Proverbs 3:6 King James Version
6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he
shall direct thy paths.
We had planned to take a trip to the north during this month
of August. Sylvia has a brother who lives in Washington, and I have three
cousins there. Besides that, we have a number of relatives and friends along
the way. We laid out an itinerary and phoned the people we planned to visit.
Remarkably, they were all going to be home and welcomed us to stop with them.
We debated whether to take our Ford F150 pickup or our Kia
Forte sedan. Sylvia was anxious to take the car—it is very comfortable and
interfaces well with our phones, and gas mileage is at least a factor of two
better than the pickup. I love the car, but for traveling purposes I love the
F150. We have a cap on the back and a comfortable bed that is always ready for
us to just climb into. We can park it anywhere, and that becomes our home! One
night a couple weeks ago, in our Forte, we pushed the seats back and stretched out to see if
we could sleep in the Forte. Sylvia did pretty well; I finally drifted off to
sleep about 2:00 a.m. The Forte trunk size is ample so that we don’t need to
place any of our luggage on the back seat. That way we could stretch out the
front seats without having to find room for the baggage behind them. We agreed
to take the Forte.
When I rolled out of bed Monday morning, August 5, the day
of our planned departure, I said to the Lord, “You know that I haven’t really
talked to You about this trip. Bless us on the highway! Speak through us as we
talk with our loved ones in route. May we be a blessing to them.” Then I
thought a bit and prayed further, “If You want us to not take this trip, let us
know. If you want us to see other people on the trip that I don’t have on our
itinerary, we’ll gladly adjust our itinerary.” This increased my confidence as
we packed the car, dropped off Katie with our son Fred and his wife Uni and
their big dog Oso, and headed north.
The day was hot, about 105º F (40º C), as we filled up with gas and headed up the Cajon Pass and then north on US 395—dubbed locally as the Suicide Highway. By the time we reached the summit of the pass, the temperature had also risen to 114º F (45º C). The Forte has a much better A/C than the F150, and it ate up the miles while keeping us in comfort. Well past the suicide part of the highway, we came to the Coso Junction Rest Area. We stopped for the bathrooms. We usually walk around the rest areas to get a bit of exercise but didn’t here; it was still 111º. We had pulled out our map and were examining it when my phone rang.
It
was my ENT specialist, Dr de Jager: “I’ve just gotten one of your lab reports.
You’ve got Staphylococcus Aureus. It has probably coupled with your MRSA. You
need to get to the emergency room.”
“I’m
168 miles (270 km) away from home in the middle of the Mojave Desert.” As I
said it, I remembered the prayer of the morning.
“Well, I feel that it is very important that you get
attention right away. Find a hospital or urgent care nearby and go to the ER.”
Almost the closest was Riverside Community Hospital at home.
If I was going to be hospitalized, I wanted it to be near home. It was 5:00
p.m. We turned around and headed home. I was exhausted and asked Sylvia to
drive for a while. Sensing the urgency, she headed down the road at break neck
speed. After about 50 miles of that, I traded places with her and headed home
as though we were just traveling normally. It was 9:00 p.m. when we pulled into
the hospital, and they threatened to admit me. Around 2:00 a.m. they gave
me a script and told me to go home.
The net result is that we have postponed our trip north—indefinitely.
By the next day I was feeling significantly worse and am happy that the Lord
indicated what He wanted us to do.
Thank You, Lord,
for taking an active part in my life. Now I pray that You will help me lick
this disease.
[1]
At Coso Junction CA. The Sierra Nevada Mountains
on the left have Mt. Whitney, Highest point in the lower 48 states; https://igx.4sqi.net/img/general/600x600/2226492_O7xexnk_dUZWCf9iIyKR_BeU1OLTSmFE3gJkUPpMQmM.jpg
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