Van Horn RV Park
Van Horn, Texas
May 9, 2019
I woke up this morning feeling good. As I lay in bed I said, “Good Morning, Lord” and offered up my morning Psalm--Psalm 143:8. After my morning ablutions I opened the window and the Lord was blessing me with a gorgeous sunrise...the kind only He can paint. As I watched the radiant globe peek over the horizon I thought, “The Lord blesses even the dry and barren desert.”
Desert...yes...desert. That’s where I’ve been these last few days. Passages of scripture began to come to mind--especially Jesus’ temptation.
Desert...surely the Lord must have something for me to learn from my sojourn beyond;
Learn my limits (150 miles/3 hours per day)
Make better decisions (don’t start a new diet just before a trip)
After preparing my breakfast I began--or should I say, continued--my morning meditations. I reread my Psalm because I had offered it up generically, not verbatim, and I love the whole verse. I opened my email, scanned for anything urgent and deleted the junk. Then, as usual, I opened Our Daily Bread and once again I was struck by God’s synchronicity…
The last line of the meditation struck home:
“Lord, thank You for the people You put in our lives to encourage and support us.”
Wasn’t that just what I was reflecting on last night as I wrote about my “safety net?”
The Lord continued to expand the list...my new friend from yesterday, the friends I was to meet on this trip, the other friends I’ve made traveling, and, yes, yes…
“No man is an island.” How often does God have to show me this? Truly, since Andrea’s death, I’ve had to learn this over and over. We were such a team--”wed at the hip”-- through all the trials and tribulations of my priesthood we tended to act...no...I tended to act as though we were a unit unto ourselves.
Before we went to Ocala Andrea had a vision…
She and I were standing on a tall pedestal. An angry mob was below, rocking the pedestal, trying it down. As she and I clung to each other, suddenly an enormous angel appeared behind us, her wings enfolding us in safety and scattering the mob.
It was her vision I held onto throughout the remained of my career, and even up to her death. She and I...a team...protected from the world.
As you know, I’ve always tended to be a loner straight from childhood. The ranch, school, college...the “outsider.” I would have, perhaps, one friend at a time...sometimes none.
And now…?
The abacus of fingers, thumbs and toes is exhausted long before the list is offered in thanksgiving.
Grateful? Blessed? These words don’t even begin to describe the world I now live in.
I now realize that is the anticipation I wrote about before I left on this trip!
Four days of solitude in the desert. What a blessing! What will He bring next?
Till then…
Thanks for yonderin’ with me
Epilogue
I want to offer special thanksgiving for those who have made this trip possible...this short list will not begin to cover those to whom I’m grateful, but these especially come to mind...
Frank and Micky, dear friends who knew I had planned the trip after Andrea died, laid out the entire itinerary and invited me along even knowing my limitations...and understood when I had to abort.
My sons, who stand behind me as I “put on my big boy panties” and try whatever I think I’m big enough to handle. Failure is not in their vocabulary where I’m concerned. Encouragement is.
My “safety net.” Without whom I wouldn’t have the courage to unchock the rig and head out.
And you my dear readers...
Who can put a price on that kind of support?
Let me count the ways…”