Net Miles Of Smiles

> >In September 1960, I woke up one morning with six hungry babies and just 75
> >cents in my pocket.
> >
> >
> >Their father was gone.
> >
> >
> >The boys ranged from three months to seven years; their sister was two.
> >
> >
> >Their Dad had never been much more than a presence they feared.
> >
> >Whenever they heard his tires crunch on the gravel driveway they would
> >scramble to hide under their beds.

> >
> >He did manage to leave $15 a week to buy groceries.
> >
> >Now that he had decided to leave, there would be no more beatings, but no
> >food either.
> >
> >If there was a welfare system in effect in southern Indiana at that time, I
> >certainly knew nothing about it.
> >< BR>
> >I scrubbed the kids until they looked brand new and then put on my best
> >homemade dress, loaded them into the rusty old 51 Chevy and drove off to
> >find a job.
> >
> >The seven of us went to every factory, store and restaurant in our small
> >town.
> >
> >
> >No luck.
> >
> >The kids stayed crammed into the car and tried to be quiet while I tried to
> >convince who ever would listen that I was willing to learn or do anything.
> >I had to have a job.
> >
> >Still no luck. The last place we went to, just a few miles out of town, was
> >an old Root Beer Barrel drive-in that had been converted to a truck stop.
> >
> >
> >It was called the Big Wheel.
> >
> >An old lady named Granny owned the place and she peeked out of the window
> >from time to time at all those kids.
> >
> >She  needed someone on the graveyard shift, 11 at night until seven in the
> >morning.
> >
> >She paid 65 cents an hour, and I could start that night.
> >
> >I raced home and called the teenager down the street that baby-sat for
> >people.
> >
> >I bargained with her to come and sleep on my sofa for a dollar a night.
> >
> >She could arrive with her pajamas on and the kids would already be asleep.
> >
> >This seemed like a good arrangement to her, so we made a deal.
> >
> >That night when the little ones and I knelt to say our prayers, we all
> >thanked God for finding Mommy a job. And so I started at the Big Wheel.
> >
> >When I got home in the mornings I woke the baby-sitter up and sent her
> >home with one dollar of my tip money– fully half of what I averaged every
> >night.
> >
> >As the weeks went by, heating bills added a strain to my meager wage.
> >
> >The tires on the old Chevy had the consistency of penny balloons and began
> >to leak. I had to fill them with air on the way to work and again every
> >morning before I could go home.
> >
> >One bleak fall morning, I dragged myself to the car to go home and found
> >four tires in the back seat. New tires!
> >
> >There was no note, no nothing, just those beautiful brand new tires.
> >
> >Had angels taken up residence in Indiana ? I wondered.
> >
> >I made a deal with the local service station.
> >
> >In exchange for his mounting the new tires, I would clean up his office.
> >
> >I remember it took me a lot longer to scrub his floor than it did for him
> >to do the tires.
> >
> >I was now working six nights instead of five and it still wasn’t enough.
> >
> >Christmas was coming and I knew there would be no money for toys for the
> >kids.
> >
> >I found a can of red paint and started repairing and painting some old
> >toys. Then I hid them in the basement so there would be something for Santa
> >to deliver on Christmas morning.
> >
> >Clothes were a worry too. I was sewing patches on top of patches on the
> >boys pants and soon they would be too far gone to repair.
> >
> >On Christmas Eve the usual customers were drinking coffee in the Big Wheel.
> >There were the truckers, Les, Frank, and Jim, and a state trooper named
> >Joe.
> >
> >A few musicians were hanging around after a gig at the Legion and were
> >dropping nickels in the pinball machine.
> >
> >The regulars all just sat around and talked through the wee hours of the
> >morning and then left to get home before the sun came up.
> >
> >When it was time for me to go home at seven o’clock on Christmas morning,
> >to my amazement, my old battered Chevy was filled full to the top with
> >boxes of all shapes and sizes.
> >
> >
> >I quickly opened the driver’s side door, crawled inside and kneeled in the
> >front facing the back seat.
> >
> >Reaching back, I pulled off the lid of the top box.
> >
> >Inside was whole case of little blue jeans, sizes 2-10!
> >
> >I looked inside another box: It was full of shirts to go with the jeans.
> >
> >Then I peeked inside some of the other boxes. There was candy and nuts and
> >bananas and bags of groceries. There was an enormous ham for baking, and
> >canned vegetables and potatoes.
> >There was pudding and Jell-O and cookies, pie filling and flour. There was
> >whole bag of laundry supplies and cleaning items.
> >
> >And there were five toy trucks and one beautiful little doll.
> >
> >As I drove back through empty streets as the sun slowly rose on the most
> >amazing Christmas Day of my life, I was sobbing with gratitude.
> >
> >And I will never forget the joy on the faces of my little ones that
> >precious morning.
> >
> >Yes, there were angels in Indiana that long-ago December. And they all hung
> >out at the Big Wheel truck stop….
> >
> >THE POWER OF PRAYER. I believe that God only gives three answers to prayer:
> >
> >1. ‘Yes!’
> >2. ‘Not yet.’
> >3. ‘I have something better in mind.’
> >
> >God still sits on the throne, the devil is a liar.
> >
> >You maybe going through a tough time right now but God is getting ready to
> >bless you in a way that you cannot imagine.
> >
> >My instructions were to pick four people that I wanted God to bless,
> >and I picked you.?
> >
> >Please pass this to at least four people you want to be blessed .
> >
> >This prayer is powerful, and prayer is one of the best gifts we receive.
> >There is no cost but a lot of rewards
> >
> >Let’s continue to pray for one another. Here is the prayer:….
> >
> >Father, I ask You to bless my friends, relatives and email buddies reading
> >this right now. Show them a new revelation of Your love and power.
> >Amen.
> >
> >I know I picked more than four, so can you.