Sunday Snippets III - Review of 2011

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2011 - The Year That Was

There is a frequent saying, "It is what it is." I will just say that this was the year that was. There is a reason I haven't posted in a while. 2011 has been a very difficult year for me, but through it all, I was reminded that we only grow when we are stretched past our comfort zones.

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A Shoulder to Lean On

I had surgery in May to repair a torn rotator cuff. I spent 6 weeks in a sling. It was during that time that I was struggling with the fact that my oldest son's marriage was breaking apart. I felt helpless. I was helpless. My grandchildren are helpless. It was my reminder that the only shoulder I can always lean on is Christ's. Trust is all I have left when I am helpless to change something. "Jesus, I trust in You!"

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Coasting in the Spiritual Life

In August, I went on a 5 day Caribbean cruise with my husband. I am reminded that I must always be actively pursuing Christ. How often do we sit back and coast in our spiritual life when things are going well? It is so easy to do that when life is moving along without any bumps, but we should never just coast. "I do not consider that I have made it my own; but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." ~ Philippians 3:13-14 

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A Death in the Family

My elderly father passed away at the end of August. He was a great learner. That also made him a great teacher. Before moving into nursing care, my dad had a balcony garden in the assisted living center where he grew tomato plants and flowers. He also grew 6 lemon trees from the seeds of the lemons in his iced tea from lunch. His lesson to us was to turn negative events into something positive. "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade." If we focus on the positive, we will recognize the work of God in our lives.

Henry Ole Martinsen

b. 2-4-1917     d. 8-27-2011

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A Close Call

In September, my niece was hospitalized three times for blood clots in the brain. She suffered two strokes that affected the right side of her brain where visual centers are affected. She could not spell and she recognized people by their voice rather than what they looked like. By the Grace of God, she enjoyed a complete recovery from the strokes. She is now on medications to thin the blood. It was a close call for her and a lesson for all of us that we could be taken at any moment from this life - no matter what our age.

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Divine Providence

My son and his wife gave birth to their first child - a beautiful little girl - in mid-October. Her due date was January 7, 2012. Doctors tried to stop my daughter-in-law's labor, but after 3 days, her water broke and birth was immanent. Thankfully, she was given two doses of steroids to help my granddaughter's lungs develop. Because she was so early, my son and his wife had not yet learned lamaze to help her through her labor. My husband and I arrived home after a two week vacation just in time. I was able to help my daughter-in-law get through the contractions and I was present for the birth of my granddaughter. She weighed in at 2 lb 9 oz. Just after her birth, the doctor showed me a knot in the umbilical cord. So many times, babies are stillborn when there is a knot in the cord. I truly believe that God provided for my granddaughter. He has a special plan for her life.

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Our Future and Our Hope

My oldest son broke the news to us in May that he and his wife are getting a divorce. They have two beautiful children. Their marriage didn't last but 5 years. My son is a better father since the separation. By the Grace of God, children are our future and our hope in this world.

Priest Gulch or Bust

This morning, we awoke at 6:00 AM Mountain Time. After a nice long hot shower (since I never made it to the showers last night) I brought out the bottle of holy water that I forgot I had with me. I walked all around the car and trailer sprinkling the holy water and asking for God’s total protection against anything that was not of Him. Then I blessed myself and with a few extra prayers, we were on the road by 8:00.

As we listened to The Great Adventure, we enjoyed the change in the countryside from the short Juniper trees around Santa Fe to Ponderosa Pine and gained altitude – getting ever closer to the mountains of Colorado. We crossed from New Mexico into Colorado around 10:30. I saw several signs that said “Land for Sale” and wondered what it would be like to live up here during the summer months as I don’t think my joints could handle the bitter cold of winter here. But we probably couldn't afford to live here anyway. Just a nice passing thought.

