August 11

It is Sunday evening and I am in Dallas, Texas. I must go to sleep soon because I need to be in Snyder, Texas, early in the morning. The chemical in the tank is 98% acetic acid (vinegar is only 4% I am told) and a full protective plastic chemical suit is needed for the unload. The suits are unbearably hot. It has been over 100 degrees in North Texas of late. The plastic suit is ready. So are the Gatorade bottles.


I wish to write of the events of Friday. God was once again present in the delays.

Thursday evening I was not a "happy camper". I was already near Spartanburg but could not unload until 1:00 p.m. the following day. I sought permission to unload early. My employer denied permission. This meant sitting at the Pilot truck stop at Gaffney. You would think I would learn by now (surely I ride God's short bus - I am one of his special education students).

Friday morning I rose up early and took my shower. A customer in the Pilot suggested I try the fruit stand outside in the automobile portion of the lot. What a blessing! Fresh peaches - fresh tomatoes. Not the hard, woody peaches from the produce section. Not the plastic, pale tomatoes from the produce section. These were the real deal. I ate the last tomato and mayonaisse sandwich this morning. And the peaches, sliced and covered with UHT milk. Hmmmmm. Fresh produce in the truck. What a rare blessing! Little did I know when I bought the fruit that I would soon be discussing fruits in the parking lot - the fruits of the Spirit.

Out in the truck lot were two trucks from my company. I went up to the first and offered the driver a peach, which he accepted, as he had been eyeing the fruit stand himself. Then I went to the second truck, only two spaces from mine. It was a young man driving dedicated Walmart delivery. He had his ten year old son with him (minor passengers are permitted by the company in the van division). His name was Honorio and he accepted a peach. I went to my truck.

In a minute, Honorio was over to my truck, showing me his scale ticket. The shipper had loaded him too heavy in the front of the trailer. Honorio was overweight on his drive axles. It was time to slide the tandems (the tires at the back of the van trailer are mounted on slide rails which have holes in them with movable pins). This is best a two man job and I grabbed my gloves and headed over to Honorio's truck. Honorio got in his driver seat and I manned the pin lever at the back of the trailer. The task was soon accomplished, and a reweigh on the truck stop scale confirmed that Honorio was now legal on all axels. He backed in again near me.

We spoke again. Now I am not a big "relational", "touchy-feely" kind of guy, but the modernists have one thing right: It is easier to share the gospel with even a touch of relationship, and the opportunity to help Honorio was the opening I needed. I gave Honorio a tract, but surprise, Honorio was already a professing believer. No matter, I gave Honorio some more tracts to give to other drivers. We looked at some scriptures together, including Galatians 5 ("fruits of the spirit, works of the flesh"). We prayed together. I always pray that God will perfect the other driver and use him, all to the glory of God. Honorio seemed encouraged. We went our separate ways.

But the day was not over. God was not yet finished.

At 1:00 p.m. I arrived at the customer. The unload went without problem.

By 4:00 or so I was back out on Interstate 26 south of Spartanburg, heading for tankwash in Augusta. I-26 is hilly. I was empty (constant speed). Soon a faster owner operator pulling for my company approached me from behind in ancient GMC-White-Volvo. He swung out to pass me on the downhill. He was heavy laden and did not realize I was empty (I still bear the hazmat placards until I arrive at the tankwash) and he quickly bogged down as we went up the hill. I was in no hurry, and I slowed so he could get by. A "thank you" came over the CB radio.

That "thank you" started a 90 mile conversation. Roger and I were headed in the same direction and we switched chanels so we could chat. Roger is from Indiana. He had gone broke once, been a company driver, and was now an owner operator again in a truck so ancient I had never seen one like it before. But Roger was clever. Auxillary power units to cool a truck cab without idling cost over $8,000.00, but Roger had used a Walmart pull start generator and a 110 volt air conditioning unit to build his own for less than $500.00. Now this I wanted to see.

Roger was nearly done with his day, but I had not pulled out of the Pilot until after 10:00, so I was not nearly ready to stop. Nevertheless, when Roger pulled into a small truckstop on U.S. 25, I followed him in so he could show me his creation. It was quite the invention, but I could see Roger lacked a means to keep other drivers from stealing the generator when it was situated on his catwalk. I just "happened" to have an extra cable lock which had been riding in my sidebox unused the past three years. Roger gratefully accepted the cable lock, and once again I had my opportunity. Roger was not a believer. Roger and the other company driver who pulled in about the same time both got a tract. Then I was on my way.

But the day was still not over!

I reached the tankwash in Augusta about 6:00 p.m., still on-schedule, Roger notwithstanding, dropped my dirty tankwagon, signed it in, and found my loaded relay. But I was not the only driver at the tankwash.

My company has horrific turnover, and to make up for this there is a steady stream of new drivers. Many need help at some point. Here was Kelvin from Louisiana. He was supposed to hook a clean tank, but it had not been washed. It was Friday night. There was no day staff available to answer questions. Kelvin was also headed for an unfamiliar unload location.

I walked Kelvin over to the tankwash personnel, only two of whom were still on duty on Friday evening, and soon they were washing his tank out. Then Kelvin and I sat for an hour while we went over his route and I drew some quick maps of the customer location. It was the third opportunity of the day! When I left, Kelvin had a clean tank. Kelvin knew how to get to the customer. I told Kelvin exactly Who had kept me these past three years in the truck. Kelvin had a gospel tract and my telephone number.

I am not a skilled evangelist. At best, I plant seeds. What I do, you can do. This is not rocket science. A child can do this. It is simply a matter of making an effort to stay close to God, and then asking Him for opportunities. If you genuinely ask God for these opportunities, I think He will give them to you. I think all you have to do is tell the other person what God has done for you, and then I think a written tract is still a marvelous tool. You can get the tracts very cheaply at local Christian stores.

The exciting part is that you never know when you are going to have those divine appointments.

Oops! It is already 9:30 p.m. and I want to pull out of here around 03:00. Time to retire. You don't want tired truck drivers sailing down the road with 45,000 lbs of acid in the tank!