God's Plan

Pure excitement! That's how I felt when Carlos hung up the phone and said, "Well, looks like we're going to New Hampshire!" Pure excitement...not what I heard in his voice or saw on his face! As many of you know, the east coast and especially the north eastern states, are just not on our map. But this was a really good paying load, and we do not turn down good paying loads. Plus, New Hampshire and Maine are the only two inland states that we have not been to. So, that right there tells you that we have to go. Los on the other hand...would disagree!

We were about 100 miles from where the load had to be picked up...Compton, CA. Off we went! I immediately got out the map, the truck stop book and my travel book of all the places in the US to visit. I was like a little kid going to Disney World for the first time. Yep, I was planning out our long weekend for when we unloaded. I found a truck stop in Maine not far from our unloading destination, a car rental place and our points of destination to visit. "Oh my goodness! The weather is perfect! The trees are turning, all the beautiful fall colors! This is going to be a great trip! We can go to Portland and see the lighthouse. Look at these pictures of Camden Harbor! Wow, look how pretty Rattlesnake Mountain is! We have not been sightseeing since our Washington trip. This is going to be so much fun!" "We can rent a car and make this a weekend road trip!" What?! Why yes...my excitement had overflowed and spilled over to My Love!  I mean really...how could it not! "Maine, here we come!"

WOMP! WOMP! WOMP! Our thrill just got squashed! Seriously, you have got to be kidding? Our load was two big crates. We can only tote 41,500 pounds legally on our trailer. That wasn't the problem. The problem...each axle is only allowed so much weight! We loaded those crates...chained them down and went and weighed. Nope, not gonna work! Too much weight on our drive axle. Unchain...move crates...rechain...go reweigh. Shoot fire! Still not going to work. Unchain...unload...sad...disappointed...no Maine trip...find a new load.

DING, DING, DING! New load...Crestview, FL. It's not Maine but it's only about 170 miles from HOME! Carlos had not been home since July 4th, so yes, home was much better than Maine.

I have said before that I am amazed and left in awe at how My God works. LC needed some work and we really didn't want to have to do it on the road...big bucks! Carlos always says why pay someone to do something when you can do it yourself? The Lord knew the work needed to be done sooner than what we thought! So He planned for us to go home. He also knew that my daddy would have a reaction to the flu shot that would send him to the hospital for a few days. He also knew that if I had been on the road when that happened that I would have been a basket case. HIS timing and planning is ALWAYS PERFECT!

We were home for two weeks and I wish I could say that Los got some much needed rest but that is so not the case. You know that job...the one that should only take a few days but ends up taking a little longer...well, that was LC and Los! Fix one thing and find something else! LC and I are going to have a come to Jesus meeting because he is really starting to interfere with my money! High maintenance is not a term used for me...oh nooo...that would be LC! But, he is fixed and as Carlos says,"He's purring!" Sounds more like a roar to me but what do I know?

Daddy is doing good. Not sure he'll take the flu shot again or if he'll drive himself to the ER without telling us; but that is a whole nother story! Just thanking God that He is ok and that I was home when it happened.

We have been back on the road for a few weeks now...traveling with our Toot Toot! I'm all smiles! Do you remember the blog post about us taking a control building to the Solar/Snake farm in California? Well, this time we took one to a Solar/Tortoise farm in Boulder City, NV. When Carlos told me that it was a Tortoise sensitive area, I just cracked up. "From a snake farm to a Tortoise farm, that is crazy." "This time it's actually listed in our instruction sheets." "You reckon they'll have "Tortoise Crossing" signs? That'll be hilarious!"

"The Copper Mountain Solar site is built upon a Desert Tortoise habitat. The Desert Tortoise is a protected species in the state of Nevada and is very active on the access roads and site. You will be required to check in at the guard station and be escorted to the site to mitigate any interaction between vehicles and Desert Tortoise. You will also be instructed on the proper way to control an area if one is to be spotted. There may be delays when heavy truck traffic is present due to slow speeds." Those were the guidelines on our Instructions and Rules sheet. Just as with the snake farm, we didn't see any Tortoises but we did see a "Tortoise Crossing" sign. I literally cracked up when we saw that. We see all kinds of crossing signs but that is the first Tortoise Crossing sign that we've seen. There's always a first time for everything. Maybe next time we'll actually see a crossing Tortoise.

After A LOT of prayer and encouragement from My Love, family and friends...especially Amelia, I have decided to turn my blog into a book. As Timothy says, "It may be the death of me!" but Carlos keeps saying,"You can do it!" I am listening to Los but I'm afraid Toot may be right. I have already had to start over...after being half way finished...because Satan (a.k.a. my computer) decided to eat it. I searched and searched and Toot searched and searched for two days trying to find the thing. Los kept saying, "It's in there somewhere!" Well, I sure as heck wish it would show it's face because I can't find it and the more I searched the madder and more irritated I got. The more I sighed and fussed the more Carlos laughed. I am so glad he found it amusing because there was ABSOLUTELY nothing amusing about it to me!!!!!  I thought,"Oh no, Satan, you are not going to get the best of me!" I finally just said the heck with it and started over. Timothy asked me one night if he was going to be in the book. "Yes, of course you're going to be in it." "Well, I wasn't sure if I made the cut. It was a tough audition!" That boy cracks me up! He keeps me laughing all the time!

When I started the blog, it was just a way for me to write about mine and Carl's time together, what we saw, what we were hauling and where we had been. Just a way to stay in contact with family and friends. I never intended to include Bible verses and certainly not any kind of devotion in it. God had a different plan. I have to admit, my confidence level when witnessing to others especially strangers, is very low. I'll share about the things He has done for me, how He's helped me through difficult times, answered prayers, His love for me and mine for Him, to close friends and family but hardly ever to people I barely know and oh my goodness definitely not to strangers. Most of the time when I start writing a post, I have no idea what verses I am going to include or if any at all and absolutely no idea how a devotion is going to be tied into it. That is what's so wonderful and amazing and fascinating and exciting about how God works. He takes our crazy, unbelievable, hilarious, frustrating, stressful, thrilling and awesome everyday life adventures and turns them into a testimony of His commitment, faithfulness, understanding, protection, forgiveness, comfort and unconditional love for us. I've always thought God answered my prayers about leaving teaching just so I could spend more time with My Love. I don't know...never thought about Him using my voice to speak His words or in this case write His words. I am just a simple, country girlie girl from south Georgia who has been chosen by God...no way did I think the adventures of this truckin' duo could be used to speak to others about His awesomeness!

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

'Til we meet again!
Only by Grace!
   Lynne