en route to the church. Thankfully, one of the young men installed a 30 amp breaker, and we were up and running by 6 PM.

Surely, this would be the end to the nightmare at hand. Wrong! The next day, I was driving a vehicle that was just purchased by a man in the church. I failed to notice that the plates on this convertible BMW were last inspected in 2005.

I dropped this man off at his house, and headed back for the church. Two hours later, I was still trying to find my way back… This was only a three minute drive (they said). After an extended time on what seemed to be every highway in Tennessee, I stopped at a fast food restaurant. As I exited the vehicle, two kind police officers were approaching me, and motioning for my attention. What next!

These nice officers, asked me when I last inspected my car? As I attempted to explain that the car belonged to someone else, they received a call from dispatch that advised them that the plates on this nice, convertible BMW belonged to an old white Chevrolet pickup truck.

I tried to explain to them that I had no idea that the car had not been inspected, and that the plates were supposed to be on a white pickup truck. I am sure that they had heard this before! Well, they told me that unless I was able to furnish a ticket, or a proof of purchase from that day, that I was in a lot of trouble.

Guess what? There was nothing in the car! I suggested that we telephone the owner, and ask him to explain the situation. After three calls, I made contact with the owner, who began to laugh. After assuring him that I was serious, he asked to speak to the officers. After a few minutes of warning me about what could have happened… these kind officers allowed to me to drive the car. “Go straight to the church,” they said. Well, that sounded good. One problem… where is the church?

To bring this to an end, I must declare that I made it back to the church after three hours, safe and not in handcuffs!

Can we please start this week all over again?