John and Lisa's Dayly News

   We have an AMAZING and AWESOME, and FAITHFUL God.   The following is a detailed account of our 5 day trip from Round Lake Beach IL to Yreka CA. 

 

                                                                         DAY 1

 

   We left on Sunday March 1^st from Round Lake Beach IL where we had been residing for the last 4 months with a wonderful family.    The car was packed so tightly there was no room for even a piece of paper in the trunk.  And the back seat was packed with the rest of what wouldn't fit into the trunk.  I had no vision what so ever out my rear view mirror.  Only my side mirrors were accessible to me.  Our son Nick was in the back seat totally buried in blankets and bags with no vision out whatsoever.  We pulled out at about 6:50 a.m, right as it was getting light enough to see.  We had prayed  for the Lord to guide, lead, and protect, and keep the car running in good shape, (as we have a 16 year old For Taurus with several problems, including a right rear tire with less than perfect tread.)  As we pulled out and slowly got up to speed we listened to our GPS as it gave us directions.  I could feel the heaviness of the car with all of its load.  A trunk packed so tight you couldn't get a piece of paper into it.  And a back seat so packed that I had no view out my rear window or side windows behind me.  I had never driven with this much weight.  It felt like a truck.  We were stepping out on faith.  The Lord had told us to leave on March 1^st, so we were doing it.  We were trusting HIM to get us home.  We were leaving with about half of what we owned, (as we had mailed a lot of it ahead to CA.)  We had originally planned on eating McDonalds dollar menu items through the whole trip but later changed that to pre made peanut butter sandwiches......30 of them.   We had a full tank of  gas and $604.00 to our name, and trusting that the Lord would get us home on that amount.  Later in this writing I'll tell you how the Lord multiplied that amount. 

 

   The cat was firmly entrenched in Lisa's light blue sweater, not understanding one little bit of what was going on around her.  That morning when I took her out to the car she freaked when she felt the super cold air on her body.  She's a Devon Rex, hairless cat.  She was NOT happy about being exposed to the cold air after being an indoor cat for months.  I wrapped her up in my coat and held her tight as I opened the door and went to the car.  I could feel her squirming inside my coat wanting to escape.  She was one scared cat.  But as Lisa zipped her up inside her sweater she found herself a warm spot with a much welcomed covering where she eventually would find quite comfy and would fall fast asleep. 

 

   Well we hadn't gone very far before the first incident happened.  Somewhere along the line a bag or something depressed the left rear window button and it rolled down, causing a huge amount of wind and noise in the car with a bag rattling in my ears.   I had to stop and make sure nothing had flown out.  Lisa and I both agreed that anytime we got “held up” by anything, that God was still in control, and HE was setting our timing for everything.  If we got held up or behind schedule, or even ahead of schedule, we knew that the Lord was the one behind it all. 

 

   Our first destination was Independence, MO where we had been invited to stay with a family who had been following us through the year via You Tube ever since we left CA a year ago, and knew everything about what had happened to us.  The temperature was in the 20s and 30s the first day.  As we traveled it seemed to get colder and colder.  We had good heat in the car but I could tell that it was just freezing out there.  We had the first of our many peanut butter sandwiches, some of which were mixed with maple syrup for a slightly sweeter taste.  This combination would later prove to be very effective in keeping me awake when I became sleepy.  I made gas stops as often as I could.  I never let the tank get below half if I could help it.   (I am VERY conservative.)   We passed out of Illinois, into Iowa, and then into Missouri.  God was taking care of us every step of the way.  I had a right rear tire with less tread on it than the other three so I wanted to pay close attention to it the entire trip.  Not that we could do anything about it if it WAS bad.  We didn't have enough money to buy another one anyway.  So we continually prayed about it and asked the Lord to keep it in good shape.  Hey I figure it this way.  If the Lord could keep the shoes of the Israelites from wearing out for 40 years as they walked through the desert then He could keep the tread on our tires for us.  In fact not only did their shoes not wear out but they grew along with their feet as well.  The ones who were kids when they started were 40 years old when they finished and they were wearing the same shoes the whole time. So their shoes would have had to grow along with their feet.  This whole trip was a complete “trust God” thing.  We were out there with nothing but a 16 year old car loaded down with several hundred if not a thousand pounds of belongings, a less than perfect right rear tire, no cell phone, just over 600 dollars, and a GPS for guidance with over 2700 miles ahead of us.    This is called stepping out in faith. 

 

   So on we drove to  Independence MO where we received a cold greeting from the weather, but a warm greeting from the family who's house we would spend the night.  It had snowed there the day before and the snow and ice were everywhere.  The streets were plowed well but the sides were loaded with it.  Getting from the car to their front door required walking up their inclined drive way which was loaded with ice.  It was soooo cold there but the Lord had brought us there and provided us with a warm place to stay, warm fellowship, and a hot meal.  While we were there Lisa got on their computer and looked up motels for possible places to stay on the other three nights.  Up to that point we had figured we would have to stay in the car each night, but we really weren't looking forward to it because we knew that it was still going to be cold.  So she found two different motels.  One in Texas and other in Arizona.  The one in Texas was only $35.00 a night.  Later in this writing you will understand why.  The fellowship there in Missouri was wonderful.  Sharing the Lord with this wonderful family was a real treat after 536 miles in a cramped car. 

 

                                                                        DAY 2

 

So after only a partial nights sleep, (due to Lisa's snoring,) we rose at around 5:00 in the morning.  We managed to get out to the car over the snow and ice in the dark to get the car ready to go. .   It was BITTER cold out there.  I warmed up the car for about 15 minutes while we packed in everything we had brought in the night before.  The cat was always last.  But she was becoming the hardest thing to get into the car.  She remembered the previous morning with how cold it was, and it was even colder now.  She scratched and clawed the whole way.  She HATES the cold.  But then who can blame her.  If I was a hairless cat with a bald belly I'd hate the cold too.  We had said goodbye and now we simply had to wait for daylight.  I wasn't about to drive in the dark if I could help it.  My night vision is terrible.  So we prayed again, and waited a few more minutes, and off we went with our GPS guiding us.  We found a gas station, filled up, and off we went.  The gas prices were outstanding.  Two nights  before we left Round Lake Beach I had filled the tank at $1.89 a gallon.  All during our first day of travel I never encountered anything over $2.00.   All in all we spent a whopping $25.00 on gas for the first day of travel.   That left us with $579.00 remaining and 4 more days to go. 

