What a travel day

Let me start out this post by just saying that I never imagined that these past three weeks could go so well! I left here begging God to change my circumstances and returned home sure that I can trust Him and thank Him in whatever circumstances I am in. I remember before we went, I kept saying that this time away would be anything but a vacation. I was so wrong. God knew exactly what we needed and He gave it to us. I have come home refreshed and very challenged to become who God wants me to be.

Okay, now on to our travel day. If you remember, we didn't drive down to Rocky Mount. The Week's family rented us a van to get home in. They expected to be able to just rent a van in Rocky Mount, but in order for us to take the van just one way, it had to be rented from the Raleigh Airport. So Jeff packed the Week's van with all our tons of luggage. We left Rocky Mount a little before 8:00. We got to the car rental place in Raleigh just after 9:00. It was raining hard by this time. We were all praying that the rain would stop so that we could transfer all our luggage without getting everything and everyone wet. We were assigned our van and the rain stopped! We were praising the Lord for His perfect timing. Jeff pulled the rental over to the Week's van and the loading began. 15 minutes later we were ready to drive away. We said our good byes and closed the doors. Jeff started the van, let me rephrase that, Jeff TRIED to start the van. He kept trying, but the thing just wouldn't start. Someone from the office came out and tried...nope wouldn't start for him either. Now what were we going to do? Well, they just "happen" to have just one other van there that we could fit into. It was an 8 passenger Toyota Sienna, nicer than the first one. The children were very excited, because it had more room to stretch out in. My dream van all the way. There was only one thing wrong with the van....it hadn't been cleaned out from the last person! Oh well. We needed the van, so we hurried and started cleaning it as best as we could. The people in the office felt so sorry for us that they knocked off a 1/3 of the rental fee. We were so excited to see all that God was doing. We were also excited that God allowed this all to take place right in the parking lot!! We could have broken down on our way home! Once we finished cleaning out the new van, Jeff packed a van for the third time that morning. By 10:00 we were pulling out and heading home. The van was SO comfortable that we really enjoyed riding home. It was one of our best travel days ever. The children were exhausted, so in the comfort of it all they SLEPT most of the time!!! The weather was everything imaginable. Jeff drove us through sunshine, rain, sleet, snow, wind and perfect darkness. None of the bad weather lasted very long at all. It was so neat to drive through storms and then drive right out of them. We arrived home at 1:00 am. The children were all in bed by 2:30. I have no idea what time they woke up, because Jeff and I left at 7:45 to return the rental. When we arrived home they were watching a movie and having a great time by themselves. At that point in the morning I became VERY overwhelmed. The house was a MESS and I had no idea where to begin. So in my typical "tackle the problem fashion" I went back to bed!!! It was so nice to be back in my own bed again. I stayed there for the next few hours. When I awoke....the mess was still there, but I was feeling much better prepared to tackle it. It took us the rest of the day, but it is back to normal once again. Now my next thing to tackle is school tomorrow morning. I can do it, I CAN do it, I CAN DO it, I CAN DO IT!!!