November 25, 2015

THANKFUL...

"PRAISE THE LORD.  GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD, FOR HE IS GOOD; HIS LOVE ENDURES FOREVER."    Psalm 106:1                                                

November 5, 2015

PRAISING GOD FOR HIS WATCH CARE!

"Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you."   
 1Peter 5:7

Monday did not start out exactly as we had hoped and planned.  In fact it was pretty disastrous.  We had a 12:30 appointment in Wildwood, Fl at Alliance Coach to take care of a few repairs to our coach.  So, we began our normal chores of "breaking camp" and preparing to make ready the RV to travel, early. 

 It usually takes about an hour of total prep, inside and outside.  Steven has to drain the black and gray water (our sewer & shower water) then has to unhook all the cords and hoses, and clear away the yard decor that I insist on surrounding the RV.   While he is mastering the outside, I tackle the interior securing all of our valuables that could become flying objects as we bump along the Interstate!  Things have to be "glued" down to counters or removed and stored.  And I always complicate this situation because whenever we arrive at our temporary residence, I begin to prepare my nest by hanging fixtures, setting up nicknacks, distributing all of my primitive country decor and arranging the camper to look like "home".  Our scatter rugs have to be rolled-up, everything in the middle of the floor has to be stored on the bed and couches so the slides can be closed up for the journey down the road.  All of my dishes have to be padded and anything in the cabinets has to be secured.  

Now I have bored you with the above mundane list just to illustrate that moving is not a quick process.  But, for reasons we did not immediately understand on Monday morning...it took us almost three times longer to "get ready" than it usually does.   And because of that we were gonna' be late for our appointment in Wildwood ( 2 hours away)  so Steven did not have the extra time needed to hook-up the tow dolly to tow our car behind.   That meant we would not be able to ride together and I would have to follow behind in our car...which also meant extra gas.  So, Steven was NOT a "happy camper"!  

Now, re-read the verse above from 1 Peter!   Because HE was in total control of our messed-up morning!

When I do drive behind, I keep my eyes on the coach and will drive past Steven to check the tires as it rolls along.  About an hour out, I noticed that the front tire (driver side) all of a sudden appeared extremely low.   So, I called Steven on his cell and told him.  He felt nothing different in the steering and thanked me but told me to just keep an eye on it and check it again in about 5 minutes or so.  I am sure his sweet patronizing tone was in response to my over-reacting over most difficulties.  But, this time my over reaction was called for.  The tire looked like it was deflating rapidly  like a balloon.   So after barely 3 minutes I called him back and said, "You need to pull over now, it looks like you are almost riding on the rim."  

Now, this poses a problem because you can't just pull over a 40 foot home on I-75.  So, I prayed...we needed God to help...and boy did HE deliver!   Within a minute there was a sign for a REST STOP only 1/2 mile ahead!!  PTL!!!   We limped into the Rest Stop and examined the now flat tire.

Very long story...shortened.  Steven made several phone calls and two hours later we were back on the road.   Now, the praise was that had we NOT had our disastrous morning, I would have been in the RV with him and we would have never known the tire was going flat and it could have shredded causing horrible damage to the RV or even worse, Steven could have lost control of the rig and wrecked going 70 miles an hour.  

THANK YOU, LORD, FOR LOVING US AND EXTENDING YOUR GRACIOUS HAND  OF PROTECTION, EVEN WHEN WE DO NOT KNOW WE NEED PROTECTING!

Final Chapter...New Tires!








FAMILY