Travel day Quatro

First of all before I get into the humor of our trip, I want to give all glory to God for the blessings he has paved before us on trip.  The weather thus far could not have been any better. We have seen snow everywhere from mountain caps, to scattered across the hills, to covering the roadside. Streams, rivers, lakes and ponds have all been frozen but the roads have been clear and the temperatures have been in the upper 40’s.  Thank you Lord!

Nebraska – pronounced Nuh-brass-Kuh – Origin Native American meaning rolling nothingness.

We are currently bedded down in Grand Island, Nebraska. Why in the heck they call it an Island when there’s NO water here is beyond me. Not to mention the extreme lack of anything “grand”.  For those of you who have never been to Nebraska, don’t! There truly is nothing here; and when I say nothing that is an extreme understatement. Unfortunately there is no other word that means more nothingness than nothing. I mean even the exits have nothing. No truck stops, no rest areas, just exits to nothing.

I have witnessed brief patches of evidence that would suggest there were some wheat and cornfields here at one time. But this time of year the fields are all plowed and disked and there is nothing. Nothing but dirt. I couldn't even find a cornfield to "lose" Grizz in. There are no steak farms, or wool farms, just what could be described as America’s largest dirt farm. Yep they raise dirt here and lots of it!

There has barely been any road kill since we hit Nebraska either. Even the wild animals are smart enough not to come here; at least most of them anyway. I did discover a new type of deer though, a spread deer. It’s amazing how far a tractor-trailer can spread a deer down the roadway. In fact it’s almost as far as a C-17 can spread a coyote down a runway.  Speaking of road kill, I have learned something else too!  Males are much, much smarter than females.  Before you ladies get your panties in a bunch I have hard-core data to prove that statement. Out of all the deer, and parts of deer I have seen scattered down the highways, and I have seen a LOT, not a single one of them were male.  Just saying….

 Even though Nebraska has been an abyss of nothing, nada, zilch, prior to that our day was still interesting.  It started when we checked out of our hotel in Laramie. The hotel manager’s last name was Disney. Now I am assuming no relation, or else she probably would not be working at a hotel in Wyoming. Who knows though, maybe her uncle was Walt and maybe, just maybe, she was just excommunicated from the family for having no imagination???? Or maybe she had a horrific fear of mice???? Or maybe she was just plain goofy??? Oh I am having too much fun with this. Moving on…

The roadways in Wyoming leave a lot to be desired. Starting near Cheyenne and sporadically carrying on to the state of nothing, I mean Nebraska. The roads were BUMPY! They were the cement kind and they were covered in the tar seams, lots and lots of seams that were very very very bumpy. In fact I am quite certain that my rectum has been compacted into my cerebellum and now I will have even more shitty ideas!

I also made another discovery in Wyoming. It was a Wal-Mart distribution center.  Now we all know that everything Wal-Mart sells is made in China. So apparently this is a distribution center for the “People of Wal-Mart”.  I knew there was no way that all those people just randomly showed up at Wal-Mart. They have a gigantic facility with hundreds of tractor-trailers lined up to sort and deliver the “people of Wal-Mart” to a location near you. A 400 pounder in a thong to Chicago, an anorexic 60 year old man with fake boobs to Albuquerque, you get the drift.  Once again my friends we have been had by a brilliant marketing scheme!

I am thrilled to say that we are over half way done with our journey. About 1500 miles down, and a thousand more to go. With the time I have spent in that Penske truck we have become intimately close. As any good driver operator knows, you learn to listen to the truck, you memorize her sounds. For instance I know when Ol’ Penske starts to moan that low sultry groan, that she is putting out a little more than she wants to and it also means she just hit 2100 RPMS. That means we are going all out, balls to the wall up hill. She is giving everything she’s got.  It also means I start praying a little bit harder. I think I can, I think I can….

I am also challenged to find ways to entertain myself in the cab all alone. I try not to eat of boredom now that I am tobacco free, so I chew on coffee stirrers. They are calorie free. I also make funny faces and snarl at passing vehicles, especially the kids. But mostly I have one helluva 6 hour karaoke dance party all by myself! So far no complaints.

Everyone is doing pretty well. We are taking it slow and easy, no rush, no hurry. Typically we get on the road by 0930. If you ask me that’s pretty good considering I have 2 females and 2 dogs traveling with me. Then we knock out about 5-6 hrs of driving and thus far the stops have been minimal. Bobbi is doing a great job navigating. The jeep has the GPS so she leads the way. She has learned my limitations in the big truck and plans accordingly, at least for the most part. And when she doesn’t, I am all alone in the truck and no one knows if I say anything ugly J  Not that I would ever…..

Tomorrow we are heading to Kansas City Missouri. There I will reunite with my old friend Ben from Iraq. Do you know what happens when TWO Bens get together? Nothing but pure awesomeness! It will be great to see him again after 5 years and I am super excited!

Since I started this off with a serious note, I want to end that way as well. Each day of driving I have found a great sermon on the radio to listen to.  Todays really gave me something to think about and I wanted to share it with you. Give you a little something to chew on.

In the Bible, Jesus teaches us to pray “Give us this day, our daily bread” But now days our cupboards, and pantries, and refrigerators are full of “daily bread”. It is abundance that ciphers our dependence. If you are blessed with a roof over your head, a house full of food, or healthy family, don’t let that abundance take away your dependence on the Lord.   

