We worked for the next week getting everything packed, which was NOT easy with an active baby girl! She loved ‘helping’ me. By helping, I mean, taking things out of the boxes, adding other things that weren’t supposed to go in the boxes, etc. ;)
Our plan was to leave Saturday, go to J’s parents’ house that night, then drive the rest of the way Sunday. That would give us a few days to get a little bit settled before he started work. Well, Friday we pretty much got past the point of no return while we packed. So many things were packed that we decided it would be easier for M and I to go ahead and leave that afternoon. I hated leaving J by himself to finish up, but knew it would be best if we went ahead.
That afternoon, we had a pretty powerful little thunderstorm move through. It went through fairly quickly, but we saw there was more coming our way. So, M and I took off, trying to beat the next round of rain. The ironic part is that we had been in one of the worst droughts ever all summer long, and THAT day it rained. Of all days. I was thankful for the rain, but I really hate driving in it! The first part of the trip was okay. It only sprinkled on me a little bit, and the worst part was that J had left the windows down in the truck so my jeans were SOAKED through. Talk about uncomfortable, but I could either get mad, or laugh about it. I think I did a little bit of both. ;)
After driving for about an hour and a half though, I started hitting some major rain. It was pouring so hard that I finally decided to pull over, thinking it was just a small storm. Wrong. It was a HUGE system, and it looked like I would be driving through it the entire time! I was not happy at all, and it got dark while I was driving. So, what should have taken 3 hours took closer to 5 hours! I was so anxious and felt sick most of the way. I kept thinking, “I should have stayed and come with J tomorrow.” I eventually made it safely though, and I know without a doubt the Lord had His angels around me and our sweet girl, protecting us the whole way there.
I talked with J the next morning, and he told me he was on his way. He was driving a huge moving truck; I believe it was 24 feet long. Plus, he was also pulling my car behind him. I hated for him to be driving by himself, but knew he’d be okay.
Later that morning, I was sitting in the living room at my in-law’s house talking with J’s mom and she received a call on her phone. She didn’t know who it was, but went ahead and answered it. She sounded very calm, and asked a few questions, such as, “Where are you?”, then she said she’d be right there. I had no clue what was happening, but never thought she was talking to J.
She got off the phone, stood up, and said to me, “Take a deep breath.” I just stared at her, and she told me that J had been in a wreck, but he was okay, and she was going to go help him. He was only a few minutes away, thankfully. She was extremely calm during the whole thing, while I fell apart. I had to stay at the house because M was napping, so she left by herself.
My mind was swirling with questions. Was he really okay? How ‘okay’ is okay? What happened? Was anyone else involved? I was trying very hard to stay calm, because I didn’t want my stomach to get upset. I talked with a few of my family on the phone, prayed, and finally decided to go outside and get some fresh air. After just a moment, I saw TWO butterflies. I couldn’t help but smile, and this time, I wanted to cry out of happiness rather than fear. I KNOW that was the Lord reminding me that He was still in control, and everything would be okay. I was just amazed, though I shouldn’t be surprised, that He would speak in a way that is so special to me.
Later, I found out the details of his wreck. The moving truck had fallen on its side, and he had busted open his elbow when it hit the ground. Thankfully, he was the only one involved in the wreck.
I finally spoke with J on the phone, and he told me he was okay. He was going to the emergency room for his elbow. He sounded okay, but I wasn’t thrilled that he was going to the ER, especially because I still hadn’t seen him yet.
After being seen by a doctor and getting x-rays, they decided to do surgery to clean out the wound and check the bone of his elbow. It was a pretty big opening on his elbow, and they set the surgery for the following day. This of course meant he had to stay the night, which is never fun in the hospital.
The next day he went back for surgery and it went very well. There wasn’t any damage to the bone, so they just cleaned out his wound and sewed him up the best they could. We ended up having to stay another night and day while we waited to hear from the doctor. We eventually got out though, and headed back to J’s parents’ house.
I know this doesn’t sound like a huge deal. Really, we are INCREDIBLY blessed that he wasn’t hurt any worse. Yes, the elbow wound was bad, but it could have been SO much worse. These were the things I kept reminding myself of while he was in the hospital.
J is my very best friend, and we complement each other very well. Where I am weak, he is strong, and vice versa. This kind of thing is a weakness for me. To see my husband lying in a hospital bed, even though he was okay, was incredibly difficult. To have to hold it together in front of him, so he wouldn’t have to worry about me, was not easy. To try and call the right people and take care of things is not my area either. I felt so overwhelmed. However, the Lord again saw our need and provided. He used this time to make J more dependent on me, while making me stronger and more independent. He surrounded us with loving people to help us. Family members helped in many different ways, and several people, some that I barely know, went to move all of our stuff out of the old moving truck, into a new moving truck. We couldn’t have done all of these things by ourselves, and the Lord sent loving people to help.
There were so many things we could worry about. Medical bills, moving truck damage, damage to my car, damage to our possessions, etc. I’m not going to lie, these things did make me feel overwhelmed, but at the same time, I knew the Lord would work it out. I could feel Him with us throughout the WHOLE ordeal. The whole time we were waiting to move, I thought that was a faith exercise. Now, we know that the Lord was helping us practice our faith so it would be strong when all of this happened. Isn’t that amazing?! He is SO good!
Have you made the connection that M and I could have been behind him when the wreck happened, which could have put us in danger, as well?? I’m pretty certain that the Lord sent us ahead for that very reason. Sure, it was a difficult drive for me by myself the night before, but the alternative would have been much worse. The Lord was protecting M and I.
I mentioned this a while back, but here are two verses He sent me:
“Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you and you will honor me.” – Psalm 50:15
(We DID call on Him, He DID deliver us, and now I want to honor Him by telling y’all how amazing He was through it!)
“We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; struck down, but not destroyed.” – 2 Corinthians 4:8-9
(We did feel like we were being attacked by evil and discouragement, but we knew it would be okay, because the Lord has taken care of us SO many times. All of this happened while we were in the process of following where He was leading us. OF COURSE the devil is going to feel threatened by that! If God wants us somewhere, then the devil most certainly does NOT want us there. We knew the Lord would take care of us.)
We still have a ways to go, and there are still a lot of things going on, but He is still taking care of us. I’ll keep sharing with y’all more of the things He has done!
Mainly, I'm just trying to convey how AMAZING the Lord is. I could tell you all sorts of amazing things about Him, but I feel that telling our story speaks volumes more about Him. We would not be where we are, or who we are, without Him. It's my prayer that this will encourage y'all, and draw others to Him. If you want to talk about anything, leave a comment, or email me at lovinggodwhilelivingsimply@gmail.com. I would LOVE to hear from you. :)
Y'all have a happy week!! :)
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