 

   Except for the days drive from Round Lake Beach to Independence we had an identical route to the one we took a year ago from CA to MO.  The further we went the more I remembered how totally flat everything was around me.  Where I grew up at in CA is surrounded by huge mountains on every side.  Now I was here in the mid west where there's NO mountains as far as the eye can see.  Nothing but big flat fields of farmland, and miles upon miles of straight road with no curves to challenge me.  As the hours drug on we would sing to keep me awake.  At times Lisa would be sleeping and I had to sing to myself or just pray just to help keep myself awake on those long long stretches of highway.    It was at times like these when I went through my most difficult battles.  Here we were in the middle of nowhere with miles upon miles to the next town, no cell phone, a less than perfect tire, and nearly 2,000 miles from home, and thoughts would cross my mind like, “What if you break down RIGHT HERE?   What if that tire blows?  What if your electrical system goes down?  What if one of your belts break?  How would you get home?  No one would stop to help you.  You'd be STUCK.”   But as fast as those thoughts would come, I would start singing to the Lord.  Songs that declared my trust in Him, and how I knew He called us to go home and that He was watching over us and He wouldn't allow anything to happen to us.  These battles came up every day.  Mainly when I was tired. 

 

   We touched 4 different states on this second day of the trip.  We completed the rest of Missouri, all of Kansas, all of Oklahoma, and into Texas.  By now it was evening, and we were looking for the 35 dollar a night motel.  But we had a problem.  The GPS couldn't pick up the address.  We would later learn that we had a mis match between the name of the motel and the town it was in.  We pulled off in the town we assumed it was located, but all we found there was a motel that was locked, closed down, and abandoned.  It was getting closer to dark by now, but we decided to back track a bit and check out another town called McClain.  We were heading for exit 143.  We had seen it while going west just minute ago.  It was about 4 miles back.  So we went back and as I kept driving, I was looking for exit 143, and there was NONE.  The exit numbers were going up as we drove.  I saw 141, 142, and then 146.  There was no 143.  But I had just seen it minutes ago as we were heading west.  This was WEIRD.  Exit 143 existed ONLY on I-40 west, but NOT on I-40 east.  I had never heard of such a thing.  I thought every exit number had its twin going the opposite direction.  But this one didn't have one.  (Does the phrase “Twilight Zone” mean anything to anyone here?)   I was beginning to wonder if we were the only ones who could see the exit.  So we got off at exit 147, turned around and got back on 40 west and headed for the (exclusive, one of a kind,) I-40 west exit 143.  When we got there we pulled off, and headed up Route 66 which runs along side of I-40 all the way across the country.  I drove kind of aimlessly, looking for the motel,.  McClain Texas was obviously a ghost town.  No gas station, no store, nothing.  Up around the corner, about a half mile off the road, off in the middle of nowhere, there was this small motel.  A dilapidated,  unpainted, unkempt motel.    Complete with tumble weeds blowing through the parking lot.  We parked and Lisa and Nick stayed in the car while I got out to go in the office to see if there was a vacancy.  With our car being the only one in the parking lot I was pretty sure there were several.  In the office I found two Indian boys.  I asked them the name of the motel.  When they told me I recognized it as the one Lisa had reserved, but the name of town was not the same.  Now I was REALLY confused.  Suddenly one of the boys asked me if my wife had called the night before to reserve a room.  I said, “For $35.00 a night?”  He said “Yes.”  It was then that I knew we had the right place.  God had directed us to this motel.   Even with a mis match, no address, and no help from the GPS.  We were finally finished with day 2.  We got the room paid for, and headed in for the night.   It was our gift from God.  If I had to compare this motel to something, it was a motel version of the location of Jesus' birth.  Everything about it was unattractive.  Old paint, yellowed bath tub and toilet, bad oder, etc.  A typical “roach motel” but without the roaches.  But I was careful not to complain.  It was what God had provided for us and  it was VERY inexpensive.   Lisa asked me to open the blinds.  They were long strips of plastic from the top to the bottom of the window.  I pulled on the string and the whole set of blinds came crashing to the floor.  My first thought.....”Well that's what ya get when all you pay is $35.00.”  The story behind this motel's run down condition is that the Uncle of of one of the boys I talked with had just bought the place about 2 months ago after it had been abandoned for 5 years.  It was certainly an experience being there, but it was a warm room with a couple of beds, so we were grateful for it. 

 

                                                                                 DAY 3

 

   Another less than restful night came to an end around 4:30 in the morning for me as Lisa's snoring once again roused me from sleep and kept me awake for the remainder of the time.  It was travel day number 3 and I was ready in spirit, but NOT in the flesh.  The last 2 nights were among the worst sleep I had experienced in a long time.  But once I was on the road I knew the Lord would keep me going.  He had guided us thus far, and I knew He would continue to do so.   I knew He was right here with us, but before this day was over, the reality of His presence and the reality of His love for me would take on a whole new meaning in a VERY personal way. 

 

   Today we would cross the rest of the northern tip of Texas, across all of New Mexico, and into Arizona where we would stop in Winslow for the night.  Or at least that was our plan.  We got up and began our morning routine.  Start the car, load the car, get Lisa and Nick in, make sure everything is settled so they are comfy, and then go get the cat.  The CAT.   That furless feline who hates the cold, who would do anything if it meant she could stay in a warm room under a blanket.  I found her in the room, picked her up, and stuck her under my coat as I had done twice before.  She was more feisty now than yesterday.  She knew what was coming.  She managed to crawl down inside my coat further and further to stay warm.  I got her in the car, Lisa zipped her up in her sweater, and off we went.  

 

   Last night we went through all our money that remained and we discovered we had a lot more than first anticipated.  I was beginning to wonder if the Lord was doing another “fish and loaves encore” with our money.  After going through all our money we discovered we had enough for 2 more motels, AND enough for $100.00 per day for gas and food.  This was amazing to me.  The Lord was really stretching our money for us. 

 

   So we were off and rolling again for the third day.  The weather was great.  Kind of cold, ALWAYS windy, but not too bad.  As we got into New Mexico and entered Albuquerque, we were doing about 60 on a 5 or 6 lane freeway, and suddenly everything was coming to a complete stop.  Nothing was moving.  Suddenly I heard sirens blaring all around me.  There had been an accident about 2 or 3 minutes in front of us.  We started praying for the people involved.  Prayer was becoming more and more common for us the further we went.  Every time I saw anyone hitch hiking I would pray for them, that God would help them, meet their needs, and cause someone to stop and pick them up.  We would have been glad to pick them up if we had any room to put them in the back seat.  So here we were, weaving our way through this accident scene with 6 lanes of traffic being narrowed down to two.  It took about 10 minutes to get past it all, but we managed to get through ok and off we went.  It was also during this time when my “check engine” light came on.  It had been on once before when we were climbing.  I always hated that little light.  It could be any one of a thousand things wrong in the car.  Everything from a loose wire to the fact that the entire engine is going to quit on me at any second, leaving me stuck out here in the middle of no where.  When I saw it I pointed at at and said, “In the name of JESUS I rebuke that and I command that problem to be solved NOW in Jesus name.”  The light went out. 

