We were on the first leg of our journey to El Paso, Texas, to say our farewells to Matt before his being shipped out to Iraq. We’d left late – about 10pm Friday – and were hoping to make it to El Paso by late-night Saturday. We’d divided into two teams with a driver and navigator in each. I took the first driving shift, with Luke as my navigator.
Everything was hunky-dory until we hit St. Louis. The rain started fairly civily, but as we drove along it became more and more savage. It was getting increasingly difficult to stay on the road and nearly impossible to see. Passing the semi trucks was the worst.
“Oh, I HATE driving in rain,” I griped out loud. “I’d do anything to be driving in snow instead!”
I made it through most of Missouri, but the strain was starting to get to me, so we switched. Mark took the wheel and Moni navigated. I was so exhausted, I fell immediately asleep.
A few hours later, I woke up to a world of whiteness. Snow!
“Where are we?” I mumbled.
“Oklahoma,” Moni answered.
“How far?” I asked.
“Not very,” Moni answered. “It’s going pretty slow. The roads are really bad, and they don’t salt down here.”
The roads indeed were bad – all the way through Oklahoma which, when you’re traveling from East to West, can be one very, very long state. At one point, we were completely stopped for more than two hours because of stalled vehicles!
“Who asked for this snow?” Mark said jokingly.
I felt my face grow red but kept my mouth shut, hoping to remain obscure in my back seat hideaway.
“Mom did!” Luke blurted out.
“What?” Mark said incredulously.
“Yeah, she did. When we were back in Missouri driving in the rain she said she’d do anything to be driving in snow instead!” Luke tattled.
“You didn’t,” Mark admonished.
“Uh, yes, I did,” I had to admit.
“So this is all your fault!” the others blamed in unison.
“I’m really sorry,” I apologized. “I had no idea this would happen. Who would’ve expected a blizzard in Oklahoma in late March?”
“That’s okay,” Mark assured. “Just don’t pray for anything else, okay?”
I just have to chuckle everytime I think about this odd situation. I know, of course, that God did not create a blizzard in Oklahoma just to suit me. But I do think he allowed me to witness a very important aspect of his power. If God wants to send his children a blizzared, he will. And in the process, he’ll show them that the snow is always whiter on the other side!
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