Blessings

I just have to share how amazing our LORD and Savior is and how He has been working in our lives the past month.....I am about to explode with excitement!

Blessing 1....What was supposed to be a 4 week run back and forth from Pensacola to Minnesota turned into a 7 week run. That meant a steady paycheck every week for 7 weeks and not having to look for loads for 7 weeks. Extra money is always a good thing....as long as God receives His part!

Blessing 2....Before we even got to Minnesota Friday with our last load our travel agent (a.k.a. dispatcher) already had us another load to pick up on Monday. Now, we had been looking on the load board for several days and there was nothing for us to get. So when he called, we knew it was the LORD working.

Blessing 3....When we finally got to the job site Friday morning in Minnesota we could not believe our eyes. Trucks, trucks and more trucks everywhere. It had been raining since Wednesday morning so there were 2 days worth of trucks ahead of us waiting to get unloaded.....about 27 trucks. Now remember, the job site is in the middle of a corn field which was now a very muddy, boggy mess. It takes at least 45 minutes to an hour to unload each truck but that couldn't happen until the rain stopped and the sun came out and dried up all the rain. I know...I know...you are thinking how in the world is this a blessing. Just hang with me. Our unload appointment was for Friday at 11:00 a.m. That obviously did not happen...which meant...detention time...which meant...A LOT of extra money for us. The longer we sat the more money we made. Once again, I know what you are probably thinking. "How could you sit in the middle of a corn field for days?"  I had food, water, a shower, a toilet, a bed, a tv, some much needed rest time, and some much needed Bible Study time and My love....what more could a girl ask for? We got unloaded late Sunday afternoon and we made it to our Monday morning load appointment on time.  Good looking detention time check + load out of Minnesota = Blessing #3!

I forgot to mention that during all this time we were also trying to plan how we were going to get home to vote. While we were trying to come up with a plan God already had one. 

Blessing 4....We loaded Monday morning and unloaded Thursday afternoon in Laredo, TX. We were not able to find a load  home so Friday afternoon we just deadheaded home. Once again you may be wondering how is this a blessing. Well, here it is....our last Pensacola/Minnesota load paid us more than we expected which gave us some extra money so we could deadhead home. We got home in time for Sunday lunch with  our  family and with some of our church family plus we were home to vote. That my friends is Blessing #4!

Since Carl had not been home in so long he wanted to stay home for a week. So Monday, Oct.29 he told his dispatcher to take him off the board and not to call until the next week.

Blessing 5....Sunday night, November 4 was the first night of our 4 night fall revival and we were home to attend. We had planned to go back on the road Monday morning but that soon changed. On the way home from church Sunday night, Carl and I started talking about our plans. We felt like we needed to stay home so we could go to revival and just leave out Thursday. We knew that God would take care of us and take care of our needs. That is exactly what He did. Normally our travel agent would have been calling first thing Monday morning to see if we were ready to go back out but we did not hear one word from him....until....Wednesday morning with a load for Thursday going to Houston, TX. I get chills just thinking about how Jesus Christ had every thing perfectly planned out for us.

Blessing 6....My wonderful husband/boss told me if I wanted to stay home that it would be okay with him. He knew I wanted to go to the Titus 2 supper Thursday night. This is a wonderful ministry that some of our awesome church ladies have started. He also knew that I wanted to go to our Girl's Day Out with my mama and sisters Saturday. He started off by saying," I was thinking...now just wait and let me finish. If you want to stay home I am fine with that. I am not a mean boss!" Whenever he starts a sentence with "I was thinking" I am always like "Oh my, what is he up to!" Titus 2 supper + Girl's Day + super amazing husband = Blessing #6.

Friday afternoon Carl called and said, "I have some good news and some bad news. Which do you want first the good or the bad?" I just sat there a minute and finally said, "Give me the bad."  "The bad is, I don't know what it pays but the good news is I got a load coming right back to the house. I will load in Beaumont, TX Wednesday and will unload Friday at the house! Do you think the LORD is working or what!!" I just started crying and said, "Yes, I do believe He is!"  So there we have Blessing #7...load right back home and the whole week home for Thanksgiving....just what we had been praying for.

On each and every occasion we both said we were not going to worry about anything. The LORD knows what we need and He will make sure our needs and yes...even some of our wants are met.

There is NOOOO way we could have planned all this to work out so perfectly. It was all the workings of OUR gracious, peace-loving and gentle LORD and Savior.

Give thanks to the LORD for He is good! His faithful love endures forever. Psalm 118:29

 I pray each and every one of you have a Blessed Thanksgiving!

Til we meet again!
Only By Grace!
   Lynne

Patience my dear! Patience!

