Recently I was reminded of a story that I can't forget. It remains so strong in my memory.
Until the last 3 years, years that we were prevented from traveling to see family and grandkids, we planned road trips that allowed us to see much of this beautiful country God has provided for us to call our home--our temporary home. If you are like me, while I call Iowa home, it is just my short-term place to be. I expect a big travel day soon.
When I say plan a road trip, that is kind of loosely used by me. Our planning consists of setting a leaving date and packing clothes to take with us. We make sure that our car and camper trailer are in good working order and that we have enough money to get us there and back for gas and food and campgrounds. We also pack a food box. We had a van big enough to be able to take enough food supplies so that we did not have to do lots of shopping except for a few basics. I developed a checklist of what to pack so that nothing was allowed to be forgotten, and that list was revised many times as our family increased and decreased in size. Then, I realized, as do many people who camp, that if I could store things in my camper, then I had fewer things to pack! One of the last revisions was to scratch pancake griddle and mix and syrup off my camping checklist. We finally figured out that even though pancakes are supposed to be a favorite camp food, they weren't a favorite for us! When I really thought about it, it wasn't hard at all to decide what to do! Packing was much easier when you can eliminate packing a griddle and syrup!! I am planning on another trip in the near future. But for this trip I am not "in advance" packing. I am not making a check list though perhaps I need to check off the things I need to work on to get ready to go on this Trip! I am not making plans on how to do this trip—I am leaving that up to my Travel Planner. He is the Best Planner, and I know that He will get me there safely and on time.
We knew what we wanted to do as we approached our 45th wedding anniversary—a road trip! We planned to see and do several things that we both wanted to do along with spending time with family! And we decided that we were not going to look at the calendar very often as we traveled. We would stop whenever we wanted and do whatever we wanted and take as much time as we wanted. OK, that last statement wasn't what we ended up doing—but almost! We were able to do some bucket list things to see as we traveled west on our road trip! We made great memories. We loved the time we could spend with family. I was able to do some things that checked off a few of my never-ending bucket list. It was a trip to remember. But other trips have also given us wonderful memories and they too are trips to remember. I am anticipating another trip to remember--I want to remember my upcoming trip to heaven. I wonder what wonderful things we will see along the way? Will we be passing by Saturn, will we see galaxies and nebulas and other worlds that we will be able to visit some day? Who will be traveling with me? Friends, family, strangers, famous people, Bible people, someone I never expected to see traveling with me?
One of our road trips included a stop at Bighorn National Recreation Area. We decided this would be a good place to spend Sabbath. We planned to arrive on Friday, see the park on Sabbath and then be on our way on Sunday. The lure of wild horses and bighorn sheep made us anxious to see them. Being able to find a campsite on a late Friday afternoon was a wonderful Friday God blessing. It wasn't easy but a no show already paid camper allowed us to have a spot to set up camp—and for free! A truly wonderful Sabbath blessing. And then came the evening. In canyon country, the weather is a bit changeable. And that is a rather mild way of interpreting what was about to happen. The campsite that we ended up in was about halfway up—or down depending on your viewpoint—the sloping campground on the side of a LARGE hill. Our neighbors in nearby sites had tents and one site had everything they were camping with left everywhere in their camp. Absolutely nothing—food, pans, toys, chairs, coolers..... was put away. Our site, not bragging, was very neat and tidy! The less you have out the less that has to be put away!
As the day was ending, the wind in the area began! And grew and grew and grew even harder. Living in a canvass sided camper with a roof that is supported by 4 corner supports begins to seem quite unstable when you are in a 60 mph windstorm. I looked around inside our camper and started to put everything away that I could possibly find to put away! If we could have packed up the camper—put the roof down and stuff the canvas inside and pulled it out of the camp ground we would have. But it was too late! I decided that if it was even possible to sleep, I was going to do it in my clothes and with shoes on. But of course, no sleep for me! My concerns quickly escalated into fear. Lots of fear! I was pretty sure that the camper, with us inside, was not going to stand firm in the storm! The canvass would rip, the supports would collapse, the whole thing would tip over with me, both of us inside!!! I was not comfortable in my home away from home. It was no longer my safe place. I worried, was afraid, worried some more and then some more. Finally, a too long "finally", I remembered that Jesus stilled a storm, a storm where the wind was causing huge waves big enough to sink a ship, big enough to wreck a camper. And as I thought about that story, suddenly my fear began to subside and I could pray—a prayer for safety, and for calmness, and for help in our time of trouble. And even though I didn't think we would make it through the night at first—we did! God had his hand over our camp and we stayed safe. The camps with tents no longer existed. The messy camp had their things scattered all over down the hill! We could only say thank you God! I will never forget the story of our safety during the storm, just as the disciples never forget the story of their safety in the storm. I am sure that I was just as fearful as they were back then. Yet, God tells us to have peace in the storm. He will see us through and beyond our fears. We must listen to His voice promising that "I Am With You!" Even during our worst fears. We just need to relax in His care. And let Him give us the peace that He promises.