David was gently reminded by the multiple climbs and descents in the highway and the strains of the car engine that he needed to use the gears to ascend and descend the steep inclines and trailer brakes going down as well. Driving in the mountains is like riding a bicycle; once you know how to ride a bicycle, how to ride when you get back on one is soon recalled. If I remember correctly, it’s the same with a musical instrument. Muscles have memory. When using the gears of the car, it’s as though your driving muscles get engaged again. It is at times like these, I am amazed at the ingenuity of man for what makes life easier. If only all such things were used for the better. A trip like this – 100 years ago would have been grueling – taking days filled with sweat, but with ingenuity the trip takes but a few hours. It is also times like these that we realize we should take nothing for granted.

We stopped in Pagosa Springs for gas. We paid $2.92/gallon at one gas station and after filling up noticed that the station across the street was 20 cents cheaper. Go figure. Take nothing for granted.

It was a good time for a bathroom break too. That’s one of the nice things about having the trailer behind us. You have a nice bathroom at every stop. I got some snacks out of the trailer too because both of us were hungry at 10:30. David had eaten nothing and I had eaten only an apple. David did some of the grocery shopping for the trip and he bought my favorite Sun Chips – French Onion – so I pulled those out. I didn’t know that they come in 100% compostable bags now. Good for the Sun Chip folks! If anybody has chips that say, “You can’t eat just one”, it would be Sun Chips. Funny thing about the composting feature of the bag is that it is LOUD!!! There will be no sneaking chips behind David’s back! Now that’s probably a GOOD thing. It is rare that I eat chips – for the very reason that I can’t eat just one. Funny how my mouth craves salt and crunch. :o)

It looks like Durango is around the next curve. We are stopping to pick up a few items we failed to pack. And there is always something left behind. I still can’t believe I left my purse at home. I have my cell phone which doesn't work up here and much needed sun glasses. I just didn’t pick up the purse. Silly me!

Later….

It’s now 4:35 and camp is set up. We are at a campground called Priest Gulch located on the Dolores River about 30 miles north of Cortez in Southwest Colorado. After signing in at the front office and “paying up” for the time we will be here, the gentleman on the golf cart lead us toward our campsite in slot #82. As we rounded a curve, he looked back and noticed that the front trailer tire was locked up. That means the brakes were locked on that wheel. By backing up a couple of feet, we were able to unlock it, but by that time the tread on that tire had already worn through the steel belting at the spot that touched the ground. I think we should call this vacation a “tiring” one. HA! David called the local RV repairman who will be here Wednesday to check on the locking break problem. We will find another tire at some point as well.

David is holding up amazingly well with all the driving and so many problems on the road. And he also is thanking God for taking care of us! Have you ever heard of the old line, “Where is my husband and what have you done with him?” That’s what I’ve been asking the Lord the last couple of days. I’m so happy that David has been taking all of this so well. I think I am witnessing a miracle here. Is he learning to "Let go. Let God"? I’ll take it! Woohoo! What a conversion this is! Praise God!

Today is the first day he has questioned His trust in God. He's beginning to worry about the brakes on the trailer. He asked me how I keep myself from worrying? How do I let go of doubts? So I talked about something Jeff Cavins said about sin in The Great Adventure DVDs. When you make the first step to sin, the second step is easier. Before you know it, you sin without thinking about it. The sin becomes a habit. The same thing goes for breaking old habits of worrying. When you have worries and you entertain them, they just stick around. But if when you have a worry, you push it away and make a conscious effort to think of something else, you will soon be able to let it go. Every time you do this the next time it will be easier to do - kind of like muscle memory and driving in the mountains.

We will be here for several days. After talking about all the tire challenges and the latest brake issues, David and I have decided that we won’t try to make it to the Grand Canyon this year. I really was looking forward to seeing it. While David went to see the Grand Canyon as a child, I did not. But I guess, it is just NOT my time to go. Although it is disappointing, I know that God will never allow anything to happen to me that is not for my benefit. So, Jesus, I trust in You! You know when I will get to see the Grand Canyon – or even IF!

