During the recent transition from Montana to Florida, we saw God’s blessings in many ways. We braved flooded highways, mechanical problems, stormy weather and the pressure of a time schedule, yet found wonderful people across the country willing to help. In South Dakota we needed to replace an axle. After limping into Sioux Falls late one Sunday evening, we faced the prospect of finding a good mechanic that could fit us in on short notice. The good folks at Graham Tires got us in, fixed the axle and had us back on the road before 10:00. Great customer care and good service, at a very reasonable cost.
All through Missouri and Arkansas we were either running just ahead or behind the storms that generated the deadly tornadoes in Oklahoma. We stopped early a couple times to allow the weather to pass and praised God for the earlier delays that kept us out of the storms. Leaving Memphis, we ran into torrential rains that forced us to stop for the night in Mississippi instead of making it to Alabama like we had planned for the night. The next day, we continued our journey and had suffered a blow out on the trailer we were pulling. Had we undergone this the night before instead of stopping it would have been very dangerous. A kind gentleman stopped to help us change the tire even though he was on his way to the hospital to see his wife and the new baby they had that was born the night before. How grateful we were for his help and the blessing of meeting him.
After a day’s delay finding new trailer tires we continued our journey. Because of leaving late, we could not make it into Jacksonville on schedule. We stopped for the night chafing at yet another delay. How foolish we were. Continuing the next day, we had just left the interstate when a tire blew on our vehicle. This was unexpected, as they were brand new and we had not run over anything on the road. We found out later it was a defective tire. After 3 hours we managed, with the help of a tow truck operator, to get the tire off and a spare on. We limped back to the nearest town for a new tire and then headed to Jacksonville, arriving about four in the afternoon.
Now we were really frustrated with it being late on a Friday Memorial Day weekend. We had missed meeting with our Realtor due to arriving three days later than scheduled and the holiday. I was really not looking forward to spending extended time in a hotel after a long, exhausting trip. On the way into town, we had seen a sign advertising a home for rent. We called the number, met with the owners (who had advertised just hours earlier) and moved in the next day. Only God could work out a place to stay within 24 hours of arriving in a city. While temporary, we are grateful to have a place to stay that is convenient and time to look for a permanent space for Ta Ethne to grow, as well as for our family to live. God has shown us His timing, His blessings and taught us a valuable lesson of trusting in Him.
Praise God from Whom all blessings flow.