Our middle
son had sent out a text before Christmas to inform us that one of our
granddaughters was scheduled to be baptized on the 28th and to
please come. I don’t know how may pleas
he sent to indicate that our presence would be really awesome – but we didn’t
have the funds. I had asked my sister
and brother-in-law if they would represent us.
Meanwhile two days before Christmas I
received notice about a bank deposit that would be made into our account – but not
until this month. Jaime kept on telling
us if we could find a way we ought to go.
And so we left the house the day after Christmas to make the drive to
Utah and surprise the family.
We had stopped at a rest stop and I
opened the back door to retrieve something – though not the 8 CDs that fell to
the wet ground. A man at the stop had
noticed – even though it was dark. He
asked if he could help me. I was so
grateful to have this stranger’s assistance.
After arriving in Utah we checked into
the Hampton Inn as that and the Fairfield were the two closest to where my son
and family live. Richard learned that
the clerk was from Oregon and they chatted for a bit. We were given a discount – another miracle. Another blessing.
Our son called right after we checked
in to inform us that his daughter was sick and the baptism had to be
rescheduled. So much for surprising him the way we had planned. I called my sister to let her know. Her family is sick as well and so they would
not have made it. We were in town with
sick family – but it had not been a waste.
We had prayed about it. It’s just
that if we had known on Thursday we would have turned around and returned to
Myrtle Creek.
We decided to surprise them anyway and
showed up at their doorstep. We were not
greeted with the enthusiasm I had envisioned.
Ryan seemed put out or annoyed – yes we had waken him up on his day to
sleep in – but hey, if my parents stopped by to surprise me, I don’t care how
tired I was, I would hug them both and cry tears of gratitude. I wouldn’t scold them because the baptism had
to be postponed.
Two of the kids seemed happy to see
us. We ended up taking the entire family
out for breakfast and made a quick trip to the dollar store said our good-byes
and headed back towards Oregon – though a different route as the snow had
slowed us down during some of the drive.
I had wanted to stop in Susanville but
Richard wanted to keep going. I should
have been more persistent – but still do not have a very strong voice. I had even less then and he did not hear
me. He really should have stopped and
not continued on to Weed until the next morning.
He claimed we had stayed at the Best
Western before. I don’t think so. We had only been in Weed one time to my
knowledge. The Best Western was booked
and we ended up at the Comfort Inn. He
didn’t think of that when he was told there was only one room left and instead
of waiting for me to make a decision he paid an outrageous price for the “last”
room.
I’m sorry to say I saw a miracle in
somebody else’s misfortune. The keys we
had worked in a door of a room that was already occupied. Fortunately they had
chain locked their door so we couldn’t get inside. So we returned to the office. We were put into another room which was less
than half the cost.
I had been so good at writing down our
activities and encounters the first two days.
On the return I jotted down notes of the pictures I took and the cities
we were in. I thought for certain I
would have the little booklet full upon our return. I haven’t finished. Still trying to process it all. Still trying to find my voice.
Ryan texted Jaime that he had been
happy to see us and did enjoy himself. I
think his thought process and emotional reaction is even slower than mine is. I
suppose we could afford to go back whenever the baptism takes place. But I don’t think we will. Richard and I are definitely as young as we
used to be. Our bodies have informed us
they no longer enjoy road trips. And I
really have no desire to ever get on a plane again.
Miracles continue.
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