Welcome to my blog! If you are a new reader, I encourage to go to my first installment, "When God Spoke, and the Lost Memory", as that begins this chronicle of an amazing time. You might consider this installment "Chapter 3". Since nobody really should start a good read at "Chapter 3", I encourage you to go to "Chapter 1". If this blog blesses you, please share it with as many others as possible - encouraging them to read it. I pray it touches as many people as possible.
It was in November of 1982 when four different people contacted me, independent of each other, and told me that God had spoken to their spirits that I should move to Washington State to be close to my family.
All four people were credible people to share this with me: The president of the company I worked for, my pastor, my manager and my father in Washington State. God says in the Bible, his Word, that His Word is always verified by two or more witnesses. I had four. So I prepared to move.
By this time I actually had acquired some furniture, so I rented an 18 foot Ryder truck, hooked my red Pinto "Bean" to the back to tow her, and praised God for the way to get there. I had done well in sales with the National "Write Your Congressman", but had not at that point gathered together much money, so was preparing to cross the country more on faith than anything else.
The president of the company had arranged for my transfer to take over a territory in Northwest Washington State, and my parents told me they had found a house and rented it for me - I could pay them back when I arrived up there.
In the Bible, Hebrews 11:1 describes faith as this, "Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen." What that means is a commitment to believe before you see the physical manifestation of that belief. I was committed to believing that I could make that trip across the country in the middle of winter, driving an 18 foot Ryder truck, towing a car behind me, with two small children sitting on the seat next to me.
I had to believe - everyone else around me was telling me not to go! Roads are icy in winter, and can be hazardous. My response was the same, though: "Lord, I don't know how it's going to happen, but I praise and thank you for it in advance in Jesus name!" I had been taught to praise Him in all things, and to praise and thank Him for fulfilling my needs before seeing the manifestation of their happening.
It was in December, just before Christmas. I attended my church in Carrolton, Texas one last time. They surprised me with a huge basket of food and other items they felt that I would need for my trip. They included a big turkey for my Christmas dinner, explaining that the kids and I could eat on it while driving across the country to save on having to buy food. In the basket was a small blue plastic nativity scene with white figures. It was an ornament, they said, to remember them by.
To this day, I still keep it on display in my house.
So on Christmas day, I fixed Christmas dinner, my kids opened their presents, I cleaned up the house and finished packing. The next day, we departed.
Everyone had told me not to leave that day. An ice and snow storm was predicted to blow in that day, and drivers were being warned to stay off of the roads. I said, "God wants me in Washington State, and if He does, then He'll open up the heavens, hold back the snow and let me through. Then He'll close up the weather behind me and let it snow. Praise God!"
I sat my 4 year old son in the seat of the truck, sat my 3 year old daughter on top of my overnight case (this was before the days of car seats!) laughed at the white overcast sky, and headed for the New Mexico border.
That night, it snowed to record levels in Dallas - so deep that they closed Dallas Fort Worth Airport. But we weren't there.
We arrived that night in Odessa, Texas, and booked a little motel room. I told the clerk, "Looks like you're in for some snow!" The clerk exclaimed, "Oh, no! It hardly ever snows here! It won't snow!"
I said, "God's opened up the heavens to let me through, and He's closing them right up behind me. You're getting snow!"
The next day, as we clambered into the truck, with my son on the seat and my daughter on the overnight case, we watched light little flakes start to drift down from the sky. We headed out.
That night, they closed the roads through Odessa Texas because it snowed so deeply. But we weren't there.
As I entered Arizona, I started to have some trouble with my truck. I decided to stop at the Ryder truck dealership in Tuscon to have it repaired. As I was talking to the repairman, I looked up at the white sky. I said, "Looks like you're going to get some snow!"
He replied, "Oh, no! It NEVER snows in Tucson!" I said, "God's moving me up to Washington State. He's opening up the weather to let me through, and closing it up behind me. You are getting snow tonight!" He argued, of course. He fixed the truck and I was on my way to Phoenix.
