Leaving the Comfort Zone

The journey begins for the couple from our story when they decide that Indiana is a state of distress for them, it is their comfort zone full of everyone they know yet none of that is fulfilling. Many of their "friendships" are based on drugs and partying and the future seems lifeless there. They want to experience the countryside, to live life, and luckily for them he has some money in the bank that could fund just such an expedition.

The plan:
He owns a pick-up truck and so they decide to find a travel trailer and move out of the apartment world and into the camper world. The goal is to find a camper that is big enough for them and their dog and 4 cats to live in comfortably and yet still be small enough for his truck to pull through the mountains; because it is for the mountains that they are headed. They wanted to see the west.

The Number:
After several weeks of shopping around for used campers that are nice yet affordable, they visit an RV dealer that they had been to several times. The salesman tells them that a camper just came in that day that they might like to see. As soon as they entered the trailer, they knew that was the one. It was perfect. 27 feet long and still under the weight limit of the truck and the price was right. They negotiated over the final sales price and finally came to an agreement. The salesman put together their total which included a trailer hitch package for the truck and taxes and title. You may be wondering why I seem to be going in to so much detail about the price and I will tell you. I am building up to something profound. At least it seemed profound to him at the time. When the total was tallied, the bill was placed in front of him and he was immediately taken aback. The grand total was exactly $7770.00. Even as a non-christian this meant something to him. He had grown up in a church but had deliberately walked away from Jesus. He felt in his heart that somehow this meant that this was the right thing for them to be doing and that their trip may be more important than they imagined.

It was the first week of May, the lease on the apartment was up and they were heading out. Unbeknownst to her he had actually never even driven a truck with a trailer before, but God must have blessed him with the knowledge because he felt confident behind the wheel and it seemed to come naturally.

Go West Young Man (and woman):
Narrowing down their possessions to the bare necessities and putting the rest in storage they said good bye to Indiana, their family, and "friends" and headed for the state line; destination unknown. They saw the country through the windshield and enjoyed the scenery as it changed before them. They crossed Illinois, Missouri, and Kansas keeping a leisurely pace and stopping when they were tired. They felt freedom. There was no one to answer to, no where they had to be, nothing they had to do. It was invigorating. They stopped in Denver for a few days to see the Rocky Mountains and to visit some of his family.

The Lord Works in Mysterious Ways:
They wanted to see the Grand Canyon so that was their next destination. In case you haven't seen it, it is a BIG hole in the ground. Very pretty but quite expensive to visit.

For some reason, while in Arizona they picked up a local Nickel Classified newspaper. They thought it might be fun to find some land somewhere and park their trailer on it and just live. Oddly enough they found some ads for open land that was quite cheap in Oregon. A place called Klamath Falls. They weren't exactly sure why Oregon would advertise in Arizona (perhaps the ads were placed by "Alpha and Omega" realty) but it caught their eye. They headed for this Klamath Falls. Originally they had wanted to end up in either Albuquerque New Mexico or Eugene Oregon, there was no good reason for either of these places to be on their list of places to live but then they didn't end up in either one either. Having seen Arizona they figured New Mexico couldn't be that much different and Arizona didn't seem to suit them.

Two days later they made it through California and landed in Klamath Falls (there are no falls there by the way). The place was beautiful. The sun shined everyday they were there. It was early summer then. The weather was not too hot and not at all cold. After 2 weeks they thought they should at least see Eugene and find out if that is where they wanted to go.

It wasn't:
Two weeks in Eugene seemed like an eternity. The sun never made it through the gray clouds, and the people left much to be desired. They stayed in a nice trailer park but their neighbor was a camper full of drunk rednecks that enjoyed staring at her through binoculars. Had they stayed longer a fight surely would have ensued and nearly did anyway. They left after a long yet short stay.

On their way back to the land of sunshine their adventure was nearly cut short as were their lives. A 5000 pound truck pulling a 7000 pound trailer and traveling 60 MPH is not easy to stop on short notice. The road was a standard highway, one lane in each direction separated by yellow paint and the competency of the drivers. They approached a spot in the road where for some reason there were lots of Semi's parked on both sides of the road. There was no truck stop just a gas station with a parking area not made for such large vehicles. Our couple found this interesting and his attention wandered from the road ahead... When his attention returned he realized that a at the end of the bridge they were about to cross was a Semi carrying a load of logs that was stopped waiting to turn left. Behind the truck was a car and in the other lane was an oncoming vehicle...BRAKES...all four tires lock, eight counting the trailer...concrete wall to the right...too much momentum to stop...

It is amazing to look back on life and see all the places where God was there either gently guiding or aggressively saving ones life. From the future one can see the past clearly. Even when Jesus was the furthest person from their minds He was there.

...something supernatural seemed to take hold of the vehicle. Their truck and camper slides to the left and completely misses every car on the road. The oncoming car skids to his right and onto the shoulder before the bridge. When they finally come to a halt they are even with the cab of the Semi. The truck driver shakes his head and waves them around...

They made it back to Klamath unscathed and ready for the next adventure. They were spared from this collision but, little did they know, they were headed for "a brick wall and His name was Jesus..." What we want and what God wants are often quite different. Our couple wanted to go to New Mexico, God took them to Arizona. They thought about staying in Eugene Oregon, but God took them to Klamath Falls instead. God's plan is always better. To look at it metaphorically; what we think is a good idea is sometimes covered in gray clouds, yet the sun always shines on God's plan. However, living God's plan isn't always easy as we shall see from the future of our couple.