as most of you know, last saturday i had planned to make my way to spokane. due to unforeseen circumstances, i was left without a ride and unsure of what to do. however, what many of you might not know is that God was preparing me for that situation. a couple nights before the "phone call of possible discouragement" i had a dream where something happened very similar to what really did take place. the next day i was not sure what to think, but choosing to look at with warrior instincts and pray against it. the night before i was thinking i was leaving, my time with God revealed something to me. i felt a truth ring out from my soul. "He withholds no good thing from us.. unless it's for something even better!" i had applied it to my situation of seeking funds and support for going to india, then back to berlin. the next day, while saying goodbyes, i received the "peace threatening" phone call. my immediate response was 'let down.' but after some deep breaths in my heart, and talking it out a little bit... i was reminded of that truth spoken to me the night before. He holds no blessing from us.. unless it's for something even better.. better than what we had planned.
well...
needless to say, He had a plan.. and a good one!
that same day, He completely encouraged me and filled me with a renewal of hope. then the next night was filled with worship and honest hearts yearning to be close to their creator. the next was spent over chai and speaking about germany and thinking about the amazing feats that He is doing and has been doing in lives. and the last night was spent walking, laughing, hot drinks, and enjoying good company. throughout the extra days spent in rapid, i enjoyed irreplaceable time spent with my múm. i miss her, and am super glad that we had the time we did! (thanks God!)
i do believe that the ride was oriented by my Papa. from seeing the post, to the timing of the trip.. it left me with a peace to go for it.
tuesday was filled with hope regardless of the approaching storm.
wednesday morning, the planned departure date, outside was covered in white beauty and bitterly cold. matt (my ride) came at the projected time, and after loading up the car.. we set forth across roads hidden by the freshly fallen snow.
we got on the interstate and left chit-chat for less tense moments. though the road was clear, snow blow over it and directly into any sight we had of the path ahead of us. we nearly came to several halts due to no visibility at times. we decided to stop at the all american wal-mart in spearfish for tire cables, then fill up on gas.
511 is such a great idea when used by cautious travelers.. or in our case, those wondering about a clear or open path to get to our destination. as we sat and listened to our entertainment.. we heard several times... probably past the healthy amount... of "travel not advised." it was followed up by multiple reasons that all included snow, ice or bad traveling conditions.
after a short time on the phone, we found out that I-90 was closed in parts of wyoming and ice and snow covered most of the interstate across montana. we sat for several moments and discussed our possibilities of returning to rapid and waiting until the next morning, or finding another route. after short mind prayers, and really not wanting to head back to rapid for more waiting, we decided on a bypass i had done last year.
we passed semis in ditches... drifts higher than fence lines.. and continued along at speeds of no more than 20-30 under what we had hoped.
i hear that people don't actually understand the danger they stand so close to because of the comfort they have while there.
we seemed to "get to know each other" fairly quickly, and a trust filled the car as we both agreed in prayer for safety and enjoyable times. after spearfish, i sat behind the wheel and lead us away into montana all the way to billings. on the way, we stopped in broadus, MT for a loaf of bread. then matty created a wonderful almond butter and banana sandwich on cinnamon raisin bread.
we shared thoughts about the scenery, weather, gas mileage... and eventually made it to our first real stop.
he took the wheel after billings. it was rather nice to shut my eyes, though it was only for five minutes. we had started from rapid at 6:00 am and at this time it was already after noon. though the time had passed so quickly, the toll of it seemed to already set upon our shoulders in a weary state of drowsiness. the extra caution, though it be the reason for tiredness, served as a helper to keep us alert.
the remaining time seemed to go by rather quickly and we soon found ourselves talking in a southern accent. we talked about how the "alert" signs would tell us that everything is all clear, and for us to enjoy our nice sunny trip. we also spoke about trying to get the car up to 1 million miles an hour, or how the state was going to add a few more hours of daylight so that we didn't need to drive in the dark. as we spoke deeply in our southern accents, we spoke about pickles, adding them to peanut butter sandwiches, and uncles becoming astronauts. after some time... matty asked me if anyone ever called me izzy. the thought caught me off guard but certainly led for some extra fun for the remainder of the trip. we were now, matty and izzy, across america.
sometime after we switched seats again, and the sun had already taken a rest for the day, we got on the subject of traveling in twos. i shared my heart with him about traveling with a friend, just the two of us, across the states and further across the world. it sparked the subject of manhood and why we are both single. we both agreed that guys need time with guys. though time with girls is enjoyable.. it cannot be where we find our acceptance, and brotherhood has greatly decreased in friendships (not saying that i knew exactly how it was many years ago).
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