So we have hit the first No cell phone issue. We cancelled both of our cell phones to save the money toward our adoption ($60/month X 10 months is $600!). Everything has been fine up until this point if you don't count the shock others have because we are not accessible 24/7. Last night on the way home from church we ran out of gas (yes, I know I am a dope for trying to test the gas gauge). We were in the middle of Coliseum Blvd. (one of the busiest streets in Fort Wayne) with 5 small children, in the dark and it is snowing....oh yeah and Torrey took out the fuse for the emergency flashers to fix my baby sis' s stereo. So normal people would pull out their cell phone and get someone to come and help.....but... no phone..... what did people do in the 80's in this situation? Because of our lack of emergency flashers nobody knew we were in trouble so we got the angy honks and flashing lights. I was afraid we would be rear-ended so I started to get the kids out.... the sight of 5 babies in the middle of Coliseum sparked some interest and a car full of teenage boys lent me their cell phone. After about 5 phone calls I finally got a hold of Torrey. The boys pushed our van around corner and into a parking lot. Unfortunately they moved it to where you can't see it from the highway and it would take about 20 minutes for Torrey to get to us besides the fact that it would be almost impossible to find us (we have no phone to tell him that we moved the van into a nearby parking lot). With no heat for the kids we found shelter in the nearby Video Stop. The kids enjoyed looking at all of the movies and video games until Destiny had to go potty! Finding a public restroom in an strip mall is next to impossible. Thank the Lord for Starbucks. They were the only ones who would let a family of stranded children in the snow use a restroom.... and they offered us free cups of water! The other stores just gave us dirty looks. Anyway, as we are on our bathroom treasure hunt Torrey is combing the area from church to the house trying to spot our invisible van. I happen to see a white Yaris drive by... so I leave Destiny (7) in charge of the babies and run out to flag it down but it's not Torrey! However, he happens to be pulling out of McDonald's across the street! So I jump up and down like a maniac to get his attention and run back to my unattended children. I am so glad that God helped me to stay calm in this crazy situation! We are still not going to get cell phones... everything worked out... God was watching and never let us out of his grasp. It is amazing how cell phones make a person less dependent on the kindness of strangers. I guess it goes the other way too, in that it gives strangers less chances to do something kind. It perpetuates itself into people thinking that strangers are not willing to help because we don't get a chance to help or be helped... everyone is so self-sufficient. Those teenagers seemed so proud to push a van full of kids off of a busy street and show off their manliness. It is kind of sad that cell phones diminish the number of these opportunities... I hope my boys get lots of chances to push cars and help old ladies cross the street with her groceries. Ah.. that's another example that is not likely to happen... who walks home from Walmart!