So it’s cold outside. Like really stinkin cold. And to be honest I am not one who is fond of the cold at all, I would rather it be 70 degrees and sunny all year round. But we don’t live in a perfect world so that’s probably not going to happen any time soon. So this week I hibernated in my house aside from going to work because we had not one, not two, but FIVE snow days {yep you guessed it, that’s the whole week}. And make note, I am not complaining one bit.
This whole winter I have been worried about my precious car Vinny because he is getting older and older and gaining more and more miles. And when you get older it is harder to endure the below zero temperatures and the snow {especially when it snowed for like 2 days straight}. But Vinny has pulled through during this tough and cold winter and provided me with rides to wherever I shall chose to go. He’s a very loyal car.
Friday morning I began my trek to work {because we had no school so I decided to work}, and good ole Vinny started right up. We began our journey down Secretariat Drive and hopped onto our favorite back road that could easily deposit us at work. I’m just driving along and all is well and nothing has changed from the normal routine. I was thinking about what I would do when I got to work, what my plans were for the rest of the day, the fact that I forgot my tennis shoes at home, and how many scarves do I need to knit today.
As I was deep into the valley of this back road this is like completely in the woods, Vinny decided that he was too cold to work so he just stopped. Right in the road. In the middle of the woods. Where I had NO cell phone service. Oh, and not to mention that it was below 0 degrees outside. So I kind of laughed because what on earth was I supposed to do. I remember saying out loud “God, what am I supposed to do?” So I tried to start Vinny up again but he was just too tired and cold to start up. {sorry I talk about my car like it’s a person}
This is the really cool part. About 2 minutes after my car stopped, the first car that drove past me was my neighbors that live across the street. They got out of the car and tried to make my car start but we still couldn’t get the results that I wanted oh so very badly. So we left Vinny there on the overpass and I went with them for the ride to their school and they they took me home.
Yesterday God really showed up in my life– in a completely and unexpected way. Lately I have been having trouble feeling God like I used to and I felt like I was stranded on a road with no phone service. God took this situation yesterday and showed me that whenever I am having a good/bad/awesome day he is always right around the corner waiting to help me just like my neighbors were. He showed me that I need to trust him with every aspect of my life. Especially with my preparations for the world race. When I don’t ask God for help I’m useless and I’m stranded just like I was yesterday. I have been worrying about my fundraising for the trip a lot and just about how I want to get myself all prepared right now. But God is telling me to slow down and trust him– that he will come though and get me out of the cold and take me home safely. But we may take the route that I wasn’t wanting to take.
Something else super cool happened to me in the midst of this situation. Once I arrived home I asked my mom if we could go to Vinny and see if he would start up again and at first she hesitated but then I talked her into it. So we went and there was a police officer sitting on the road about a half mile away from my car and he said that they were towing my car and I was like “oh cool.” Because apparently you can’t leave cars in the road like that, who would have known?? The awesome thing is that we made it in perfect timing. The tow people has just gotten my car loaded up and they were about to take it to who knows where for who knows how much money. It’s such a God thing that we showed up when we did and they just took my car to our house which was about 3 miles away.
Though this experience I have learned a few things that I have always known but now I believe that they are true: God is going to provide, he’s going to protect me, he’s not going to show up too late, material objects of this world will fail, God will never fail me, and that ultimately I need to trust him with EVERYTHING. Everything is a big word that includes a lot of things {well, everything}. The same God that created the Earth, brought Job through all of his tragedy, spared Rahab and her family from destruction, and did countless other amazing things is watching over me. Why wouldn’t I trust him. Trust is such an easy thing to say but it is truly a difficult concept to grasp and apply. From here on out I’m giving everything about the race up to God, no more worrying about finances or anything else. I know God wants me on this journey so I TRUST that he is going to get me there. All by his strength and not by my own.
{“I spread out my hands to you; I thirst for you like a parched land.” Psalm 143:6}