A child only sees the pot...

     Last night we had the privilege of attending a local benefit concert. It was a spur of the moment decision, but my wife felt "called" to go. She needed her spirit fed, and who was I to deny such an important need? I will admit I did not want to go. I was tired. It had been another long day of packing and every fiber of my being wanted to settle in for the evening in my fat boy clothes. Oh, and did I mention I was tired? Well in case I didn't, I was tired! But trying to be the good husband she deserves, when she asked, I agreed to attend with her. It was actually rather weird. I am the one who normally wants to attend such events, but this time every ounce of my 227 pounds did NOT want to go. The enemy was working on me hard with that little voice in my head shouting every excuse imaginable not to go. Fortunately for me I listened to that one faint whisper that told me I needed to. So we headed out to attend a concert but what we got was so much more...

      It was filled with heart felt testimonies and beautiful worship music. Anyone who was fortunate enough to attend received a blessing. The music was powerful and uplifting. I mean it really touched you down deep in your soul.  Surprisingly it was something much smaller that blessed us. Off to the side of the stage were numerous beautifully crafted clay pots surrounding a potter's wheel. During one of the song's, the potter came out and began to work the clay. The clay was kneaded, and the potter began to slap and pound the clay to the beat of the music. This particularly caught the attention of our always curious 9 year old daughter. In fact we were all mesmerized as the potter moistened the clay, and began working, crafting, shaping the blob on the wheel.

     On the way home the jeep was filled with chatter from us all discussing the concert, and it wasn't long before my daughter mentioned the potter. She went on and on about how cool it was, and that it was neat getting to watch the pot get made, and wondering if they were going to sell the pots, and all the other curiosities of a 9 year old mind. It was then that it hit me! She only saw the pot... The meaning behind it was lost on her innocence. This young child saw no symbolism, she did not understand the meaning behind the potter and the clay. Her young eyes only saw the pot.

     The Bible mentions clay in 32 verses. Think it's important? That's why I immediately seized that teachable moment with my wife and child and began to explain to them the symbolic significance of the potter on stage. What followed was a brilliant conversation that stirred a lot of thought and left us all with something to ponder.

     It was that pondering that led to this blog. How many people in the audience only saw the pot? As Christians we are all on our own path in life, our own walk with Christ and are all at different places along that journey. While many are seasoned veterans who have weathered many a storms with God by their side, there are probably even more beginners, still in their infancy as Christians. I remember as a new believer how intimidating the Bible was. I would read word for word, trying to soak in as much as possible and end up even more confused than when I started.  It was only after much prayer and several mentors that I began to truly see the WORD beyond the words.

     We first see the reference to the clay in the beginning of the Bible. Literally in the beginning, in the book of Genesis where we are told the "Lord God formed man of dust of the ground".  You see back then the words dust and clay were often used interchangeably. Of the 32 times clay is mentioned in the Bible many of them are symbolically or metaphorically used, but none of the versus are more clear than we see in the book of Isaiah 64:8

"Yet you, Lord, are our Father.
    We are the clay, you are the potter;
    we are all the work of your hand."

     It doesn't get any more clear than that. You see for believers and non-believers alike, God is at work in our life. It's up to you whether or not you accept that. We all start out just like that ball of clay, with no particular shape or purpose. It is only through God's vision and His work in our life that we begin to develop, to take shape and realize our purpose. Sometimes the potter uses a delicate touch to define a specific detail, other times he exerts great pressure to completely change the shape or direction of transformation. 

     God is the potter; we are the clay; life is the sculpting phase. Everything in life has a reason, a purpose from God. Sometimes it's as simple as a random act of kindness reminding us how we should love our neighbor. Other times it's much more difficult. It is that difficult pressure that transforms us, where we grow. Sometimes we just get hard headed and God really rattles our cages, other times bad things just happen to good people. Unfortunately for us, we don't always understand it. At least not while we are going through it. Often times it's not until we look back that we can see His purpose as we recognize our own growth.

     To be completely honest this is the part I struggle with most; when bad things happen to good people. In fact at times it has infuriated me to no end when great warriors for Christ have horrible things happen to them, and yet some of the scum of the earth seem to get away with it all.  But the only way I can get through it is by trusting God, trusting His plan, that a greater good will come of this.

     Most of you know that we are under the stress of our upcoming cross country move. What you may not know is that in the midst of this we are dealing with a serious health issue in the family.  It's hard to think about packing up your entire life and moving 2400 miles across the continent when all you want to do is go home and hug your family.

     It's easy to praise God when life is good, but the Bible tells us we are also to praise the Lord in times of trouble. I really try to do this. I seek the positive, however small it may be, in every circumstance and praise Him for it. Instead of focusing on the negative and the "why me" I try to see the good. This time I have not had to look very far. Seeing the spiritual growth of my wife through this has been amazing!

     Instead of turning from God, of blaming God and cursing him, like many of us have, she has done the opposite. She has turned to God. This has brought her closer as she seeks Him, she confides and trusts in Him. Most importantly she just talks to Him. She's not angry. She doesn't ask why. She trusts that he has a plan that is greater than us and that good will come from it. I don't even know if she realizes it already has! 

HE IS THE POTTER; WE ARE THE CLAY!