Our trip to Iowa -- Part one

Isn’t it funny how differently you look at things because you are a Believer? We just got to Iowa last week after months of planning, but things didn’t go as planned. We never failed to see that it was the hand of the Lord that was pushing us in a different direction. He was there all of the time and was leading us. We were learning to submit and trust Him! I know we would have had a different outlook on things if we didn’t know the Lord.

Here is just a little of the happenings on our trip and how we KNEW that the Lord was with us (the world would have said otherwise!):

On Tuesday, only about two hours into our trip we got a flat tire -- We were praising the Lord that it was the front passenger tire so Danny wouldn’t have to dodge cars and that it wasn’t the back one because he would have had to take off the trailer to jack up the car! The next exit was only a little over a mile away and there was a tire place right off of the exit! Praise the Lord! BUT…It couldn’t be fixed – we had to get a new one, but while we waited we went across the street to the Burger King and played in the Play Place! God PROVIDED!

While we were waiting to cross the street to BK, we got a call from the moving company. They were going to arrive early with our things in IA – instead of on Saturday/Sunday they were going to arrive on Friday morning at 8. This meant that we couldn’t stay as long with my brother and his family! It was a BIG disappointment, but we were praying that we wouldn’t have to be without our things in IA for a long time…. God answered, but not as we had anticipated!

After getting the car back together, we drove for 50 more miles and got off to get gas. Danny had noticed that it was guzzling gas, but he thought that it was from the trailer. After we left the toll plaza, the car had a really hard time changing gears. We knew that there was something wrong. We cruised off of the exit to the truck stop and noticed smoke coming out! YIKES! I immediately got the girls out of the car, and a man came running out. He told us to shut it off right away! After some initial inspection, it seemed that we had blown the transmission…. Not a good thing. The kind man asked us many questions and then got on the phone to try to help us out.

In the middle of trying to help us find a repair shop, he added that he could also find someone in his congregation to help us with housing. Congregation? Yes, this man was a pastor of a church in town! He works at the truck stop as well. He made many more phone calls and after spending close to three hours in the truck stop parking lot and lounge (which was quite a cultural experience for me and my kids!), we had arrangements for the night and for our car. The car got towed to a garage and would be looked at in the morning. A few men got together and were able to tow the trailer to another part of the parking lot and they gave us a special lock to put on it. The people working at the truck stop were going to look after it for us for the night.

We got housing with a couple from that attends that church. They have grandkids, so they were well equipped with a highchair, toys, a crib, etc….everything that we needed to stay! They even ordered pizza and wings to pick up on the way home! Danny knew that this was going to be a perfect match! They couldn’t stay too long with us at home because they had to stop by church for worship team rehearsal! COOL! J

We were seeing God’s hand the whole time. We were all surprisingly peaceful on the way home and at the house. I wasn’t fearful, but I knew that the Lord had provided for us. BUT I was WAY out of my comfort zone! We all slept great (I didn’t even wake up all night!), but we were worried about what the next morning was going to be like.