You make a place for me.
I always thought that phrase referred to heaven. But I’m realizing heaven is touching earth everyday.
I’m sitting (well laying) on the second sleeper bus. And my heart knew God had made a place for me….
Sleeper buses are different in every country. Most are tailor made for the average height of the country. Vietnam’s is 5’5”. I’m 5’ 10”.
The busses have these metal foot caves that become the bed in front of them’s head rest (Yes a metal head rest).
You technically buy a specific bed on the bus. But they don’t pay attention and they just want you to “get on, get on”.
The first bus I went to the very back looking for the number on my ticket and I ended up on the furthest-back middle bottom bunk. At first I was a little miffed about it cause people’s big backpacks had been tossed in a pile on one side.
But as I settle myself in, I realized how blessed I was.
In being the furthest back I had no metal headrest. It was just a lightly raised pad all the way back. In being in the middle I could sleep on my back and on both sides (which when you are laying down for the majority of the 23.5 hours you are on the bus is a blessing). The packs ended up being great as I could throw a leg over and help change up my blood flow. They also supported my back and stopped the metal railing from digging into my back. Being on the bottom bunk meant that I could sleep with my arms over my bags (which wasn’t as much of a big deal as our people made up the majority of the bus but still I like to practice safe habits).
The first bus had a padlock on the bathroom door. At first that seemed like a bad thing. But it saved me from having a porter potty 2 feet from my head for the 23 hours…
We were able to fit most of our big packs (including mine) underneath the bus. At first I was grateful. But then when we stopped (every 5-6 hours for either food or bathrooms) the drivers would open the undercarriage and shift boxes around. I become paranoid that my pack would be unloaded and left without my knowledge
So this second bus I was prepared for the 16 hour ride! I knew where I wanted to sleep and how I would do it.
The first thing the guy tells (well motions) me is to take my big pack on the bus. Thank you God for removing the source of my paranoia.
The second is the back of the bus is PACKED, you can’t get to the last beds. Boxes fill both beds and aisles. There is not a single middle bed open. Only side ones. My heart began to break.
BUT GOD!
He prepared a place for me just as He had on the first bus. But this place was new. The landscape was old and I wanted to use my wisdom to navigate it. But God’s thoughts are higher than ours.
The bathroom on this bus works – great for emergencies, terrible for nausea. But my head isn’t 2 feet away.
The middle bed to the lower side of me is packed with boxes and bags. By sliding my head down to the soft part of the pad I can throw my legs over the thin boxes in the isle and my feet fit perfectly in an alcove between backpacks. If someone were laying there I wouldn’t be able to stretch out and have a soft place to rest my head.
I still have the added support space of the floor and boxes by being on a bottom bunk.
You make a place for me! You bless me so much in these travels. I could write another saga about Your provision regarding the 4 flights that preceded these 2 bus rides. I know it could be so much worse. Even on a different place on this bus it could be worse.
But He provides.
It may not look like a blessing at first. It may still not be the comfort level we are used to. It might be missed at first because it wasn’t even something you thought to pray about.
BUT GOD!
He goes before us. He prepares a place for us. He tells us not to worry because He has placed provision for us even in our darkest moments (y’all when they put that rooster under the bus right beneath me, I about had a cow…). He tells us be strong and courageous because He has gone before us and He knows where we will struggle and what will be difficult and He is ALREADY doing something about it!
Goodness and Mercy follow us all the days of our life. Have you paused lately so they can catch up?
