God is sovereign. (Duh)
My family and I left for Kansas at 10:00 am on Christmas Eve. This was already a monumental trip for me because I wasn't dreading the trip like I normally do and because I was driving my car up there for the first time. Usually, I hate everything about our trip to Kansas. I hate the long drive, I hate being with my family, I hate that I don't get as many presents as I want, whatever it is I find something to hate and be grumpy about. But this year, God really has worked in my heart and changed it. Several months ago, He showed me that I was holding a lot of bitterness in my heart towards my Grandma and helped me to let go of it. After that was gone, I could recognize that my Grandma goes absolutely stir crazy making sure everything is perfect for Christmas, the only time we see her. So God told me to try and help her out, take the burden off her, by asking my family and my aunt's family to take responsibility for some of the meals. This would allow Grandma to actually sleep in some days and relax some during the day. And He asked that I drive myself up there so that we would have the room for all the presents and food and such that we would need to bring up north.
Little did I know that all this was just preparation, just getting my heart ready for what was to happen Christmas Eve.
2:35 pm on Christmas Eve found me in a ditch, facing the wrong side of the highway, with Oklahoma's worst blizzard blowing around me. After 45 minutes of waiting for my dad to turn around and come back to where me and my sister spun out (we were screaming on the walkie talkie while we spun out and "crashed" but my dad just thought we were playing around. It took several minutes to convince him we really were stuck) we then transferred all our belongings in my car to my dad's suburban which was already packed full. Once we were all back in the vehicle, sitting on top of things and buried underneath bags and blankets, my dad then proceeded to slowly back up to the on ramp so we could get to the nearby walmart...because visibility was so bad we couldn't see anything in front of us. Once in the walmart we wandered around for 3 hours to see if the storm would die down. It didn't. Walmart closed down and we drove the half mile to the shelter that Purcell, Oklahoma had put together for those stranded in the storm.
If I was in the normal "I hate my life" attitude I usually am for this trip, I would have been miserable at this point. Instead, I was having the time of my life. I felt like I was on an adventure! Spinning out on the road was like a roller coaster, fighting the snow storm getting to and fro was like being in a National Geographic special, and I had a blast wandering around Walmart (Dad had to keep me from spending all my money though haha). Once we were at the shelter, I went on an expedition to find coffee...and succeeded! I was able to get coffee started for the 100+ people who had gathered with us in the gym, which was cool. Then to pass the time me and my family played ninja wars for a while (which was very entertaining to everyone else stuck there I'm sure). When we realized we would be staying the night, I was able to help unload and clean cots for all the little kiddos, clean the bathrooms, change into jammies, wash my hair in the sink, and mop up all the water from the snow dragged in by everyone's boots. The next day while my dad drove a young woman home (her car was stuck and she was only 20 miles from home), me and my sisters helped serve breakfast to all those at the shelter and hotel stuck for the day. Ruby's was the only restaurant that would open up for us and made a big buffet breakfast for free. Me and my sisters helped by cleaning everything, picking up trash, directing people to where to get things, talking with whoever we could to keep their spirits up, and by gathering donations for the owners of the restaurant. We never got bored and when my dad came back with my car we finally headed for Kansas.
What's really cool is to recognize how my attitude really set the attitude for the trip. I could tell that my dad was getting tired and frustrated, especially while we were in Walmart. My sister Elise has the same temperament I have and easily could have adopted my same "I hate life" attitude if I had it at all. But because I stayed in good spirits the entire time and went around looking for ways to help, she and Candace followed suit. Elise made friends with several adults and struck up conversations everywhere she went. Candace helped a lot with the restaurant. It's just really cool to see how different this Christmas is from every other Christmas I've ever had. All because of this change God's done in my heart.
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