 

   The desert lands of New Mexico, Arizona, and even California seemed to go on for hours and hours.  Looking at a map they don't seem that big but when you are out there driving through them they go on an don and on.  Finally we reached Arizona.  It felt so good just to be in another state.  It was like some great sense of accomplishment just to cross another border. 

 

   Around 4:30 or 5 in the evening we were driving along, still planning on getting to Winslow that evening.  We were hot and tired and just wanted the day to end.  We were about 70 or 80 miles short of Winslow when I thought to myself, “I wish we could just stay in Holbrook for the night.”  Holbrook AZ is where we had stayed on our way to Liberty a year ago.  So I'm just sitting there thinking about wanting to go there, and less than 30 seconds later, Lisa says, “Can we just stay in Holbrook tonight?”  I never said a WORD to her about it.  I was just THINKING it, and she said it.  That was enough for me right there to confirm to me that the Lord was telling us that Holbrook was the place for us for the night.  So that cut about 40 miles off our trip for the day, and both of us were really happy about that. 

 

   About 5:30 pm I began to notice something about the amount of light we had.  The sky was completely covered in gray rain clouds.  It wasn't raining but it looked like it could rain at any second.  The clouds were really dark, and it made it look like twilight, or dusk.  The night before at this same time, the sun was shining right in our faces and it made it really hard to see.  But tonight the sun was right at the edge of the clouds.  There was this line where the clouds stopped, then there was a pretty good size gap between the clouds and the horizon with nothing but bright clear sky.  The sun was sitting right behind the lower edge of the clouds, with sun flares shining down into the clear sky.  It was nice not to have it shining in our faces like the night before.  But the clouds were so heavy and dark that it made it look just like dusk, as if the sun had already gone behind the horizon, yet leaving me just enough light to see by.  It was dark but not black dark.  Thus began the most incredible event I have ever witnessed in all my life.  I kept watching the clouds and the position of the sun with the sun rays shining under the clouds.   15 minutes later, the lighting was the same.  20 minutes later, still the same.  30 minutes later , still the same.  45 minutes later.  STILL the same.  It wasn't getting any darker.  My first thought after about 20 minutes of this was that maybe the clouds were moving lower in the sky toward the horizon, keeping the sun behind them.  But NO.  The clouds were still the same distance from the horizon after 45 minutes as they were when it all started, and the sun NEVER MOVED.  45 minutes time was plenty of time for the sun to move down and out from behind that cloud deck, and start shining into my eyes from that clear area between the clouds and the horizon.  But it NEVER DID.  The sun never changed position for 45 minutes.  The sun should have been behind the horizon by then but it was still sitting behind that same cloud deck, still the same distance from the horizon as it was 45 minutes earlier.  The clouds never moved, the sun never moved, and the amount of light stayed the same for the entire time.  We were within 10 miles of Holbrook when it finally became real to me, and just what was going on in front of me, and I started to cry.  Just realizing what God Almighty was doing for me was more than I could handle.   God was actually STOPPING THE SUN so I could reach Holbrook without having to drive in the dark.  Ya see, I have really BAD night vision, and the Lord decided to do me a huge favor by stopping the sun.  Stopping the sun FOR ME.  I had the exact same lighting conditions at 6:15 (when it should have been totally pitch dark) as I had at 5:30 when it all began.  I drove the last 7 miles with tears in my eyes from the whole experience.   I was seeing a real 3-D miracle right in front of me.  It was as though the glory of God was all around us, and I was watching Him perform a visual wonder right before my eyes.    I spent that last 5 to 7 miles not only crying but praising and thanking Him for this incredible miracle He was performing.  I can't even put into proper words the emotions that I went through during that time.    The glory and presence of God can not be declared in normal human language.    And to see Him perform something like this right before my eyes, live, and in real time is more than I can even express. 

  

   We pulled into Holbrook with no planned motel because we had originally planned for Winslow.  So we drove down Main Street of this small town and found a small motel called Motel 66.   I thought it rather strange as the night before we had stayed in the Route 66 Motel.   Prior to this we went to McDonald's and got dinner.  Now that we knew we had 100 dollars per day to work with we felt a little more at ease about spending a bit more on food.   After that we found the motel, and we were greeted warmly by a wonderful little Indian woman who set us up with our room.  We pulled in, unloaded the car, and entered the room for the night.  I still couldn't shake what had just happened to me with the sun.  This experience truly changed me.  It showed me just how far God will go in order to take care of His children.  That evening, Lisa and I were walking across the parking lot of the motel and I was still shaking my head in total wonderment.  It had been less than an hour since it had all happened, and when I brought it up again I started to cry all over again.  Lisa stopped right there in the parking lot  and hugged me.  Even today as I write this it can still bring tears to my eyes as I am still totally amazed at the love He has for us.  It's an experience I will never forget for the rest of my life. 

 

                                                                  DAY 4

 

   We woke up around 6:30 in the morning.  Again my sleep wasn't the greatest due to Lisa and her snoring, but she actually did me a favor by sitting up in a chair and sleeping as best she could in that in order to allow me to sleep better.  I think I ended up getting about 3 to 4 hours of good sleep, much better than the first 2 nights.  We got the car prepared with blankets, trying to get as much done as we could so as to have less packing to do later.   It was already light by 6:45 when we headed for the restaurant next to the motel office for a free breakfast which we had been told about the night before.  We went in and we found ourselves to be the only ones there.  The lady doing the cooking was also the clerk at the motel.  She was such a sweet little Indian lady.  She prepared us each a plate of pancakes and orange juice.  We spent about a half hour there eating, then went back to the motel to finish getting the car packed.  Normally we would have gotten on the road a lot earlier than this.  All our other mornings had begun at first light.  Now it was between 7:30 and 8:00 and I was already thinking ahead to being in California later that day.  I knew we were behind schedule, but at the same time I was now learning that the Lord was in charge of every delay.  If we were not on the road yet, it was because He wanted it that way.   By the end of the day this fact would become more real to me than ever before.  I didn't know it then, but the Lord had a plan for us this day,  so as far as He was concerned we weren't late in the least.  We were leaving right on time. 