One of the things I have loved to do ever since I was very young is to visit "National" things. I love National Parks, and Monuments, and Forests, and Scenic Drives, and Rivers, and Recreation Areas, and Wildernesses and Grasslands. I love to get pictures of the signs marking their locations. I probably inherited that hobby from my father. From very early I thought it extra wonderful if we could camp within the National Park—any National Park! So, on the trip to commemorate our many years of marriage, we decided that we would visit Mount Rainier National Park. I was looking forward to renewing my childhood memories of a long ago visit. I was sure that my chance for treasures waiting for us to see would not disappoint. The drive into the park seemed a bit long and kept us in suspense—when would we be able to see the Mountain in all its majesty? We were a bit amused to see that we were driving through a small town with a church that had the name of Faith. Their sign said that you needed Faith to get to Paradise. Paradise was at the top of the mountain! That seemed quite fitting as we were traveling up and up and up to near the top where the village of Paradise was located, and we definitely were going to need our faith to arrive at our final destination. Don't we all need faith to get to our destination of Heaven's Paradise! Daily we need to keep our faith in God leading up on the upward path to Him and His promised Paradise.
My husband has often told me that I fuss too much about strange noises, especially odd noises that I think I hear our cars making. The noises are often just noises that don't mean anything—except when they do mean something! On this trip, I thought I heard---something! I have learned not to make a big issue of what I might have heard but that doesn't remove my thoughts of what might be happening and the fear of being stranded with a car that doesn't work. The strange thing is that when a car did leave us stranded, there was absolutely no warning noise! That is kind of how a disaster caused by Satan can happen. He leads us into complacency that nothing is wrong and then sneakily sneaks away and leaves us to deal with the fallout of his quiet deceit.
As we entered the park, we discovered a campground there at the entrance that still had open spots. We eagerly found a place to put our camper, and I was extremely happy to know that we would be camping in a NATIONAL PARK that night! To make good use of a beautiful day, we did not take the time to make our camping spot look like a home away from home. We just left the camper parked all by itself, planning to come back later to set it up and enjoy an evening in the "park."
And then we continued the drive up the mountain, enjoying every moment of the drive, stopping at every turn out to marvel at the beauty. Then as we neared the top, my husband finally acknowledged that the noises I had been concerned about really warranted concern. He made the decision to go back down the mountain and find a place to get advice and possible repairs. We stopped at many places, but no advice, no repairs! We finally arrived at a larger town and again, found many places that could fix an emergency car breakdown—except that no one would even take a look! We were getting concerned!!!! And running out of solutions. We also were running out of day and needed to decide what to do for the night all the while knowing that our camper was back in the park all by itself. We had paid for a night of camping that we were not going to be able to do. There is not much fun for a camper to camp all by itself without us in it! We had abandoned it! I am so glad that God has promised to never abandon us—not ever unless we tell Him we don't need Him any longer. Then He abides by our own willful leaving Him behind.
We eventually decided we would have to spend the night sleeping in our van in our seats! Not going to be a comfortable good night's sleep! But we had decided that we would be there in town and be able to get to the car dealer in town before anyone else would get placed on the work order for the day. It was our last hope and fear was stalking us, getting closer and closer to taking over our faith in finding a solution. The next morning, we soon saw the manager for that business come and unlock the door. We made sure that we were right behind and started to tell him all about our problem—that we were traveling and had an emergency and really needed help. No matter what we said, his answer was that he could not help us, that we would have to travel another 100 miles to a bigger place where we might be able to get the answers to our problem!! He did not offer us a way to get there with a broken-down car and also told us that any repairs might take a month to get done. Fear and worry were beginning to take over big time. We were out of things to do to help ourselves out. Did we remember that help is just a prayer away? We did not do so good at that, but we are so glad that our God does not abandon us when we are trying to follow Him and do as we think He wants. His care never leaves us stranded and alone and hopeless. He has promised to be with us till the end. "God is always with us" means that regardless of the situation or circumstance, God's presence is constantly near and available to us, offering comfort, support, and guidance promised to us in the Bible—Matthew 28:20 is where Jesus says, "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
We decided that people back home cared more about us than those we had been hoping for help where we were. Back home advice reminded us that NAPA offers free diagnostics. We know that is true! Their computer told us what was wrong. We could buy parts! Now we had the parts, what do we do now? We began to wonder, should we try "beside the road do it yourself" repairs with our very basic travel tools? That seemed not very wise. We continued to sit and wonder and pray and I was exercising the fear part of me quite well. As we sat in the car, wearing our long sad faces, a stranger came to our door and asked us about why people from “Ohio” were sitting there with such long faces? We explained our problem and dilemma. He then gave us directions to start going back to the highway, turn left, turn left again and go half a block and we would get taken care of!!!!!!! What an answer to prayer and example of God's care and love. We had our very own Good Samaritan and got to see our Guardian Angels in the form of a transit company owner and his personal mechanic! Together they had our car fixed and on the road in just minutes. All for just the price of 2 gourmet cups of coffee which we were more than glad to purchase for them! What if we had ignored the voice that spoke to us at our window? What if we had let our fear control us? We would have missed out on one of the great blessings in our life.
We need to listen to the voices that speak to us. The voice that reminds us that "I am with you alway! Do not fear! Do not fear! Don't rely on self.
Do not be discouraged. God is bigger.
Last Sabbath our Pastor had a great message for us that sent me to remembering and thinking about how his message applies to me every day and thinking about my fears! And these stories. He reminded that there are 5 Promises from God—
I am with you, even in most fearful moments
I am your God. A covenant made with His people and always acting for His people
I will strengthen you. I'm not able to receive strength by my own willpower
I will help you. He will intervene, is always available
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Isaiah 41:10 reminds me: “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand”.