Maybe this vacation is just meant to be spent here, relaxing and soaking in God’s creation on a small scale. Maybe we will meet someone He wants us to speak to here or maybe someone is here who will speak His word to us. Maybe we are just to enjoy our time together, reading, walking, relaxing by the river or whatever. I brought an afghan I need to finish crocheting and an embarrassing number of magazines I haven’t read. David brought a novel I gave him a couple of years ago and a latch hook rug of a mountain scene that he is working on. Of course, there are always the rest of the DVDs by Jeff Cavins. Whatever we do, wherever we go, we will surely find God present in this Great Adventure.

Who's Looking Out for Us?

We have had an exciting first day of our 10 day camping vacation. I'm such an airhead, I left my purse  at home, where I did a couple of surveys on some schlotzky's tickets for free sandwiches. When I couldn't find my purse in the car, we called home and had my son look for it. Sure enought it was there. I guess God doesn't want me driving this vacation!

Having said that, praise God as He is truly taking care of us.

We left home after my infusion of Orencia - at about 11:30 AM with plans to stop for the night in Lubbock at the KOA. We were making good time on the road and called ahead to Clovis, NM to make reservations at an RV park there. Not 20 minutes later, a trucker pulled up beside us and motioned to our rear. David rolled down the window. The man said we had a flat. It is hard to tell when you lose one tire on the trailer as it has 2 on each side. By the time we were able to pull off the road about 12 miles outside of Lubbock, 3 more motorists waved us down about the problem.

We pulled off the highway and assessed the situation. On the passenger side, the rear trailer tire was gone and we were riding on the rim, now cracked in several places. The front tire was bald with a large flap of rubber stuck between the tire and the axle - steel belting exposed. The blowout of the rear tire more than likely is what damaged the front one. We pulled the rear tire off and replaced it with the spare.

This is where it gets amazing. David had packed two extension cords and a portable air compressor just before we left the house. Also, I had asked about taking the portable video player to play my Jeff Cavins DVDs of The Great Adventure on the road. David said that since I was taking my computer, he would pack the AC/DC power converter that plugs into the cigarette lighter. That way, I could play the DVDs on my laptop. When it was time to air up the tires, the exact distance from the car's rear cigarette lighter to the rear tire was the lengths of all the cords - the converter, the 2 extensions, and the cord on the compressor. God is GOOD - all the time!

By the time we hit the road again, with one bald tire and the spare in place, it was 6:50. We prayed for God's continued help. I immediately got on the phone to the KOA to get info on places that sell tires - specifically trailer tires of a certain size. The Walmart had just the tire we needed, but no wheel rims and the automotive area would close at 7:00. But one young man was so nice and stayed past 7:00 to provide us with one new tire to replace the bald one.

Lubbock KOA (that's not us in the pic)

Please pray that the young man doesn't get into trouble for the overtime although David rewarded him under cover for the time. We wouldn't want him to lose his job for his kindness. As God would have it, I also had 2 free Schlotzky's sandwich tickets to give him. God gave me both of those on Monday one  when I placed my order for lunch at Schlotzky's with a friend and another when I ordered a sandwich for my husband just before leaving that same day.

Needless to say, we are tired after changing tires in the heat, so we are staying in the Lubbock KOA after all. It would have been unwise to continue on to Clovis in the dark with no spare. We have decided to return to the Walmart at 7:00 AM to purchase 3 more tires so we will have 4 NEW tires with another to put on a wheel rim when we find it. David was concerned that because the trailer has sat for 2 years without being run, the tires might all be bad. We will look for a wheel rim for the extra tire for a spare between here and Santa Fe 300 miles down the road. Tomorrow will be at least a 12 hour day with the stop to find a wheel rim and have the tire put on.

In the meantime, we have lost the keys to the trailer and are using the spare set. I'm figuring that we will find them at Walmart. St. Anthony is hard at work looking for them. So it's off to bed for a night of rest and a full day ahead of us. I have set my phone alarm for 6:00 AM. Prayers of thanksgiving have been said.  We are so thankful to God for keeping us safe and providing for all our needs. All the time - God is GOOD!

More updates tomorrow.