 

   By this time you would think the cat would have been getting use to this traveling routine.  But as each new day dawned she became more and more aggravated with the idea of getting into the car.  It was still quite cold, and her, being a hairless cat, was none too thrilled about being exposed to that cold air out there.  I went back into he room to get her, and she was no where to be found.  Not under the beds, not in the bathroom, not anywhere.  Suddenly I noticed our two pillows laying on the bed which I had forgotten to load into the car.  I picked them up and guess who I found.  There she was.  She had burrowed herself under the pillows n order to keep from being found.  I picked her up to put her inside my coat and she started clawing me and trying to get away.  This cat REALLY didn't wanna go.  I nearly dropped her as she was squirming in my hands.  She ended up on the bed where I had to wrestle her down and get a hold of her all over again and wrap my coat around her.  Once she was inside of it she calmed down a bit.  But once the door was opened and she felt that burst of cold air I could feel her working her way down further and further in my coat.  She was quite a challenge this morning.  I got her into the car and she headed right for Lisa's sweater. 

 

   We got moving at 8:05 a.m.   At least an hour later than normal.  Even as we started driving I couldn't get my mind off of the night before with the sun being held in one place for 45 minutes.  It was something that I would not soon forget, but now we were off on another day of driving, and the Lord had more in store for us.  We were heading through the desert where weariness and discouragement can get the best of a person.    We would be entering California later this day.  That in itself would be a great accomplishment for us.  Even though we would still  be several hundred miles from home, just being in CA would be reason enough to celebrate. 

 

   The morning hours went by quickly.  Leaving later than we planned made me feel like I was behind schedule all day long.  I kept thinking, “If we had only left at 6:00 or6:30 we would be so much further than we are.”  It bothered me that we had such a late start.  But at the same time I knew the Lord was in control of our timing.  And never would that fact become more clear to me than today.   Last night the Lord showed me his power in the form of stopping the sun.  Today would be another lesson for me in the timing of God.  Very soon I would understand even more, just how much God is in total control of every little detail of our lives. 

 

   It was early afternoon as we were STILL going through the desert.  Miles and miles of nothing to see but dirt, little stubby bushes, tumble weeds, and a whole lot of road.  Long, straight, boring road.   It was this these kinds of surroundings that could so easily mesmerize me and make me sleepy.  And the worst part was the thought of breaking down out here with no communication with anyone.   If a tire blew, or the engine quit, we would be stranded and at the mercy of God and who ever had the heart to stop and help.  Those kinds of thoughts came to me from time to time, and that is when I would begin to sing songs to the Lord about how much we were trusting Him to get us home.  Within seconds the thoughts were gone and I was fine.  But the Lord was about to make Himself very real to me on this day, (as if stopping the sun the day before wasn't enough.) 

 

   I saw a sign for gas a few miles ahead and decided to fill up.  I never let the tank get below half.  With gas stations few and far between I made sure the tank was full as much as possible.  Now, most of the time when I pulled off for gas, if the gas station wasn't in plain sight I would just get right back on the freeway and keep going.   By this point in the trip we had learned that some signs for gas were out of date.  We would pull off at a certain exit, and we would look and look and there was nothing but empty fields or old broken down buildings, and if there was a gas station out there it was either shut down, or way off in the distance where no one could see it.  The sign that said “gas” with an arrow to the right or left never told me how FAR.  Yes, there just might be gas available.  But I would have to drive who knows how far to find it.  It's an ominous feeling to exit the freeway heading for an unseen gas station, and then drive off down this lonely two lane road with nothing in sight but a broken down building off in the distance, and then beyond that just wide open fields and an eerie stillness to everything around you.   Gas station?  Ya, RIGHT.  Maybe 20 years ago there was.  But not today.  So we had learned not to trust every sign.   If the gas station was not in plain sight when I exit the freeway, forget it.  I'd just keep driving.  But this stop was different.  I saw the sign for gas, and took the exit.  I saw no gas station.  Not yet.  But I just kept going.  Lisa and Nick saw something off in the distance but I wasn't seeing it.  They had the benefit of looking left and right, where as I could only see straight ahead.  I kept driving through this long right turn which looked to me like it was leading me into no where.  Just fields, rocks, and fence posts.  But this time I just kept driving.  It was only a mile or so off the freeway but it sure felt longer.  Finally I saw it.  A gas station and a convenience store.  There were several other vehicles around it.  It looked quite an active little place.  It was the only thing out here in the desert.  No town, no houses, just this one little building with gas pumps.  It was here that we were about to experience the glory of God in a new way.

 

   I pulled into it and stopped at one of the pumps.  I turned the car off and at that second I heard the person at the pump next to mine close his door and shout, “THANK YOU JESUS.”  I sensed immediately that this was a serious believer in the Lord.  I quickly opened my door and leaned out of the car, stuck my head above the roof, but my feet still on the floor board, and I shouted across to him.  “Do I hear another brother and a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ?”  My boldness had increased so much over the last year that I didn't care who heard me shout it.  He replied “Yes, amen.”  I pulled my feet out of the car and slammed my door and made my way over to his side of the pump where I quickly told him that we needed to pray.  I gave him the one minute version of our story.   An old car with a less than perfect right rear tire, a long way to go, and a need for prayer.  His name was Nathan.  A young man, looking like he was in his mid to late 20s.   He had a group of people traveling with him.  They were missionaries to the desert people.  Helping them with food and clothes and other needs.  After a series of quick introductions of family and friends, we all began to pray.  He prayed for safety, protection, that the tire would hold up, that the car would get us all the way home, and I could tell from the way he prayed that he was on fire for God with a heart for people.  He prayed for a minute or so, then stopped and said, “The Lord has a word for you.”  I was all ears.  He said, “The Lord is saying, leave your past behind, and when you get home He has a new work for you to do.”  Along with that came a scripture.  Is 43:18-19. 

 

 

18 "Forget the former things;
       do not dwell on the past.

 19 See, I am doing a new thing!
       Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
       I am making a way in the desert
       and streams in the wasteland.

 

   A way in the desert?  Hmmmmm.  That would come to mean a lot more to me a little later. 

