I jolted out of bed. Red lights glared like eyes at me. 9:00 AM. Apparently the digital alarm didn't go off. We wanted to get on the road early and try to avoid the heat of the day, but that plan was canceled by our exhaustion.
Our bellies were made full by an all-you-can-eat-buffet and all-you-need-to-take-for-the-road-supply. I love hotels that have a continental breakfast, and as a hitchhiker staying at a hotel for the night, it was heaven.
Lesson 9: Eat all you can at buffets.
We left certainty and comfort and ventured out of the city to the interstate. Traffic was light on Sunday morning, but our hopes were high for the day after eating breakfast on the house.
We managed to secure two rides in the first hour and travel twenty miles north stopping at the Mars Hill exit. The sun was shining brightly, and we found a little rectangular road sign that protected our heads and back of neck from the scorching UV rays as we waited.
Lesson 10: Wait in the shade whenever possible.
After each car ride, Seth and I would say a prayer of blessing for the driver and passengers. As we waited for a long hour, we prayed for our Good Samaritan friends that we met along our journey.
By now, I had my technique refined. We would stand close to the beginning of the onramp so cars didn't have to hit the brakes to pick us up and drivers could see our faces. I started to walk towards cars near the road when they passed. I wanted them to make a decision. They had to decide to ignore us. I felt a small amount of control and that made me feel a little more secure.
Seth again wisely said we should ask the Lord if He wanted to speak anything to us. I didn't really get anything besides “wait,” but Seth said he thought we should pray over each other because we had made it to the last leg of the journey.
Seth prayed for me, and then I prayed for him. Immediately, and to our surprise, a truck pulled over. We could tell they were definitely locals by their back-woods accents. A dad, mom, and teenage daughter. They were headed to the flea market, which they assumed we knew about. We tried to help them understand we weren't familiar with the area and wanted to go as far to Johnson City that they could take us.
Lesson 11: Do what God says.
We jumped in the back of truck with some black trash bags that looked like a raccoon got into them. It was a beautiful drive with the wind in our air, big green mountains all around, and occasionally a piece a trash that escaped and launched out to the freeway. We flew into Tennessee and past exits signs for over a half an hour. Seth and I exchanged looks and smiles broke across our faces. We were making great progress.
When the truck finally pulled over we found out the family decided to take us all the way to Johnson City and go to a different flea market. Adrenaline pumped through my veins. Now we were just five miles away from Kristin's house. Graciously we thanked them. Walking would get us there in less than two hours. Instead, we stuck out our thumbs on the boulevard.
Incredibly, only three minutes had passed until we had our next ride into town. Three guys our age all drinking beers. I actually didn't realize they were drinking until we were already moving. Heavy metal music played, and a skull dangled from the rearview mirror. Seth and I had the same thought. We only needed to travel five miles with these guys, and they seemed to be alert.
Lesson: 12: People drink and drive. Be careful.
They dropped us off near town and we started walking our final mile. A grandfather offered us a ride within seconds. Excitement was swelling in my spirit. We were only moments away. He pulled into Kristin's driveway.
I almost wished we had walked the final mile. It was all coming to a close so quickly that I didn’t have an enough time to process. Seth had been right. That was the final leg of the journey. My heart raced as I realized we made it!
It felt a bit surreal and normal at the very same time as we knocked on the door.
What a journey it had been. A story. An adventure.
I felt proud and blessed. Proud in accomplishing the journey we set out on and blessed by the Lord's faithfulness. I learned that when we make ourselves available to God He meets us.
He shows up. He loves. He cares. He blesses.
The door opened with big smiles from Kristin, her dad, and mom. They had been waiting patiently for us to arrive, hoping and wondering if we were ok. We were a bit sun burnt, dirty and smelly, but we were more than ok.
Faithfully, God answered another prayer. We had arrived just in time for lunch. It felt like arriving for Thanksgiving after driving hours in a Michigan blizzard. It was so good to recall the story and debrief the journey over a delicious meal of chicken, fish, baked potato, asparagus and salad.
Soon Kristin, Seth and I were retracing our journey. Driving to Georgia on the look out for any hitchhikers.
