Unexpected Guest

In the ministry, and on the mission field, it is not at all unusual to hear a knock on our front door or a clap at the back announcing a visitor. It was close to six this morning when an unusual sound announced an unexpected visitor.

I woke to screams accompanying a sound of something moving through brush outside. Immediately following was a sound similar to our front door being opened, which always reverberates through the walls in our bedroom at the back of the house. Since the initial sound was coming through our open bedroom window I thought something was happening in the backyard. I thought it unusual, however, that the sound following seemed to come from the front of the house.

Scott had left an hour earlier with Adeline for Montevideo and so in my sleepy state, and since our dog wasn't barking, I thought they had come back. Then the screaming and yelling I heard finally registered and I headed into the kitchen to check things out. Nothing was out of the ordinary in the back yard so I headed into the living room.

As I entered the living room I saw lights shining through the front sliding door curtains. The position of the lights seemed odd as did the sound of a large truck engine. So I peeked out the window just in time to see a large truck in our front yard. Still in a fog I watched for a few seconds while they moved the broken part of the tree and began backing out of our yard. I figured it was a road crew. Hey, in Uruguay you never know!

I went into the boys room to see if they were awake. Just as I expected all three older boys were awake and Brandon informed me that a truck lost control and was in our yard. Ah, now that shed some light on why they were so close to our house.

The meat truck would have been parked about where the white truck is.

The driver of the truck returned about 9:30 am and explained what happened to Brandon. It turned out the the meat company was delivering beef to the butcher next door when the truck, parked parallel to the curb, came to life nearly running one of the delivery men over. That explained all the yelling.

The out of control truck then moved up into our yard breaking the tree along the road. It turned toward the house moving through the yard and was slowed down by the brick planter that sits about 3 feet from the front wall. That is when the delivery man jumped out of its path and into the bushes under the boys window. Though the truck's front tires ran over the planter it lost enough velocity to not run straight through the front of the house. It did make contact with the brick between the front door and slider and partially pulverized it. And that's as far as it made it.

This is the planter box that slowed the meat truck down.

The 2nd brick down is the one that is damaged from the meat truck.

Our unexpected guest did not leave us any meat...too bad. I am thankful though that he also did not leave us with major repairs to make. After this morning I have to agree, that for us especially, life can be stranger than fiction.