 

    This was a man who was hearing God really well.  He could have told us anything.  But what he said was hitting the nail right on the head.  Lisa and I already knew everything He was telling us.  We knew we had to leave the former things behind, and we knew that the Lord had opened a new work for us to do when we got home.  This was absolutely amazing to me.  Here we were out in the middle of the Arizona desert praying with a man who we had never met, and who we would most likely never see again, and not only praying, but getting a word from the Lord, and an accurate one at that.  It was enough to make me wanna shout and sing and dance.  It was so GOOD to have our faith lifted through prayer and a word from God.  It was one more sign that He was showing us to prove to us that Hes right here with us, guiding and leading us home, and that He would never leave us nor forsake us.  Proof that He was watching over our every detail.  It was at this moment when I realized just why we had left at 8:00 this morning instead of 6:30 like I had wanted to.  This was the timing of God at work.  If we hadf left hen I had wanted to, we would have totally missed this divine appointment in the middle of the desert.  This was our appointed time and place and meeting.  From before the foundations of the Earth God had planned for this very moment with this very meeting, and that very word to be given to us.  Every bit of it was planned and timed by the Lord. 

   While we were there I noticed a huge puddle of oil under our car.  “OH NO.”  I thought.  That's ALL we need.  Hundreds of miles from home and we have an oil leak.  I brought Nathan to the car again to have him look at it.   He determined since it wasn't still dripping that it wasn't our oil.  But it did cause us to check our oil.  When we did we discovered it to be a quart low.  Something  I never would have known had I not seen the oil under the car.  Normally when I get gas I spend all my time at the rear of the car and I never see under the front end.  Later I would realize that this is why my “check engine” light came on earlier in the day.  So this divine appointment was for more than just getting prayer and encouragement from the Lord.  It was a divine maintenance stop as well.  The down side of adding the oil was the price.  $7.00 a quart.  OUTCH.  But I had no other choice, and hey, we had $100.00 a day to work with so it wasn't a big deal to me.  In fact on Nathans recommendation I bought 2 quarts just in case we needed one later on down the road. 

   We spent nearly a half hour there.  We had prayed, gotten a word, added oil, and now it was time to go.  Nathan gave us his email address along with several other scriptures.  Ps. 126:5-6...Eph 3:20...Rom 8:28...and Ps 71:21.     With a final hug from Nathan I got back into the car and we headed out on the freeway with Nathan driving behind us.  It had been a half hour well spent, and God was the designer of the whole thing. 

   This really charged us up and gave us a shot in the arm and the faith and strength to go on.  We had been getting tired and it was getting dull and we had been feeling sort of discouraged in a way.  That drive through the desert can make a person feel like there isn't anything else out there but desert.   No sign of life other than the few cars and trucks around you.  Miles and miles of nothing but empty waste land.   So getting prayer from someone and a word from the Lord out here in the middle of all this was even more special.  As I was driving along thinking about how neat it was to have met Nathan and how God worked it all out, the Lord spoke to me.  He said, “Where do people normally receive words of encouragement?”  I thought back to the Lord, “When they are in their desert experiences of life.  I thought that so fast that I never even concidered how it related to my current surroundings.    The Lord spoke back to me, “Look at where you are.  You're in the desert.  What better place for a word of encouragement.”   It was such a simple analogy like  2 + 2 = 4, but it hadn't even occurred  to me until the Lord told me.  It was like, “DUH, where else do you suppose God would put someone to encourage me except in the desert.” 

   At this point I felt like I could fly home.  The shot of faith we received through the prayer and the word was enough to make us feel like having a party.  We sang and praised the Lord for miles after that.  But the struggle wasn't over yet.  Our nights stop was approaching, and it was going to challenge us in a way that never dreamed.  Barstow California.  We had stayed there on our first nights stop when we were going to Liberty MO, and now it would be our last night before reaching Yreka.  What we thought was going to be so simple would come to be the most frustrating and confusing hour of the whole trip home. 

   We hit the California border sometime in the middle of the afternoon.  We shouted and celebrated at the idea that we were in our home state again.  Though we were still a long ways from home, just being in California was SO exciting.  In one respect it was as though we were already home.  It was one of those moments that you see in the movies when someone is so excited to be somewhere that they stop and kiss the ground.  It was almost like that for me but not quite. 

   Between 4:00 and 4:30 pm we got into Barstow.  I had forgotten how big it is.  It's not huge like some of the other cities we had been through but big enough to create a bit of confusion.  We didn't have a motel selected yet so our game plan was to just pick an exit and take it, and then go motel searching.   Sounds easy, right?  WRONG.  There were 4 exits for Barstow.  The first one looked like it would take us into a construction project.  From the freeway all I could see were mounds of dirt and heavy equipment.  I saw no signs for motels anywhere.  So we skipped that one.  The second one didn't look too promising either so we went to the third one.  When we got to the third one we took it.  What did we find?  Nothing but houses.  We went up one street, turned around, and headed back down looking for the freeway entrance.  This was not as easy as it looked.  We finally found it, got back on, and went to the fourth exit.  We could see the sign for a Days Inn from the freeway.  But you think it was simple getting to it once we took the exit?  HA!   It looked so simple from the freeway.  But when we got off, it just wasn't there.  So we decided to just go to Bakersfield.  We got back on the freeway and proceeded to head down highway 58.  A two lane road leading to 99 where we would find Bakersfield.  I thought we would be there within 20 minutes or so until Lisa looked at the GPS and it said we had 89 miles to go on 58 before we even got to 99.  It was then that I realized that we were gonna be in deep trouble if we kept going.  89 miles to go, just over a half tank of gas, in the middle of the desert, and a LOT of wind, not to mention only about 2 hours of daylight left to work with.  I drove 14 miles down 58 before I decided to go back to Barstow.  I found one of those little run off areas where the eastbound and westbound roads connect with each other and I took it.  I made a U-turn and off I went the opposite  direction back to Barstow.  It was at that point when Lisa used an option on the GPS that we hadn't used prior to today.  “Points of interest.”  Then “Motels.”  From there it showed us which ones were closest.  We found a Holiday Inn just a few miles away.  So we decided to go there.  When we got there I got out and went inside.  I only stayed for less than a minute because I found out that the price for one night for the 3 of us plus the cat was $149.00.  We definitely would NOT be staying there tonight.  So we set the GPS for the Days Inn that we had seen from the freeway before.  But somehow or other we  missed a turn and ended up on a freeway entrance where I couldn't turn around.  I was stuck there.  I had missed my turn by less than 50 feet.  I sat there totally motionless on the one lane entrance with a huge truck behind me.  I HAD to go forward.  There was no place to do a U-turn, or take a quick side road to go around the block and try again.  I was truly stuck with taking this entrance.  The entrance to the motel we had wanted was behind us by  less than 50 STUPID FEET and now I was stranded on this entrance with no choice but to go forward.  We had been sitting there for about 2 minutes trying to figure out what to do.  No matter where I looked there was just no exit to this entrance.  So I just drove forward.  The problem was when the GPS would tell us where to turn and ding, it would ding right on the turn with no warning.  But earlier in the trip it would ding in advance of the turn.  So when I would hear it ding I would know that the turn is the very next one.   But now, with so many turns so close together it was hard to tell which one it was dinging for.  It would ding right at a certain turn, but I thought it was telling me about the next one.  Well, in this instance, the next turn just so happened to be the entrance to the freeway.  So there I was, stuck with no choice but to get back the freeway which would take me who knew where. 

