"Man makes plans, and God laughs," says the Yiddish proverb. That's me -- a planner. I make lists for nearly everything. Sometimes one of the things on my list is to "make a list." So before we left on our vacation I made several lists. A list of what to pack, a list of things to do before we left, a list of school things to work on during the car ride, etc. And I also typed out an "itinerary" stating when we would leave town, where we would stop (only twice), where we would eat lunch, and what time we would get in.
Well, my itinerary was shot before we even left town. Brandon noticed possible car trouble on the way out of our neighborhood so we stopped to have it checked out. An hour and a half later we were on our way. "That's ok," I thought to myself. "We can make it up. We'll just eat a quicker lunch and and not dilly dally at our next stop."
Well, to make a long story short we were put further behind schedule by a blowout and then having to get two new tires. In case you're wondering, it's hard to find tires in western Kansas at 5 PM on Saturday. After numerous phone calls and searching we finally ended up at a farm and feed store in Hays, Kansas. Not only did they sell udder balm and horse feed and kids' overalls, but also tires. Who knew feed stores sold tires?
By 7:30 we were back on the road. We were almost 6 hours behind my planned schedule, but perfectly on time according to God's plan. Soon it was dark and quiet in the van and the kids were all sleeping. We had many miles left to go, and didn't get to Denver until 1:15 AM, but I have much to be grateful for.
I am grateful for God's protection. When our tire blew we were only about a quarter of a mile from an exit and had just come off a one-lane construction zone with no shoulder. It could have been worse, much worse. I am grateful for Brandon -- I feel safe when we are with him. I am grateful for cell phones. Sure it's an inconvenience having car trouble and trying to find a place to get it fixed, but it would have been much harder without cell phones and Google Maps. I am grateful for the Lord's provision and grateful that He constantly reminds me of His sovereignty.
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| Car repair shop before leaving town |
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| Waiting for AAA to come and change our tire. |
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| Oliver playing in the stock tank at the farm and feed store. |