That night, it snowed so hard in Tucson that they closed the Tucson airport and closed the roads. But we weren't there.
We headed from Phoenix to my grandparents house in Van Nuys, California, to spend a night before heading up Interstate 5 to Washington. It snowed so hard in Phoenix after we left that they closed the Phoenix airport and all the roads too. Ha, ha! We weren't there!
I had to buy a tire for "Bean" in California, and then headed north. As we drove through the San Joaquin Valley, we hit the thickest fog I had ever encountered. It is a long valley, and we drove all day through that fog - so thick that we could barely see the road. Imaginary mountains and cliffs seemed to loom around the road in the fog, and I could hardly discern vehicles around me. But we knew that God was with us, so kept going. We kept singing and praising God to pass the time. It was Sunday.
I was expecting a wire transfer of some money at a truck stop in Redding, so stopped in to gas up and get it. They said that they didn't have any money for me, and didn't get wire transfers on Sundays. I was insistent that they HAD to have that money for me. They made me wait and said they would check.
While I was there, about three different truckers walked up to me and told me that they had seen me driving with my kids, and that they had been watching out for me to make sure we were okay. Good guys. They told me that a storm was coming in and that they expected the roads to close. I told them that God was moving us to Washington and the He would open up the heavens to let us through and close them up behind us. I'm sure they thought I was crazy - except for one. He was a Christian.
It took over two hours for the truck stop to locate my money. I can still remember the puzzled look on the clerk's face as he said, "That's odd. It wasn't there before, but now it is! We never receive wire transfers on Sundays!" I told him that God was doing this, that he was opening up the heavens to let us through and closing them up behind us. I'm sure he thought I was crazy, too, but he gave me my money and we were off. I looked up at the white sky and observed light flakes of snow starting to come down.
As we traveled through Oregon, I tuned into the radio. They were predicting an ice storm. I kept trying to tune into Christian radio stations so that we could sing and praise God, which also helped keep the kids happy - when they weren't sleeping. As we rolled into Portland, though, it was night, and I couldn't find any more Christian radio stations. I was dog tired, knew the ice storm was blowing in, and needed to do everything I could to push on.
I told the kids, "I can't find any Christian radio stations". My little boy, Ron, chimed in, "That's okay, mom! WE'LL be your Christian radio station!" He and his little sister started singing together, "Jesus loves me, this I know; for the Bible tells me so. Little ones to him belong. They are weak but He is strong. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. The Bible tells me so." They sang this song over and over and over as the miles rolled by, through the night until, exhausted and unable to go any farther - or take any more renditions of "Jesus Loves Me" - I stopped at a little motel in Kelso, Washington.
When I stopped at that little motel, I said, "Looks like you're going to get some weather!" He replied, "Yes, we've got an ice storm coming in tonight. They'll probably close the roads, so you'll probably be with us for a while." I said, "No, God's moving me up from Texas, and I've another day's drive, yet. He is opening up the heavens to let me through and closing them up behind me. You won't get that ice storm until after I leave." Doubtful of what I was saying, and with warnings of the hazards of trying to drive in icy road conditions, he handed me my room key.
The next morning looked gray as we scrambled into the truck and headed north. The ice storm arrived into Kelso shortly after we left, and followed us all the way up through Olympia, through Tacoma, through Seattle, through Everett, and on into Bellingham. It started sleeting in Bellingham just as I arrived at my parents house, January 3, 1983. They closed all the roads that night. And we praised and thanked God in Jesus' name. He did exactly what I knew He would do: opened up the heavens, let us through, and closed them up behind us. That was His way of telling me that I would never live in Texas again, that I could trust Him, and that even when everything looks impossible, not to stop believing. No matter what.
A couple of days later, after the roads re-opened, my parents showed us the little house they had rented for us, and there, in the living room, stood a beautiful little Christmas tree, lights twinkling and ornaments shining.
It was time to put into practice what God had taught me in Texas.