   So we were back on the freeway, more frustrated than ever.  We went to the closest exit and took it.  We saw the sign for the Days Inn again and punched it into the GPS.   We followed its directions to the T.   Slowly and carefully I took each turn it told me to take, hesitating each time wondering if it was really the correct turn.  Little by little we got to the destination.  The Days Inn.  FINALLY we pulled up to the office.  I got out and went in and I told the clerk that I had two very tired and frustrated people in the car with me and we needed a room for the night.  I got it paid for and that was that.  We were done for the night.  At least with driving.  It had been the most frustrating hour of the entire trip.  Lisa was nearly in tears at one point from the frustration.    She had been in the car all day long, not getting out even once and she was spent.  We had spent the last hour going in circles, missing turn, and getting more and more tired.  But now it was all over.  Our final stop away from home. 

   Once in the motel Lisa and I went to the car and reorganized the trunk as well as the back seat.  All through the trip we had been trying to make things more comfortable for her and Nick.  Foot space was hard to come by with as many bags and purses as we had.  It was like being strapped in, locked down, and totally immobile for hours on end.    Lisa and I spent about a half our at the car re folding blankets as well as stuffing purses and bags into tiny spaces.  Even rolling the back seat window down to stuff things in, then rolling it up again.  If the door were to open it would all fall out.  That car was packed like a can of sardines. 

   Finally we were done.  We ordered dinner from a Straw Hat restaurant and spent the rest of the evening just resting, trying to recover from the stress, trying to forget the entire last hour of the trip.  Tomorrow was our final travel day, and as for me it couldn't come soon enough. 

 

                                                                   DAY 5

   Today was home coming day.  Today was the day that we would experience a taste of God's favor and protection.  We awoke with an extra burst of excitement, knowing that tonight we would be home.  We got up somewhere between 6:00 and 6:15.  By now we were getting to be old pros at packing the car and arranging things.  We had very little in the motel with us so packing was very easy.  But this time the cat went out first along with Lisa and Nick.  By now I had learned the tricks of our 4 footed friend, and I wasn't going to take any chances.  She knew the routine now.  People go first, then blankets, then her.  This time I tricked her and took her right right after Lisa and Nick went out.  She was caught off guard and never had time to run or hide from me.  I picked her up and began to go out with her.  When I opened that door she hollered in a way that I had never heard before.  Like a howl.  It wasn't even cold outside anymore.  This was Southern California, but she didn't care.  She HATED this moment of each morning.  With all 4 feet looking for something to grab on to I hauled her to the car and put her in.  As soon as she got in she found her way inside Lisa's sweater and she calmed right down.  So much for the hard part.  I went back to the room and got the blankets and the rest of our things.  I returned the key to the room and off we went.  We set the GPS for Yreka California.  HOME!   Even that moment was exciting for us.  Just to be able to program the GPS for home gave us this sense that we were almost there.   Home was still over 600 miles away but from the way we were acting you would have thought it was less than 5 miles. 

   So away we went.  Our last day of travel was clear and comfortable.  We were filled with excitement as we drove the 25 miles of highway 58 which would then connect us with 99.  The bumps and holes in the road made me all the more aware of the fragility of that right rear tire.  I prayed like crazy every time I hit one of them.  I had forgotten just how big the desert was.  I kept waiting for it to end but it just went on and on and on.  Finally as we got on to 99 and through Bakersfield the desert began to fade away and greener grass prevailed.  99 went on for miles and miles.  I got gas a couple of different times through the morning.  Finally we were on this connecting road between 99 and I-5.  It wouldn't be very long before we were on I-5, the main north/south interstate that runs from Canada to Mexico.  Once we were on that it would be a straight shot all the way home. 

   We were watching the GPS carefully and determining the miles before we reached I-5.  Everything was still very flat around me.   There are no mountains in southern CA, at least not where I was looking.  So I could see a long ways in front of me.  Suddenly I heard it say “Right turn in 2 miles.”  That was it.  In 2 miles we would be on the final road that would take us home.  From 2 miles away I could see the line of traffic on I-5 going across in front of me.  I couldn't see the entrance yet but I could see the traffic.  The GPS sounded again.  “Right turn in 1 mile.”  Then “0.5 miles.”  From there Lisa counted me down.  .4... .3... By this time I could see the entry for it.  .2... .1... There it was.  I stopped at the light for a minute, and then made my right turn on to I-5.  Just making that turn was like this huge accomplishment.  It gave me a sense of being on  my home turf.  Even thought we were still several hundred miles from Yreka I felt like I knew the road and it was familiar to me.   We shouted and praised the Lord and cried a little too as we got on I-5.  We were finally heading north.   Yreka was getting closer and closer every second.  We were thrilled just to be on this stretch of road.  It was a straight shot home from here.  I learned very quickly that the right lane was not the place to be for someone with a bad tire.  It was loaded with bumps, patches, holes, etc.  So I chose the left lane.  It was much smoother and easier to drive.  So I stayed there for a lotta miles.   

   Before I go any further I must share something about my vision.  I am only able to look out of one eye at a time.  For some reason my eyes do not work together.  I can see just fine out of both but only one works at a time.  I use my right eye more than the left.  It's the stronger of the two.  This messes with both my depth perception as well as my sense of centering something.  When I go to cut something in half I always end up cutting it just a hair off center.  Well, this vision problem enters into my driving too.  Especially when I am getting tired.  Well, through out the trip I had a tendency to drift over to the center line or the right line from time to time.   Well, I guess being in the left lane and using my right eye made me feel a bit off balance because I noticed  myself drifting a lot more in that lane than I did in the right one.  And someone else noticed me drifting too.  The California Highway Patrol.  I was driving along and suddenly I sensed something on my right.  Something was right next to me.  I looked over, and there he was.  Rolling side by side with me at 60 miles per hour.   I knew it wasn't gonna be for speeding.  As soon as I realized who he was I spoke “Father I thank you for great favor with him in Jesus name.”  I was all set to be pulled over and for him to have a “talk” with me about something.    I couldn't afford to take my eyes off the road long enough to look at him for long, but he was signing a message to me.  Lisa relayed it.  He pointed to his eyes, then pointed ahead and weaved his finger back and forth  in a swerving motion, then shook his finger as if to say, “No no no.”  He was telling me to stop veering and swerving.  Lisa gave him a thumbs up sign stating that she understood and with that he took off down the road and disappeared into traffic.   Lisa and I breathed a sigh of relief and thanked God for His mercy and His favor.  That could have been much worse.  He could have pulled me over, ticketed me, who knows.  But God didn't allow it because we had prayed.  It was a little snap shot of God's mercy and favor, and we thank God for it.  

