It seems as though being stranded does a good many things for a person as well as taking a good fair share. In the heat of the day, Krista and I roared down I-40 in the VW Van on into 100 miles of lifeless desert and I began to get an eerie feeling that all was too well.

A sense of grace and calm pervaded the dry stinging desert wind whirling violently through the van. No sooner did I pull over in the most precarious stretch of highway; teetering on the edge of avalanche and semi-truck hood ornament, that I smelled and saw the smoke signal rising from the melting plastic hub-cap. After a diarrhea run into the cactus cover and an emergency call box conversation, the tow truck came to our rescue for a mere $160.00. A wild west stagecoach ride, 62 miles back into Barstow, California, with John Wayne (the driver, who is a real life gun fighter on the side) with his faithful mutt, Neko, who laid on Krista's lap the whole way back . . . just to find out the repair shop was closed for the weekend!
Needless to say, we had lots of company. The desert was plenty hungry that day because the van was unloaded right along side a dozen other motor homes that had been swallowed alive along the freeway. We camped out in the van and by morning we had been engulfed in the growing sea of motor homes brought in during the night. Being Sunday, the Lord's day, and all, everyone must have slept in. Barstow was like a ghost town. It was 100 degrees already at 10 o'clock in the morning. So K and I set off on our bicycles to find some shade along this historic highway Route 66. We passed three parts stores and all of them taught me a little more of what the damage was and what it would take to fix it. But, the grand finale came when I bumped into Tim, "The Mobile Auto Repair Man," at the counter.

Good old Tim-- talked me right into his business and then right back out of a job. He was the most capably discouraging "knight in greasy armor" I've ever met. I decided to go with Tim, despite his mention of gluing the wheel bearings onto the rotor as a suitable alternative to staying another night for an over-priced repair shop on Monday morning. I can't help but mention that we made it!
We didn't just make it to Oklahoma "where the wind comes whistling down the range," but where the countryside is as lush and green as I saw in Holland. The weather is warm and moist and our new home is amazing, but my personal favorite is the gorgeous back patio deck, equipped with over head fan to keep the flies away while having a coffee. I am refreshed just being here for three days. I've enjoyed my mornings on the deck with a cup of joe and my Puritan Paperbacks. The birds are a symphony in the morning and the sun puts on a brilliant show in the evenings. K and I had a beautiful candle light dinner the first evening we were here and we had the whole house to ourselves.
Through everything I see or hear, touch, and sense in my soul, I know Him here. I went for a run yesterday morning down a dirt country road with tall yellow sun flowers lining the path, and HE was there. I ran past a wild horse refuge where the most stunningly powerful horses grazed majestic and free, in the tall grasses, and there was God. A cool breeze blows and I feel Him. A mocking bird sings and I hear Him. Storm clouds billow in the distance and there, too, God is. I open to Ephesians 5 and there was God speaking to me about my wife and how much He loves her and how much I too am cared for when I care for her. I am in awe of Him these days. I am thankful for his touching me and blessing me with all kinds of scents of heaven. Who am I, that YOU are mindful of me? May I be ever mindful of YOU.