Stop that car!

Well Sunday was a great day in church, regardless of the members who chose not to come.We still had a great time and the singing was wonderful.

At the church in Čakovec we have our main meeting of the week at 6pm. We used to have Sunday school for the children and the main meeting. Well we ran into a problem; no room for all the children who wanted to come to church. This was a problem so we decided to start another service on Sunday at 4 and have all the children in that service in a big Sunday school so we would be able to use the auditorium to fit them all.

Okay so I said all that to tell you this. Sunday at 3:30 I went to pick up my van route in a little Gypsy village called Trnovec. I have a 7 seater van and on Sunday there were 10 of us in the van which is against the law in Croatia. Anyhow, we had SS and then at 5 I had to take them home and run my route for the six o'clock meeting when all the adults come. So I'm taking my kids home and we're zipping along with I see the "sucker". The little hand wand that looks like a sucker is what a policeman in Croatia uses to stop you for speeding or really any offense. So I see this guy and start to pull over while panicking inside at the fact that I have 8 unsecured persons in my van plus two adults.

The policeman walks up to my window and informs me that I was speeding and that since I was going 20 kilometers over the limit I was getting a 500 Kuna ($100) ticket. He asked me if I had the 500 Kuna on me to pay instantly or if he needed to write me a ticket. I was like, yea let me dig into my overflowing wallet for 500 Kunas worth of pocket change.

I was actually doing 72 km in a 50 zone. So he asks for my license and paperwork and I start looking for it. I find my insurance and paperwork and then I did my Texas license out of my wallet only to be dumbfounded. On that license in clear print is said: DATE OF EXPIRATION: 3/26/2010. UUUUGGG! Now I'm panicking because I just realized that not only do I have 8 unsecured children in my van but I also have an expired license. Are you kidding me? How did this happen? I can't even believe that the expiration on my liscense was out, even though at the beginning of the year I faintly remember thinking that i needed to renew. 

As the policeman walked over to a policewoman and started talking I quickly called Johnny and told him to pray. Pray about the license, speeding and all the kids thrown in the back of my van. Later I found out that he and Bro. Scott and immediately prayed for the situation.

A minute later the female police officer asked me too come across the street for a little chat. I walked over and she began asking all sorts of questions. She and the policeman kept passing my expired license back and forth and then laid in in plain sight on the hood of the cruiser. We soon found out that we live in the same village and share some village gossip about the priest that was being let go because he got his girlfriend pregnant. So we're carrying on here by the car and I'm explaining that I'm taking children home for SS and where we were from and all. Anyhow in the end she hands me the ticket and  I say "Thank you" like and idiot and go on my way.

Traci and I are talking after I left about how blessed I was that they didn't notice that my license was out and what a miracle it was. I was okay with the ticket since it could have been so much better. The policeman never asked to look into the van and since my windows and almost black tinted they were none the wiser. 

Finally we slowly make it back to the church and everyone congratulates me and we all have a laugh. I take my ticket out to show Ljubica (national pastor's wife that used to work for the police) and she starts to bust out laughing. Laughing??? What's so funny? She nearly hollers out, "It's not a ticket, it's a warning!". NO WAY! I'm thinking you have got to be kidding me. The male police said I was getting a ticket, he even tried to get me to pay it. It must have been my God sent, gossiping police woman who decided to give me a warning. WOW, God is so good. 

So the the jest of the whole story is that I made it through the traffic stop without getting into any trouble for the speeding, expired license and the child endangerment. WOW! God sure is good. 

Just wanted to share this with you so you could rejoice and be amazed with me!!

*Updated to include:
Since I haven't renewed my license in person in more than 10 years I will have to go to the US to renew it. I need my license, I run a van route for church and without a license the folks that come with me on Sunday would be out of luck. Huge bummer but God has supplied a way.
Not too long ago I found out my mom was having complete shoulder replacement and would be in the hospital for a little while. She's 60 this year and I have never really been "there" for her since we have always been here. Anyhow with this whole license problem and my moms surgery I will be going back to the states soon. Praise the Lord we have a United Mileage Plus card and we have racked up enough miles for a FREE ticket.  So I'll be in the states for the next two weeks and visiting Wal-mart often! :0)