It's been two weeks since I changed the name and look of my blog. Today is the first day I am sharing it publically. (The web address is now www.vicki-livingtheadventure.blogspot.com.) It's been a little longer than that since I started thinking about such things. I love writing and appreciate so much all who read. My prayer is that whatever you read encourages you to walk closer with the Lord and deepens your sense of identity in Christ. Thus, the change. Let me explain...
My former title was Living Transformed. Even though it is a perfect description of my life, totally transformed from my life before Jesus, it left me wanting more. I wanted to project to you that living out your identity in Christ is a daily adventure. And that if you are careful to watch, you will go places you never dreamed of going. So, for several weeks now I have intentionally gone through my day looking for adventure. And God has been faithful to take me there. I have so many things to share with you! Some days are one long adventure. Others, like yesterday, are a mini-series of adventures. When you look on life's interruptions as God's adventures, life becomes more fun. Here is an example of one adventure we have been on this week:
Monday night we had just finished watching The Voice. We were getting ready to turn the TV off and head to bed when my husband's phone rang. It was his cousin who lives about an hour away from us. Immediately the expectation was bad news. Who calls at 10 p.m.? What was bad news for them was adventure for us.
Cousin and eleven of his church friends had been to Pigeon Forge for their yearly shopping trip. They had made it as far back as Ooltewah when their van wouldn't go any further. After unsuccessfully trying to call rental companies and get a van to take them home, they finally called us. God had brought them close enough that we could easily get to them and take them home. So, we got ready and headed to our own church to get our own van. We had to clean it out (because the teens had apparently used it recently) and fill it up with gas (because the last driver left both tanks empty.) Finally, we headed to Ooltewah and set out on our adventure.
This van is old. The dashboard is cracked, the speakers are taped into the door, the air/heat works or not on any given day, the back window doesn't latch shut, there are rattles and noises coming from everywhere...but it runs and gets us where we need to go. We loaded up our cousin and eleven new friends and headed to their church, now about two hours away (because we had to go the opposite direction to get them.) Wouldn't you know it! Rain. And fog. Lots of fog. Heavy, dense, at times impossible-to-see-where-you-are-going fog. Of course, tonight the defroster was barely blowing. But God provided us a roll of paper towels with which we wiped the windows in desperate attempts to see where we were. Sometimes we slowed to a crawl. We have made this drive many, many times over the years, but tonight it took F O R E V E R to get to Floyd County.
Our passengers just kept telling us how thankful they were. We all agreed that God had gotten them to the right place to get help. As we drove, the ladies chatted about this and that. At one point they started talking about all the deer that had run out in front of them on this long, dark, country road, who had hit one, who had barely missed...not stories you want to hear when you have the memories of Todd and Michelle's deer story. The men made occasional comments about the fog. Connally and I worked together to see where we were in the road. Finally, after missing our turn because the fog was so thick, we turned around and made it to their church. We unloaded, handed everyone their shopping bags, and said our good-byes. Then it was time to go home.
We decided to go back a different way where the roads would be better lit. Still the fog was heavy. So, I just said, "Lord, please part this fog for us and clear the way." You know what? HE DID! Immediately our windows cleared, the road before us was plain to see, and we were rejoicing for answered prayer. It's really a cool thing when you see an immediate answer to prayer!
More comfortable now, we drove our familiar route and headed back home. We arrived around two a.m. and fell into bed exhausted. It was an awesome adventure!
Did you see all the miracles as you read? Instead of that van breaking down in Pigeon Forge, they made it to within twenty minutes of our house. That old, rattling van made the trip once again. Even in the thick, murky fog we had safe travel to deliver our new friends home. God answered prayer and immediately cleared the way for us to return home. That's huge because by this time it was after mid-night and we were really tired. We noticed when we got home that only one headlight was burning, but we were still able to see the road before us. Everyone involved was safe and sound.
It could have been a burden, and unwelcome interruption to our nightly routine. We could have complained and grumbled about the whole thing. Instead, we went on adventure with God and were able to minister to a group of people who were stranded with no options. It may sound crazy, but we had fun!
What adventure is God leading you on today?
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