Things have come full circle for me. I'll explain how later in this post.
Today I woke up after sleeping in my $34 per night hotel room and got going rather slowly. Traveling 2,100 miles in 3 days will do that to you. I went out to the parking lot to find my truck was still there, as was the U-haul trailer attached to it. I have been doing walk-arounds each time I stop to ensure that nothing is about to fall off of either machine. Today I noticed one of my front tires was low on air. After checking it I saw that it was only at 20 psi...and it was at 50 when I left from Huffman. This is a problem.
I found a Discount Tire to take it to (they fix flats for free) and they quickly determined that this was a tiny sidewall puncture. The bad part of that is that they can't fix sidewall punctures. I had to buy a new tire, so an hour and a half later and $260 down, I got to leave Sacramento at about 10:00 AM with a 575 mile trip to Portland ahead of me.
The further north you get in California the more beautiful it gets.
The mountains close in on the interstate and near the top of California, you encounter a mountain range that is capped off by Mount Shasta, a large volcano that last erupted in the late 1700's. It is 14,100 feet tall and covered in snow. It can be seen from at least 100 miles away, and I was fortunate that today was absolutely beautiful.
I wound my way through this mountain range for about 80 miles, snaking back and fourth while ascending and descending. There were great views of the mountain the entire way. I had to stop a few times to get some pictures.
Shortly after that mountain range I entered a second one in southern Oregon.
I had no idea, but this one actually stretched from the state's border all the way up to about 100 miles outside of Portland. The sun was going down and I got to see another dazzling sunset. The trees on the mountainsides were dusted with snow, and me and what seemed like 10,000 semi trucks wound up and down the mountain roads.
Now I see that my life had come full circle. As I got close to Portland I was overcome with emotion because this was the city God used to plant seeds in our hearts about the Northwest over 4 and a half years ago. This was the place that sprouted eventual dreams of moving to a place of real natural beauty. This was the place that began many evening discussions with my wife about where we would live and what we would do. Many, many nights were focused on this area of the world...and we had no idea at the time why it was on our minds so much of the time.
As I drove in the sights became more familiar. The river, the street names, the bridges, and the quirky people. As I exited the freeway and followed the directions from my phone, I was led to...the very hotel that Amanda and I had stayed in while we were here on the first trip. The same hotel. My life for the last four and a half years had gone in a circle that I was unaware of, and this moment completed it. This is my home for the next 2 days.
There are many more things that God used from the past 12 years of my life that have prepared Amanda and me for this adventure and we are only now beginning to see what He had been doing all along to prepare us for this moment. These are things that, when you think back to that specific time, you questioned as "why would I need to have experienced that???" or "I have no idea how this added to my life...I'd just as soon have skipped that." And yet God, in His wisdom, had a plan all along. I'll try to give context to that in a future post.
So tonight I have the truck and its U-Haul parked in the lot behind the hotel, taking up 2 spaces for the next 2 days. On Saturday or Sunday I will head to Everett to our new home.
The Lord's message to me this morning was incredibly clear and focused. It was all about "the last days," which I believe we are living in. You can say that these words give urgency to the mission our family is on in Everett and Seattle. Time is short and the implications for real people are huge for eternity. Never forget the role that YOU play in this.
2 Peter 3:3-4
Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires. They will say, “What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created.”
2 Peter 3:8-10
But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends:A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment.
Mark 13:34-37
“The coming of the Son of Man can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. When he left home, he gave each of his slaves instructions about the work they were to do, and he told the gatekeeper to watch for his return. You, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know when the master of the household will return—in the evening, at midnight, before dawn, or at daybreak. Don’t let him find you sleeping when he arrives without warning. I say to you what I say to everyone:Watch for him!”
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