So I am not going to lie. This week was UNEXPECTED!!!! The last thing on my mind was spending an extra week at camp. BUT the kids and I are here We were handed a detour for at least part of this week. so here I sit at my computer, the kids are resting in our camper (we just finished a pontoon boat ride around the lake) and I am sitting here at our rest stop on this detour. But in all honesty it took both hubby and I awhile to get to this stop on the detour.
We got home Saturday after having two great week away, here at our home away from home. It was relaxing and enjoyable and refreshing and both hubby and I came away ready to jump in head first into ministry if. As if we stop when we are on vacation. If you know either one of us well you know that we breathe ministry. It is just WHO WE ARE! So the whole time away our brains work to plan pray and seek God’s direction for what He would have us to do! We are fed. We grow. We come home and jump right back in……but not this time…this time had some detours!
What Happened
When we hit the city next t our town we stopped at Was-Mart to make a purchase because we were given a heads up on Thursday that there was an issue in our house, so we were coming into the situation prepared…or so we thought. Detour #1 leaving Was-Mary and half way home, we noticed our brakes smoking ..our big truck has this problem every six months with the brakes. So that needs to be fixed. Check
And Next….
Detour #2 is really kind of detour #1 But hey. So we had to stop at Wal- Mart for (drumroll please) FLEA BOMBS! Yep. That’s it. Fleas are what we had to look forward to coming home to! But the question was how. Yes we have a dog and three cats (the cats are all indoor and the dog was with us) and when we left we had no fleas. Every animal and our house had been treated! And before this year I had never even seen a flea! Well we got home and walked into the house. Entryway clear, Kitchen clear. Apartment clear (that’s where the two younger cats were staying.) Whew!! Back to the kitchen…Daisy, where is Daisy. We call her six times, where is that cat? She usually runs to us when we get home from vacation…nothing…..My mind goes a little panicky and in my head I hear, “don’t fear Mary, don’t be half-mined. All of a sudden Meow. Meow. It became incessant. Hubby walks to the living room… ATTACK! Fleas, but not too bad nothing a bomb can’t handle. Hubby sees Daisy sitting on the double sided bookshelf he walks 3 steps and she takes a leap into his arms. He talks to her, pets her and lets her down on the floor but she wants none of that and in three skittish bounds she is back on the shelf. He carries her to the kitchen and gets her to her food and water. He heads upstair. and rushes back. Fleas cover his legs…we spray and wipe them off . HOW? Questions rush our minds at this point. We made the kids wait outside while we checked the house but we cannot let them come in at all. We secure the cats and dog in safe areas and bomb the house and we leave, to wait 3 hours. We eat lunch, do grocery shopping and we plan…what next?
And next…
Detour #3 is tiny…but it really didn’t feel that way. So we get into our minivan, remember our truck’s brakes are sticking and smoking….and (drumroll please) the check engine light comes on!No joke. WHAT! At this point I say out loud “I will not be double mined,” And I know at this point we are being attacked. Satan so desperately wants to take this refreshed pastor’s family and beat them down. so after lunch we make a quick trip to our local auto parts store where they check the code being thrown by the engine. GUESS WHAT all we need is a new gas cap! Yay!
Much to our surprise…
Not a blessed thing happened. SERIOUSLY.We decided to head back to camp, but a deacon and his wife offered of us to stay. So we did, the night. We took care of the animals and checked the house on Sunday but no real changes. We tried a bunch of home remedies…nothing. So we had to make a decision, and it was not an easy one. Hubby decided it was best for the kids and I to come back to camp, and that is what we did. He went home and has been preparing for the exterminator.
But we did get an answer to our why….Kind of. Remember how over the last few weeks we have talked about the replacing of our septic system out back? Well apparently it is common for any number of critters, insects….vermin if you will, to move into your house when their outdoor environment has been disturbed. A few years ago we had a whole swarm of honeybees move into our house! YES our house! They didn’t survive our super cold winter! All of this was compounded by the hot and humid weather and the fact that we were gone for two weeks. (Fleas lay dormant until they feel vibration..this means a food source…then they hop to life.)
As I now sit here wring about all of this I am reminded of something I heard Joshua Harris’ dad say while speaking on parenting , it goes something like this,
Todays child grows up thinking they need to start out with where their parents now have. In reality what kids really need to know is where you lived and WHAT lived with you..
I don’t know about you but that just kinda makes me chuckle.
And in the midst of all of this I’m not afraid. God has a greater plan in all of this. What Satan intended for harm God is going to use for good…even if it is only to grow his two imperfect children closer to him! And as we journey through this crazy little path we call life my question to you is…what little bug have you let infest your life? Is in the bug of fear, resentment, hate, apathy, bitterness, anger, pride? The list goes on and on. I want to challenge to look beneath the surface and see what is lurking in the fabric of your life waiting for just the right vibration or irritation to set you off hopping made?
Detours in life come and go, it’s what you do with them that matters. Do you take the detours or just sit by the exit ramp waiting for your plans to open up again. May I challenge you to yield your plans over to God and let him guide you where you need to go!!!
