Is The Glass Full or Is It Empty?

All I have to say is….

What a weekend!

There was some crazy stuff going on, that’s for sure!

Since it was Easter, Flynn was coming home to be with us.
Due to work issues he didn’t start his trip home until 5:30.
It’s a 7 hour trip, so that put his e.t.a. around 12:30 am.

Not good for my husband who is asleep every night at 9:30.

After being on the road about 2 hours, he texts me a picture he has taken with his phone…
remember how our family is prone to flat tires?

Well, he got one.
His second in a month.

Bad luck!

Due to stormy weather, the ground was too soft and his jack was too short to
get the truck up high enough to get it changed.
I texted him some numbers of tire stores and he called for help.
Get this… they said they’d come change his tire
for $80/hour, TWO HOUR MINIMUM!

I think we need to sign up for AAA.

Thankfully, before the tire people could get to him, he had a moment of
inspiration and figured out how to change the tire.
$200 was saved and he was back on the road.

That stop lasted over an hour, which meant his new e.t.a. was 1am or later.

As he was nearing Bozeman, the roads and weather were getting bad.
He slowed down his driving speed and and I asked him if he needed to stop to rest.
He was doing okay. But stopped for some gas.

I decided to get ready for bed.
At 12:30 am, just as I finished brushing my teeth and washing my face,
the phone rang.
Believe it or not, I wasn’t worried.
I should have been.
Flynn said something to the effect of,
”Well, it’s finally happened... I hit an elk.”

My heart stops.

He knows me.
He knows I scare easily.
He was calm and that kept me calm.
He told me he was okay, but the poor elk was running in heavenly fields now.
I told him I was putting my bra back on and that I was leaving the house right then to come pick him up.
He was fine with that.

He hung up and called 9-1-1.
I finished getting dressed and kissed Scooter good-bye and told him I loved him.
(Not that he remembers.)
I went to Belle and Beast’s room to tell them I was leaving.
Beast insisted that Belle come along to keep me company.
I’m so glad he did.
Having her in the car kept my wild imagination at bay and kept me calm while driving over
TERRIBLE roads in the middle of the night.

Our average speed was 50 mph.
We were the only car travelling in our direction on snowy roads.
Ours were the only tire tracks in our lane.
Of course, it was 2:30 a.m.

Flynn texted that the tow truck would drop him off at Walmart.
And we trudged on.
And on.
It was a terrible drive.

Finally, at about 4:15 a.m. we pulled into the Walmart parking lot.
We were sleepy and had t.b. (tired buns), but seeing Flynn walk out of the store
whole and healthy was one of the best sights I’ve ever seen.

He took us to the shop where the truck was.
I wasn’t prepared for how extensive the damage was.

Terrible, isn’t it?

Man! What bad luck we’ve been having lately!

Or is it?

On the surface, it appears that the gods are conspiring against us.
Every time we try to get ahead…
when it looks like we can get a debt paid off…
WHAM!!
Something hits us (literally in this case).

But we would be totally ungrateful if we didn’t recognize the blessings in this accident:

* Flynn was in his truck. If he hit that elk in a smaller vehicle, we’re certain he would have been injured.
* No one else was on the road at the time. When Flynn came upon the elk, there were
three standing in the road at the time.
He chose to swerve into the left lane to try to avoid hitting all three.
* Can you imagine the damage if he HAD hit all three?
* He hit the elk in a canyon. Only about 1/2 mile from the accident site, there is
no cell coverage and he would have been on a blind corner.
*The highway patrolman stayed with Flynn until the tow truck came.
* He was only about 20 minutes out of town.

And for us:
* Full moon. By that moonlight, we were able to see fairly clearly, even though it was snowing
very heavily.
* That moonlight showed us several herds of deer standing on the road. We were able to slow down
and avoid destroying both our cars on the same night.
* I was able to stay awake ALL NIGHT. I wasn’t overly tired, which would have been dangerous.
* My own tire issues. We noticed on Sunday, AFTER the fact, that the tires on my vehicle
were completely bald and I had a spot on the rear tire that was ripe for a blow-out.
I’m so grateful that I was able to make a 7+ hour drive on icy mountain roads
with those tires and had no problems.
(Flynn bought me new tires Monday morning.)

So, while it appears that bad things are happening,
I’d beg to differ.
In spite of it all, I am very aware that Heavenly Father is watching out for us
and keeping us safe.
I feel very loved and protected by him.
I feel the power of prayer as my parents and family prays for us every day.
I feel the power of my own prayers, every time Flynn gets behind that wheel
to drive home to us.
And in spite of a very smashed up truck sitting in a mechanic’s yard in Bozeman Montana,
our life is GOOD!