TRIPS, TRUCKERS, AND TRUSTING GOD

Trips can be a lot of fun; and therefore, looked forward to, and remembered for a long time. However, the toughest type of trip is the one way trip: moving. That is not so fun; especially when you are leaving friends and a closer proximity to family. Even though it can be exciting to wonder what God has planned for you in the future, with a move, it is nonetheless really hard to leave a place and the people you have grown to love over several years. That is what we experienced.

We can't forget the packing of the 24 foot truck of all our earthly belongings that we didn't give away, sell, pack in the suburban or leave at the house for the next family to enjoy. It only took one night, but there were many hours of preparation before that, selling things, taking things apart, packing things; and of course, moving things into place for the packing of the truck. And then, we had to have an "expert" who knows how to pack things. Into the scenario comes our good friend Andy. He was incredible, figuring out how to fit everything in that truck. If you need a great packer, I suggest you find him and pay him double what we paid him (at least)! He saved us a ton of money, along with all the others who helped us in those days and during that evening.

The trip itself was pretty "exciting". We left at 9 a.m. and although we hoped to make it as close to the 11.5 hour estimated time from mapquest, we took almost 16 hours, pulling into Georgia at 12:45 a.m.
We encountered 4 rain storms (at least), which did a "number" on the plastic we had covering 3 mattresses we were carrying on the top of the suburban. We were having battery light problems, and found out it was an alternator. Fortunately, thanks to God, we received good advice from Teresa's brother, got off an exit, found an Auto Zone; and were very grateful to a worker who not only diagnosed the problem but fixed it! Since both of us were driving the whole way, it was extremely exhausting; especially since we were carrying cargo.

One of the more interesting parts of the trip was when I stopped in a truck stop a couple of times in order to get diesel fuel for the moving truck. At the ones I stopped at, they seemed to be very busy, and they didn't seem to work like normal gas stops. You couldn't just put a credit card in, fill it with gas and drive away. I had to go inside, stand in a long line, pre-pay an amount, not really knowing how much the huge gas tank would take in the truck. Then, after returning to the truck, you fill it, replace the nozzle, and go back into the store to settle the credit card, right? NO NO NO. I learned the hard way as a trucker behind me honked at me and then "chased me down" to tell me that after I filled up with gas, I was supposed to pull forward to a certain line and then go in to pay. I was a little scared. I figured it out, but all in all, it was a learning experience (and made me thankful I wasn't a trucker - at least not yet!)

We have told our children that we are in a great situation, as it relates to knowing God and growing in Him. This whole move is really about faith - learning to trust God. We told them the story of Abraham, and how God called Him to go to a place He did not know, without understanding the details or being able to see ahead of time how things would work out. But, he was to leave his familiar surroundings, take his family and go to wherever God called Him - trusting that God knew what He was doing, and would do what was best. We see a little more than Abraham in that we knew where in Georgia we were going and who we were going to live with, for now.

We don't know what our future holds, here or elsewhere. God has led us to come here, not knowing when I would get a job or what He is wanting me to do for now. What does God have planned? How will He provide for us? We don't know the answers to these questions, but we do know this: We can trust Him: and we will take each step, as He leads. I hope you are doing that too!