A "Moving" Experience

So much of our lives is spent worrying and fretting and striving and hiding, that to have a season of feeling safe and secure in the palm of God’s hand is quite a gift.

That’s how I would summarize our move from Austin, TX to Billings, MT.

A little over a week ago when tropical storm Hermine raged ashore covering southern Texas with deluges of rain, I experienced a serious case of trip trepidation. The night before we were to pack the truck, the weather was terrible – rain, flash floods, wind, rumors of tornados, and lightning. When I went to pick my Daniel up from his last night of work, visibility ranked low and water covered the roads enough to cause tire slippage. When we got back to the apartment and stepped out of the car, rising water measured over ankle deep. That night, we prayed the rain would pass before it was time to load the truck the next morning.

Well, we had a slight reprieve from the storm, but soon after we started packing, the rain started again and we had no choice but to get wet and let all our furniture get wet too. The other problem we discovered while removing boxes from “holding” in the second bedroom – the water table underground had risen so much the night before that it came through the floors and soaked the carpet! Every box that had been sitting on the floor, many filled with books and photo albums, was also soaked through.

There was nothing to be done but pack up the truck and hope for the best. I mean, we were on a budget and timeline.

So as we headed north, catching up to Hermine’s moody downpours in Oklahoma yet again, we prepared ourselves to lose everything.

Funny thing, though, looking back, even at that moment, I felt the protective curl of God’s fingers around our lives.

From then on, events occurred that rank nothing short of miraculous in my book. From perfect timing to perfect parking (for a BIG truck toting a car-dolly) to perfect moments with special people during our quick visit in Omaha, God’s hand showed up in tangible, overwhelming, awesome ways.

I’ll share an example with you.

Now you might think this ho-hum, but if you’ve ever driven a 24-foot rental truck and car-carrier across country, you’ll understand.

While visiting relatives in Omaha, we parked the mammoth vehicle in their apartment’s gated parking lot that’s shaped in a horseshoe – one way in, one way out. There was plenty of space out of the way and it was safe. A load off our minds.

Well, on the morning we were to leave, we went to this apartment building to pick up my Daniel’s mom for breakfast with the family, all of us riding in her car to the restaurant. When we tried to leave, we were stopped by a malfunctioning gate – it wouldn’t open. No big deal for a car – turned around, used the automatic opener, got out the exit and went to breakfast.

But after breakfast, we, of course, needed to drive the truck out in order to get on down the road. As my Daniel fired up the truck, I ran over to the exit gate to see what the dealio was – an alarm was sounding and it looked to be off the track. My Daniel’s mother drove her car up to the gate – nothing. Wasn’t budging.

Uh oh.

So, my Daniel attempted to turn the truck in the opposite direction so we leave through the entrance.

Even with his sweet truck maneuvering skills, it wasn’t happening. The parking lot was too small and the truck’s turning radius was too big.

Uh oh.

Not a disaster, I know. But it could’ve put a huge cramp in our traveling schedule.

Without any other option, my Daniel pulled the truck around to the exit gate. I mean, if anything, we could go to the office and get someone to start fixing it ASAP.

But as the truck neared the sensor, the gate opened… as if nothing had ever been wrong.

He drove right out.

Now in the scheme of things, when you’ve got hundreds of miles to go and hotel reservations and a job waiting and a body that can only stay awake so many hours in a row… that was a miracle.

Those kinds of things happened all the way here. Kinda makes me feel like we are where we are supposed to be.

Have a great weekend, Dry Ground friends!

(photos by photobucket.com)