   I kept going in the left lane, trying really hard to stay as straight as I could.  It took a lot of concentration for me though.  By this time it was mid afternoon and I was getting pretty tired.  About 20 minutes later as I was still in that left lane doing about 55, I looked behind me and saw a plain brown car right on my tail.  I wouldn't have given it a second thought had it not been for the little blue flashing light in the front window of the car.  I couldn't believe that it was about to happen again.  Only this time I was actually being stopped.  I thought maybe I had veered once too many times and he was going to warn me about it.  I stopped on the far right edge of the road, and he came over to Lisa's side.  I rolled down her window from my side as he came to her door.  He said hello, then asked me the question, “Are you aware that you are doing 55 in a the fast lane?”  He told me that this was a 70 mile per hour highway and that I was holding up traffic and that it was illegal.  I told him why I was in the left lane but it didn't seem to matter to him.  He told me if I was going to go that slow I would have to move over to the right lane.  I had never been stopped for going too slow but today would be my one time.  I told him I would use the right lane and thanked him, and away he went.  Once again Lisa and I thanked the Lord for his protection and mercy.  I had never heard of anyone being ticketed for going too slow but I thought for sure that I was about to be.  We slowly pulled away and got back up to speed.  Lisa mentioned that he probably saw the Missouri plates on the car and the load we had and figured we were traveling and the Lord used all of that to make him let us off the hook.  I stayed in the right lane from then on unless I was passing, (which wasn't very often,” and we just prayed our way through the bumps and holes in the road.  The Lord had been merciful to us twice within a half hour.  We definitely had the favor of God AND man. 

   The next few hours were uneventful with the occasional gas stop and a bite to eat as well as those segments where the freeway blended with or separated from another freeway and I had to make sure I stayed with I-5 and not get on to the wrong road, which is very easy to do in some spots.  The GPS would say “Stay on the current road,”  but if I was in the wrong lane at the wrong time I would have ended up going some where I didn't wanna go.    The traffic wasn't too bad either.  There were only two places where it got heavy and I had to be really careful.  Stockton and Sacramento.  Between the two of which I filled up on gas.   Sacramento was a milestone for me because I knew that once I was through it, it would be the very last city of any great size that I would have to drive through.  Once I was passed it I breathed a giant sigh of relief and I began to relax more than ever.  But little did we know that the most challenging and perilous segment of our entire trip home was still ahead of us.  It had nothing to do with the amount of traffic or cities, nothing to do with police, or anything of that kind.  But rather, it had to do with darkness. 

   It was just shy of 6:00 pm and we had reached Redding.  We only had 94 miles to go.  I had been watching my gas more carefully now than ever before.  I knew it was going to be dark soon and I wanted to leave Redding with a full tank so I could get home without having to fill up again.  I got through the Redding area and then stopped just north of it for gas.  It was twilight now.  I figured it would be no big deal to drive in the dark just one time, especially with such familiar territory ahead of me.  So we headed off again.  In about 15 minutes it was dark.  The Lord had held the sun still for me the day before, but not this time.  This was going to be a faith run.  But if I had knew then what I know now, I would have probably stopped one more time for the night and finished the last 94 miles in the morning.  What lie ahead of us was something that neither Lisa or I ever want to experience ever again.  Something that tested our faith like never before.  Darkness was upon us, and my night vision is very very very bad.  We were out of Redding and heading for something that I had forgotten about.  A mountain.  A mountain through which I-5 twists and turns with these long left and right turns, and there  are NO LIGHTS up there what so ever.    By the time I started climbing the mountain it was totally dark.  Going up wasn't so bad.  I stayed at 55 in the right lane most of the time and was able to pass trucks with not much trouble.  The challenge was when I got to the top of the mountain and started down the other side.  I hereby testify that this was the scariest, most freaky drive I have ever had in my entire life.  Here is a list of elements that were against me as I started down the north side of the mountain. 

1-Dark

2-No overhead lighting of any kind

3-BAD night vision

4-Headlights not shining as far as they should have

5-Very dimly painted center lines and right hand white line

6-NO center line from time to time

7-Never driven this route before in the light, let alone the dark

   As I began driving down the mountain it didn't take very long for Lisa to recognize that I couldn't see where I was going.  I couldn't see where the turns began or ended.  There were no less than 5 different times, (and probably more) when I nearly went off the road entirely.  So Lisa began to tell me not only when to turn, but also how long to keep turning.  She would say “Left, left, left, keep turning left, left, left,” and as long as she kept saying “left” I kept turning left.  When she would say “straight” I would straighten out.  Same thing with the right turns.  I was only doing 40 to 45 and sometimes 50 miles per hour.  Every time a truck passed me I would speed up and try to follow his tail lights.  I figured these truckers have driven this route over and over and they know it like the back of their hand so who better to follow.  I figured as long as I stay with their tail lights I would never go off the road.  The problem was, I was going 45 and they were going 65.  I just couldn't keep up.  I tried to keep up with them a few times and Lisa actually scolded me for it.  I hadn't gone over 60 the whole trip and now I was doing it in the dark on a mountain road full of twists and turns.    But I was desperate for a light of some sort that I could follow so as not to go off the road and into the canyon below.  This was one of those times when I had one chance and one chance only to get it right.  One mistake and we would be off the road and heading for a long steep drop into a canyon.  (I noticed during this run that there were some spots with no guard rails on the edge of the road.)   We prayed more during this one segment of the trip than ever.  I am convinced that we had angels surrounding us that were keeping the car on the road.  I remember veering off once and not even noticing until Lisa told me.  There were sections where there was no defining line between lanes or anything. 