 But those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:31

Patience is one thing that Carl and I have to have in this business. Patience when waiting to find a load...patience to get unloaded...patience to load...patience in a traffic jam...patience, patience, patience. One of Carl's favorite sayings is "Hurry up and wait!" Which means I do a lot of praying for patience. I DO NOT like to just sit around and wait. Carl, on the other hand, is very good at it. I know God does things in His own time and His time is always perfect I just wish He would sometimes work a little faster. :) I can hear Him saying, "Patience my dear Lynne, patience!" I must say though that I am actually starting to enjoy our wait time because it gives me time to catch up on some of my devotions and Bible studying that I may have missed during the week. When I was at home something always managed to get in the way of my quiet time....not a whole lot to get in the way in the truck....love it!

We unloaded Monday afternoon in New York. Carl tried all day to get in touch with the customer and finally about 5:00 he reached him. It had been a sunny beautiful day all day until we went to unload. I just started praying.."LORD please stop the rain long enough for us to get this thing off and then you can let it flood."  He answers even the smallest little prayers. It was so funny because as we were pulling back into the truck stop it started raining. I said, "I was going to walk but it doesn't look like it now. I prayed for the rain to hold off for us to unload" and before I could finish Carl said, "I did too but I didn't pray so you could walk." "I didn't either."

We didn't get to reload until Friday....patience, patience, patience!

Enjoying one of God's little creatures while waiting in
New York

Chillaxing while LC was being serviced

While in New York waiting for Friday to arrive, another load became available which would have paid us a lot more than the Louisiana load but we would have had to wait until Monday to load it. We really needed the extra money. We had to do a lot of unexpected work on LC which used up a lot of our funds. Just two new tires cost more than four tires for my car. LC is very expensive! Carl and I talked about and since we had already committed to the Louisiana load we decided not to take the higher paying one. We hated to back out at the last minute and leave the agent with a load that was not covered. Carl said, "It will be fine everything will work out." Friday morning as we were getting loaded Carl got a phone call...God is so good!! A much higher paying load was available for us pick up Tuesday in Mississippi after we unloaded Monday in Louisiana. Oh. my goodness God just met all our needs and some of our wants...again. I am always in awe at His amazing handy work and His perfect timing. He is so faithful!!

"And God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:19

In my last 2 posts I wrote about the troubles we have had with our refrigerator.....still no refrigerator. We finally figured out that we are going to have to buy a new one and let me tell you...these things are not cheap. We could buy a new frig for the house cheaper than one for LC. Money, money, money! Christ wants us to be happy and wants us to have "things" as long as those "things" to do not get in the way of our relationship with Him and are not displeasing to Him. And He knows I NEED that refrigerator. When we seek God's kingdom and His righteousness first then we are allowing God to do the work that He loves....meeting our needs. Our things are His business! We try to do things our way and on our time table but if we just release everything...turn it over to Him...He will take care of us! He always has and always will. He is the same...yesterday, today and tomorrow!!

I have worried Carl and God to death about a refrigerator. I am constantly saying to Carl, "OK, I am still on this frig thing. What if we.....or how are we....?" I think God just got tired of hearing me talk about it and finally said "OK Lynne I am providing the funds for a new frig so can we move on to something else." I am so glad God and Carl have a sense of humor or else I don't think they would be able to deal with me sometimes!

We have hauled a lot of military equipment but this piece was a real traffic stopper. Cars would pass us and we could just hear the people inside saying "Wait, what was that? Slow down so we can get another look. No, don't speed up yet I want to take a picture!" We were constantly in the middle of clusters....clusters and big trucks do not mix. Cars would just ride along beside us for what seemed like f-o-r-e-v-e-r! Every time we would have a car riding beside for a while Carl would say "Well, they're taking a picture." When we stopped at a rest area people were lined up down the side of the trailer taking pictures before we could even get out of the truck. It was quite comical at one point.

Our traffic stopper

Carl said it looks like it has eyes.

The mountains in New York and Pennsylvania are just gorgeous!  Lots and lots of thick green trees. So different from the west....wide open spaces and very few trees.
The beauty of God's amazing country is breathtaking.

Near West Point

Mountains near West Point

Hazleton, PA

From the east coast to the west coast by way of.....Texas. I am beginning to wonder if LC and Texas have a thing :) We are on our way to Sequim, Washington.  Thanks to God for taking care of our needs we're gonna get to do some sight seeing on this trip...so excited!!

Loaded up and headed to Washington. This load almost caused me to have a heat stroke. I love summertime but working in 100+ degree weather wearing bluejeans and boots..thanks to the plants safety rules... is not what I call fun! I haven't had jeans and boots on since March. I thought I was going to die...before I even got out of the truck. My poor feet thought I was punishing them for something....they were begging for their flip flops. Carl said this thing was almost as bad as tarping. We had so many pieces that had to be chained, tied and strapped down. We have gotten spoiled with the military loads...4 chains and we're good to go. But oh no, not this bad boy. By the time we got finished we were exhausted!! I think from now on when praying about loads I will be a little more specific.

Washington here we come! Got to get my camera ready!

'Til we meet again!

Only by Grace!

      Lynne

"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you."

Matthew 6:33