This last week was quite an interesting one. I was able to spend the week with the youngest of my four boys in a place called Dewey, Utah on the Colorado River. This is about thirty miles up river from the town of Moab, Utah. Getting there took some strength as I had just finished a twelve hour night shift before driving the five or so hours to get to this place. Once there the temperature was in the high nineties and sleeping in a tent meant for a sweaty experience. The trial did not end with the heat. The next day in route to a fishing spot in the much cooler mountains of the Manti-La Sal range my tire pressure light came on in my truck. The tire appeared to be fine so after a day of fishing, where my youngest caught more fish than he had ever caught in his thirteen year life put together, we made our way into Moab to get the tire fixed. I called ahead to see if the tire shop would be able to fix the tire and to see what time they closed. Luckily I followed the inspiration to call ahead because they were closing in only a few minutes. The problem with the tire was a stick had gone through the side wall of the tire. My understanding was that this usually meant a new tire. Not only were they able to fix the tire with a side wall patch but they did not charge me any. The person who fixed the tire also re-calibrated the tires so the correct tire would show on the console when it had a problem. They were given a monetary tip that exceeded what wages they would have received. Later that night I had some online work to do so I opened my computer and tried to log on to the Wifi at MacDonald’s only to find that my computer would not turn on. I charged it and still nothing. I had a group quiz due that night so between my two cell phones and a very patient group I was able to get everything turned in on time. Having another group quiz on Thursday I went into town and was able to use the public library to finish all of my homework and things for that. I finished everything with my group that night and had just bought some ice to return the thirty miles back to camp. I went to start the truck and all I got was clicking. A nice lady was nearby and asked if I need a jump. I had cables in my truck but when I went to pull them out they hung up on some other things in the back and the large alligator clamp end pulled off of the wire. I now had to fix the cable end before I could jump the truck. Fortunately the lady was patient and allowed me to make the repair and jumped my truck. The next morning we woke early to go fishing and needed a jump start again. I was able to catch a few fish but my son kept pace with me which I was happy about. After a few hours of fishing we got another jump start and went into town to get a battery. While loading the battery and retrieving tools out of the tool box I noticed another tire had a tear in the side wall. It must have happened the day before when I did some off-roading. We were able to make it home with the tear.
When considering the readings and videos I studied this week about holding on it will get better, I 100% agree. The boys at camp had a great time. They earned their merit badges and I learned to persevere.
Lessons learned
life will always bring challenges, hold on it will always get better
Lessons not learned
completely have trust in the Lord, He is in charge
JJ Claymore Inc. 