His Ways Are Not Ours....

The second day of our trip was very eventful…and not in a good way. The first thing that went wrong was the radio system went out and there just happen to be one of my Third Day cd’s in the player.

Then the truck itself started acting up. The check engine light came on first, then the computer screen started flashing a message we could not understand, after which the truck geared down by itself and an alarm began to sound. We immediately pulled over.

To make a long frustrating story short, Penske took good care of us. They attempted to repair the truck and when it couldn’t be figured out they brought us a new truck and men to transfer our load. It was 3:30 in the morning before all of that was complete. I felt bad for the men who had done all that work in almost 100 degree heat and still had to drive 2 hours home again.

Penske also put us up in a motel and fed us for two days to get rested up before we hit the road again. I am thankful for their strong business ethic and would use them again – 'if' I ever move long distance again. J

During the frustrating two days I kept telling myself that this happened for a reason. God wanted us to stay right there for a purpose – one I may never know. Perhaps to keep us from harm up the road, or from harming someone else; maybe because the four men who worked on and did the truck transfer needed to be away from where they came from.

Whatever God’s reason may be, my prayer is that whoever retrieves my Third Day cd from the truck will be saved, and then pass it on.

Change Brings Challenge

A wise woman once told me that change brings challenge, and challenge brings growth. Well, here we are, about to make a big change in our lives. After 25 years of living in the hot humid south we are moving 945 mile north to the land of 10,000 lakes, Minnesota.

It’s not like we haven’t moved before. I moved from Southern California to Chicago in 1980. After meeting my husband and combining our two small families, we moved to San Diego, then 4 months later moved to the mountains of Northern California. After 4 years there, we headed back to Illinois because my husbands mother was very ill. A year later, in 1987, we moved to Tennessee and spent the next 25 years making a life and raising our children.

What makes this time different from all the others? Besides the amount of time we lived here, I'd have to say the friendships we made. We don’t have much contact with the few friends we had in all the other places we lived. Some we’ve had no contact with since we left that area.

Yet the friendships we’ve nurtured in Tennessee are different. There’s a bond created by years of living in the same community, taking our kids to the same schools, cheering for the teams our kids played on, and worshipping in the same church.

When I think back to those I’ve known in all the other places I’ve lived, I cannot say that the connections we had are the same as those we developed over the years in Tennessee.

However, that is not the only reason this move is so different from the others. Years ago, all we owned, kids, pets & possessions, fit in an old Dodge van. This time, minus kids and with one small dog, this is what we need to move....