Well, we finally made it to our ministry home-compound in Georgia. It was a grueling 2-day by car in 90 degree heat and humidity. Mark bore the taxing burden of pulling our fully loaded trailer. The two days before our final move were stressful as we had had to ask our landlord for a few more days to load the trailer and clean the house thoroughly in preparation for him to put the house on the market. He was gracious about extending our time, but that didn’t alleviate my great anxiety because there was still so much more packing and cleaning to do.
The success and speediness of our moving day also depended on Mark’s best friend, (who would be driving his HHR. behind us . He would spend the night with us and the following morning Mark would drive him to the Atlanta airport. The day before our leave, Claude called Mark to check on our progress and exploded in anger, asking what was our problem that we needed another day., Mark and him seemed to blame me for the delay and they had no idea how drained and near breakdown I was in. We decided to leave on Wednesday. I knew I would not be able to make it unless I had supernatural help, so I called my prayer warriors asking them to pray for strength, peace and some decent restorative sleep.. My body was screaming for rest and sleep, as I was getting into bed well after 2:30 for several nights in a row and having to wake up early to get the house in prime condition for the landlord and realtor’s visit. Two of our cats sensed something amiss as they watched Mark and me go outside gain and again with boxes and bins. My Pee-Wee watched intently as I took the last box downstairs from my upper loft. My eyes teared as I took a few pictures of the now-empty room, ( leaving behind my beautiful rug) I had spent so much time in worshiping and composing my blogs.
Finally, Wednesday morning came., by the time I had my coffee and prayed for the Lord’s strength, I scurried about, collecting the last few items to our trailer. Mark was happy to see that the house was in great shape and that I did a good job with the cleaning and vacuuming.. Claude arrived on time and we loaded the three cats with their sleeping hootch’s. I took one last picture of our rental home as we started to turn the corner for the New Jersey Turnpike.
Mark took a different interstate route, from the usual Interstate 75, which would avoid us having to endure horrendous bumper-to-bumpier traffic jams near the DC and Baltimore areas. We were exhausted by 9 pm and Claude and him stopped at a North Carolina exit with lodging and eating establishments. A threatening storm with torrential rain suddenly forced us to call it a night and settle for an expensive $145 a night hotel.. Seeing Claude get angry, I quickly asked Jesus to give us peace.
We awoke the next morning in much better and we continued our route through North Carolina. After four more hours of driving, we finally saw the sign for Georgia Welcome Center. I breathed a sigh of joyful relief as Mark rounded the entrance. I heard a terrible metal-grinding sound as he drove over a speed bump. I yelled, “What is going on?”
Mark and Claude stopped the vehicles and dashed out to see what damaged had occurred. Mark’, Claude and I gazed in horror to see the trailer hitch broken off from the trucks underbelly!.
I knew immediately that this was a serious situation only God could fix and I grabbed Mark’s call phone to call a special prayer warrior brother Albert. Thankfully, he was available and we declared victory over the disaster. It was about 95 degrees and humid and I began to feel faint. My lungs started to get inflamed from the humidity. Albert urged me to take out my guitar and worship and that is what I did for the next several hours. All three cats became very uncomfortable in the heat and and I had to wet them down and give them water.
Claude and Mark took the HHR to see if they could find an auto supply store. I stayed with the cats in the hot truck praying for a miracle. They came back an hour later unable to find a U=-Haul dealer nor an auto parts store to find repair tools for the broken hitch. I continued to pray for a miracle.
As I watched Mark and Claude laying underneath the truck, struggling to work with metal rope and tools, I kept thanking Father for His supernatural guidance and ingenuity. I knew that He was faithful to download formation that would enable them to secure the hitch, so we could get home. As they worked, I walked to the shade of nearby trees with my guitar and continued to ask my heavenly father for supernatural assistance and patience for the two men. Amazingly, Mark and Claude had the hitch reconnected at around 6 pm and we headed off to our property four hours away.
I must admit, the next four hours were a little stressful as Mark drove somewhat faster than what I thought was safe. I continued to thank Father for each mile we safely traveled. At any moment, the hitch could gave way and we would all be stuck on a dark, rarely raveled road to no where!. Claude was stressed when Mark stopped at a crossroad, asking how far are we?
Thankfully, we crawled onto our dirt road around 10:30 pm, safe and sound. Father was truly a miracle worker holding together the make-shift trailer hitch support. Right after we arrived at the house, Claude announced he was so exhausted, he was going right to sleep.
Mark brought some bags of food into the house and I proceeded to bring the cats in, one by one. I took our new kitten Teenie in first. The back hatch was still open and Mark’s favorite cat, Tiny bolted out into the darkness., It was a half an hour of chasing him around the house. I prayed again and said “Father, I know you just gave us a huige miracle, but is there room for one more tonight?” Mark and I were just too exhausted to deal with chasing him and dragging him back into the house. He ended up rushing into the house at the opened back door. We fed the cats and went to sleep.
A few days later, surveying the contents of Mark’s massive garage, the shed and the house, looking like a scene from the Hoarding TV show, I asked Father for contentment. The weeks and months before our move, I cried myself to sleep many nights. I wondered how I’d be able to adjust living the rest of my life in a remote, rural fungus-infested forest property. I was so used to seeing the neighbors and enjoying the security and safety of my backyard.! Here in rural Georgia, rattlesnakes and isolation would be my fearful companions. I could find very things to be excited about.
A few days later, on a warm, sunny and billowy-white-clouded day, I opened my front door to a beautiful sight! A Monarch butterfly was supping on the exquisite honey of a bloomed Passion flower. . I could not believe my eyes as rushed to find my camera to capture the lovely sight. At that moment, God reminded me that He always brings good out of darkness or the mundane. He wanted me to remember as he gifted me with the ability to capture and express beauty, His glorious handiwork , that I should share it as a testimony of Him being a wonderful, good God!
As Mark and I embark on this new chapter of our lives, I covet all prayers for Father to embrace new opportunities and challenges. Mark and I will sorely miss our beloved neighbors and his Heavn;s Saints motorcycle ministry family. I hope to connect with artists and musicians and get my production and Outreach non-profit established and running to support the needy and challenged women and their children in our area.
There is so much work to do. I miss my neighborhood on Chestnut Ave, the beautiful Pine lands environment and my precious squirrels and blue jays that I used to feed on my patio. I await Father and Jesus guiding and directing. me to outreach and especially to start a worship band. He is faithful.