   Going down this mountain seemed to go on and one and on.  Of course going 45 and not 65 did make it take longer than normal but it just seemed to be taking a REALLY long time.  At every left turn I would keep my eyes focused on those indentations that are put into the center lines that you hear when you cross the line.   They reflected my headlights rather well.  But I could only see about 3 center lines ahead of me.  No more.  And sometimes they were totally gone with no indication of right or left lane.  For the right turns I would focus on the solid white line on the right edge.  Other times, even it was gone, so I had no clue where the edge of the road was.  There were no overhead lights anywhere.  Not ONE.  It was dark dark dark up there. 

   What seemed like hours later we FINALLY got down off that mountain.  I still couldn't see any better and the road still curved a lot but at least I didn't have gravity pulling me down faster and faster.  I still kept it down around 50 to 55.  Lisa still instructed me on left and right turns but we knew that the hardest part was over.   It flattened out a bit and I began to relax some.  Once I got into Mount Shasta I settled down even more.  Overhead lighting and flat ground made it a whole lot easier to drive.  Even from Mount Shasta we still had another 50 miles to go.  In the dark all my landmarks were gone so I couldn't really tell where I was.  It sort of took some of the wind out of our sails not to be able to see our surroundings but we were excited none the less to be getting closer to home. 

   Finally I reached a little tiny town called Grenada, just 8 miles from Yreka.  I was totally relaxed and driving with one hand now.  I had driven this particular stretch of highway many many times.  Closer and closer we got.  The GPS was still on but we didn't need it anymore.  We were driving in my own backyard, (so to speak.)  We praised the Lord even more now for getting us home.  He had gotten us all the way from Round Lake Beach IL to here with a 16 year old Ford Taurus with a less than healthy right rear tire, as well as several other problems.  He had gotten us through the desert, over the mountains, and now home was within our sight.  Suddenly there was the sign I'd been looking for.  The south Yreka exit was 1 mile away.  Lisa was beginning to cry which made me start crying as well.   We had started this drive 5 days ago, over 2,800 miles away.  Now we were less than a mile from home.  It was like a race car driver getting the white flag for his final lap of the Indianapolis 500.   Even if the car quit on me now I could have coasted to the exit.  (Of course that would have left us walking after that,) but the Lord saw us through all the way.  I slowed for the exit, and as we came to the bottom of it and stopped, I just sat there for a moment.  There was no other traffic behind me.  I just stayed there and let the moment sink in.  I spoke in a low soft tone, “Welcome home everybody.”  I couldn't see them in the dark but I knew the mountains were right out my window.  The mountains I never thought I would ever lay eyes on again.   Lisa just sat there for a minute and cried.  It was so good to finally be home.  I took a left hand turn and there, ahead of us, was a most familiar sight.  The motel where Lisa and I had spent  our honeymoon as well as every anniversary after that except this last one a month ago.  I coasted very slowly up to the stop light.  We had planned to go through the drive through at McDonalds for something to eat.   I was driving really slow and soaking in the moment.  We were HOME.  There were all the familiar sights.  All the familiar roads.  Darkness didn't matter anymore.  I could drive these roads by feel now.  We pulled into McDonalds, slowly going through the drive through lane, still crying.  The GPS was recalculating our route because of the extra turns I had made but I wasn't even listening anymore.  I was busy taking in all the surroundings that I hadn't seen in a year.   I felt like George Baily from “It's A Wonderful Life” after he had been brought back to reality after experiencing what life would have been like if he had never been born.  After spending a year seeing nothing but unfamiliar people and places and roads, it felt so good to finally be seeing things that I remember from my childhood.  Familiar places, familiar streets, I was still crying even as we pulled up to get our food at the window at McDonalds.  As we pulled up and received the bag of food there a young girl at the window.  She looked at me and said, “Hey aren't you John Day?  I haven't seen you in a while.”  She was the daughter of a girl I had been in grade school with.  How neat was THAT?  We just pulled into town and the very first place we go I get recognized and called by name.  I had spent 45 years of my life in this little town, growing up and being known and recognized by many people.  Store clerks, doctors, church members.  Every time I went to the store I found someone who knew me.  Then to spend a year in a foreign place where not only did no one know me but they scarcely even said hello as they walked past me.   The whole time we were gone I longed for someone just to say hello to me or smile or recognize me from somewhere and call me by name.   So to be recognized and called by name within just a minute or two of coming home was a really amazing thing.  It was like the Lord was giving the whole trip one last exclamation point with a “welcome home” from someone who had known me for years.  It was a moment when the reality of being home hit me right between the eyes.  It was a moment that made me cry all the more.  We pulled away slowly and headed out and down the street toward our destination.  The Relax Inn.  Lisa and I had talked about how ironic it would be to have spent our nights in a motels during the trip and then when we get home where would we be living for a while?  Another motel.  We were about 1.5 miles from the motel.   The GPS was still instructing me but it really wasn't necessary anymore.  I was too busy soaking in all the sights.  Buildings, lights, the road itself.  Everything around me was shouting “YOU'RE HOME.”   A minute or two later we were at the motel.  Slowly I turned into the parking lot and parked.  The engine was shut off, and it was all over.  2,800 miles had all come down to this moment.  Our journey was over.  The Lord had brought us home safe and sound. 

Through out the last day of our trip we had promised God that we would use this experience to testify of His glory and His power.  And this is the reason for this story.  To bring praise and honor to God and to proclaim His name as the most high   He is an amazing and almighty God.  He had seen us through the entire year, met every need, protected us from harm, sheltered us from storms, and now He had pulled us through this 5 day trip in a car that some thought would never have made it with so much packed inside that I had no view out the back or side windows behind me.  My side mirrors were all I had to see by.  The trunk was so packed you couldn't get a piece of paper in there.  That right rear tire should never have made it.  But the Lord put his hand on it and it did.  It hadn't used hardly any tread.  I had told the Lord earlier in the trip, “If you can keep the shoes of the Israelites from wearing out over 40 years in the desert, and even cause their shoes to grow with their feet for that long, then you can keep tread on this tire.  And He did just that.  It was an amazing journey, and all the glory and honor goes to the Lord God Almighty.  It was Him who brought us here,  and we will forever praise Him for it.  It's good to be home.   THANK YOU JESUS. 

For your monthly gift of any amount, you will receive our CD of the month,

YHWH or the Highway

Titles are: Hidden in Christ, When You Saw That Man Today, On Your Way To Church, You Have Done It Not, Don't You Know, No Good Samaritan For Me, And We Call THEM Retarded, Be A MASH, Jesus Lives In Jail, A Matter Of Perspective, Who Do You Think You're Toolin', and YHWH Or The Highway. 

Sample song: Jesus Lives In Jail

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