Well… it's official!! I've moved back to the Ozarks… the place of my upbringing! Haven't lived in this part of the country since I was 15yrs old, so it's been awhile. But I'm excited to be back near my family for awhile.
I have to share a personal testimony about my trip home:
When I left Portland OR, my car was the most HEAVILY LOADED I think I have ever packed it. (You have to keep in mind that I've lived on the West Coast for almost 5 years now… and haven't had my car back here since 2006!) So Kim and I prayed for the Angels to go with me and bring me back safely and help me NOT have any mechanical problems. My car has been struggling lately…so this was a real prayer of faith!! In fact, I prayed that God would send EXTRA angels…
It was snowing when I went through the Columbia River Gorge getting out of Portland, and there were already several accidents on the road. The next day with the freezing rain and temperatures, it would have been much MUCH more difficult to get through. So I praise God that I was able to leave on the day that I did. (I left two days early as I got called off work that final week!) I got to Oklahoma, no problems after driving for 32 straight hours. Yep - I didn't stop to sleep or anything, but I kept driving until I got to Oklahoma! It was insane, I know, but God blessed. Then I traveled on to my parents ….. no problems…. five hours more. I stopped and started multiple times the entire trip with no problems!!! (In the picture below, you can see how packed in the car I was when I arrived at my folks place! My mom asked me to stop and get groceries before driving up the mountain, but I had NO WHERE to put groceries except in my lap and under my legs. Again not the smartest move probably, but anyway….)
After being at my parent's place for one night, I went to move my car over closer to the house to unload my stuff. Well, my car would barely start, but it did….finally. We moved all my stuff out… got the last stuff out a day or so later!!! And we went to move the car again, but this time, it would NOT MOVE and would NOT start. My dad charged the battery, and it still wouldn't start. He then did a test on the battery and he said it was completely depleted. Like 10% still there. He opened it up and it was all dry!!! He said, "Melody - I have no idea how you have been driving or got home with this battery…. it's no good. And this isn't something that goes bad over night. This battery has been bad for awhile. It's a miracle you got home with it!"
He had to put a new battery in the car to move it… even charging it up wouldn't work. Isn't that amazing… God brought me safely home!!! I told him that the car knows it is home and it can die now! ;-) But in reality I know that God performed a miracle….just as I asked for, and that He sent His angels, EXTRA angels to get me to my parent's place safely!!! ;-)
Now - I've been back here in the Ozark country almost three weeks. I've finally gotten moved into my very own private ARME office, complete with electricity and Internet (I'll post pictures soon), and I'm starting to get caught up on the stack of letters and e-mails and ARME business that I need to attend to. Since I've been back, I've been sick with the worst stomach flu I've had in years, I've barely salvaged my younger brother from dying from Pneumonia (no joke - he got pretty sick!). I watched my older brother bury his beloved dog, a faithful part of our family for over 7 years, that was sick with heart failure. Even my dad cried! (Had to put my own dog to sleep 2 weeks earlier!) I've already gone to a ARME speaking appointment in Tulsa, OK and had a powerful time of prayer with new friends. I've witnessed our first snow for the season. I've talked with loved ones in Africa and Romania, and now am getting ready to leave for GYC where we will be holding another prayer meeting room for 4,000+ attendees coming to Houston's conference. Although my life still feels completely upside down…and I still don't know where everything is that I packed, I sense an order beginning to arise from the chaos. And one thing I know for sure…God is with me. His angels are by my side, protecting me and keeping me safe! Although the icy winds may come, although the storms may blow…He is with me…and I am so very grateful and so very blessed!! And I'm thankful to be back home…home in the Ozark mountains!
3 comments:
Wow!!! Isn't God good? That is an amazing story. Another reason to trust Him. So glad you're back home. Looking forward to seeing you at GYC!
Yeeeeey for the angels! So happy you are back home. And the place where they are going to build your cabin is simply beautiful! I've got to come and visit you! :)
God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think! Praise be to God. Praise Him for the host of angels who so lovingly do His work - cheerfully.
So sorry to hear about all the trials. You will continue to be in my prayers. It is awesome to see that God is still so near & pouring out His blessings despite those trials. He is so generous.
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