Faith Filled Friday {and the Wild Truck Saga}

Our family of eight has been living out of suitcases for 3.5 months. And guess how many times I packed from our packing? 5 times! Isn't that nuts!? Basically, I packed and then we had to go somewhere so I had to pack from what was packed and so on. 5 times! But today was the final pack and the final day! Tomorrow we close on our new house in our new city... (throat clear) I mean, town. We followed the Lord's leading and are trading in the crazy city life to a very rural deserty one. Austin serves as the President of our ministries assistant and there is a need to be closer to him to serve him and the ministry better. 

In this move there was sadness, hesitation, knowing there is probably hardship ahead, and more sadness. But as the Lord does, He encouraged me to fix my eyes on Him, the One who endured for the eternal joy set before Him, not for the pain He knew was ahead.

He reminded me that Jesus left the place where He was known, the place of comfort and without pain, the place He was in unbroken relationships, to give. He knew what lay ahead of Him; brokenness, being treated poorly by the ones He came to serve, to be reviled and slandered and rejected by even His closest friends. He would see and experience death in every way. He would feel pain more and deeper than He ever had. And He deserved none of it. Yet He went. He entered the brokenness, knowing pain lay ahead, and gave Himself fully and held nothing back. "Consider Him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or faint-hearted." Hebrews 12:3

That was the morning we loaded up our big truck and made the 6 hour (well, it was supposed to be 6 hours) trip over Wolf Creek pass. Right from the start the truck made a super strange noise when the brakes were put on so they sent a mechanic. The truck checked out so after it was loaded and getting a super late start the next day we headed out. Here's the facebook record of what followed:

So... The moving truck is on the side of the road because of a serious hazard alarm going off about the brakes... And the suburban battery died sitting here... Did I mention we are in the middle of nowhere. This is so crazy it's laughable. ?Would love your prayers. #atleastwehavecellservice #andjumpercables 
September 12 at 6:54pm

We're on the road again... Mechanic said it should be fine... 
Like · Reply · 8 · September 12 at 7:26pm

Scratch that... Still happening and they are now thinking they need to send a mechanic...
Like · Reply · 2 · September 12 at 7:54pm

Well the loud blaring alarm has stopped... Because the truck won't start. So now the "town"(?) of Center has a gas station and a giant broken down moving truck right in front of the only gas pump. #icanteven #thisisnuts ?
Like · Reply · September 12 at 8:59pm ·

This IS CRAZY!!!!! The truck just started working!!!! Is this real!?!?!
Like · Reply · 4 · September 12 at 9:14pm

Ok, so I'm sorry if I'm filling up your newsfeed with crazy truck mishap but I just have to brag on God and share all the crazy awesome things He's done through this whole saga. Austin's parents just happened to come to town this weekend and watched the kids in a hotel room for 72 hours while we packed up and cleaned the house. Grace! And we had a bunch of incredible guys help us load the truck. Grace! Then we had a clue the truck was not doing well so we had it checked before we started. Grace! We got a super late start and if we started earlier this could have happened on wolf creek pass. Grace! The truck makes it to a gas station and stops while we then realize we need to book a hotel room- the LAST hotel room around. Grace! Then the truck just starts working again! Grace! All our kids are doing great an no one has puked or diareahed. Double Grace! We have water and formula. Grace! Since we stayed in a hotel last night we have all our stuff we need for a week in suitcases in the car, not packed in the moving truck. Grace! Our DVD player broke at the same time but we have adventures in Oddessy. Grace!
September 12 at 9:30pm 

Austin's mom just got pulled over...
September 12 at 9:40pm 

We made it to the hotel! And this might be the most.... Um well.... Let's just say the bed broke when Asher was laying on it.... ?? #middleofnowhere#bachelorhunterspadhotel #whatsthatsmell
September 12 at 11:10pm 

The next morning we paid WAY too much for breakfast and had a mechanic look at/fix the truck. Yay for about 30 minutes when the blaring somethings wrong with the brakes started going off again. There was talk of the truck company sending someone to unload the truck onto another truck but that didn't happen. (Which would have been nuts! It took 8 guys 6 hours to load. And the one who packed it in graduated from the school of Mines in engineering. Pretty sure one guy wont get the job done, especially on the side of the road on the mountain pass.) We ventured on and when we were about to go over the major turn (called Dead Man's Curve) where there is a massive dropoff, Austin pulls over to talk with the truck company again to ask if we really should be doing this. Will the breaks go out because we had just passed the last run away truck ramp and if the brakes went out he would be over the edge with the crazy heavy truck. But you guessed it, we made it! And now we have a memory of how we almost died on our move to Durango. Just as the Lord spoke to me that morning, hardship did lie ahead but His faithfulness endured.

Below are the pictures of us arriving at the President's house to store our trucks till we close on the new house, another story for another day. ;)

​We exist to glorify God, to display His heart and character. And I just love how we are all uniquely built to do that. So every Friday I want to give you, uniquely designed by God, an opportunity to link up your thoughts on God, art, baking, photography, parenting, marriage, homeschooling, writing or blogging and more if they tie into or display the Lord somehow. 

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About Laura

​Laura, the founder of Missional Women is married and has six kids, two of whom are adopted. Laura and her husband have been missionaries to college students for 14 years serving with Master Plan Ministries where she is the Women's Development Coordinator. Laura has authored 5 books, including an award winning 12 week Bible Study on First Samuel, Beholding Him, Becoming Missional, Reach; How to Use Your Social Media Influence for the Glory of God, A Devotional Journey through Judges, and Discover God's Calling for Your Life. Most recently her resource for Bible studies, The Connect Cards was released by Cru Press. You can find her on facebook, twitter, pinterest, youtube, instagram, periscope, blab and her author site.

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