Sometimes There are Curveballs
Well sometimes life throws a curveball but it is one of the reasons I appreciate the lifestyle we are living because we are generally able to curve with it.
We had said we never wanted to return to the East Coast but it looks like we will be doing just that. The bonuses to this are that we understand East Coast living, Doctors are in plenty there so John should be able to get back on his medications, and we should be able to stick there for a bit and stabilize our lives and hopefully save a bit.
I’ve known for some time that a friend of mine needed help but I had other life needs pulling me in other directions. But, as many of you know, recently I’ve been feeling lost. I’ve been feeling like I’m not where I’m supposed to be. Then I found out that my friend was very ill and having more trouble than the norm. I knew right then why I felt lost and where I needed to be. Of course it’s back across the country and more money than I have available at this very moment but I’m working on making it happen. I cannot stand the thought of this friend having nobody around to help and I need to be there.
So tomorrow I’m making phone calls and talking to the “right” people to get my “affairs” here in Arkansas in order. Hopefully everyone gives me just the right answers to allow me to be able to leave by the 6th. If not then I won’t be able to get to this friend until November and I worry about the in between time.
Our son, Johnny, has agreed to go to Job Corps in Florida in order to help this friend out, not only that but he found 2 possible classes that he is VERY interested in taking so that worked out well.
I have another friend who tonight simply brought tears to my eyes and warmed my heart. This person has not seen either my husband or I since high school and yet is offering to send me money to help us get to this other friend that he doesn’t even know. Some people just amaze me.
In talking to the friend who was offering to help me I tried to explain my life to him. I know that’s not easy for most people and even tougher for me. I live a very “spirit led” life. I go where I am drawn or feel I am needed. I go where I am led. We talked about the quiet moments. Those moments when the direction seems to not exist. We talked about how those moments are for recharging so we don’t overload and sometimes are just a mini-vacation because some moment we WILL be needed is coming and we need to be free for it.
And then he once again offered to help us. Even though I initially said “no”, something that one of my “angels on earth” once said to me rang through my head. He said (well to the affect of) “Accept kindness and gifts with gratefulness and don’t let pride or worry get in the way because the giver gets a gift by giving and by the acceptance.” So I told this friend I would let him know IF we needed the help.
It’s funny because the universe has been so silent lately. I have been kind of floundering around and feeling quite ill. Then tonight, out of the blue, I am given a purpose and a gift all at the same time. So many lessons to process. Planning to do. A glimmer of hope. And even though my life is not quite stabilized yet I have hope that this new venture will also get me a step closer to achieving that as well.
And that also nails down the lesson of accepting kindness and the giver getting a gift. The reason all these plans are coming about is because I have a friend who is in real need and I am going to give of my time and presence to help them. In doing so I am getting the opportunity to learn so much more about another friend that I didn’t know before. I am getting the gift of being reminded that others ARE willing to put themselves out there to help when you least expect it. And I’m getting the gift of having the opportunity to stabilize our own lives and be ready to take on the next challenge when it arises.
Sometimes life throws a curve but if you are willing to bend a little you might be able to follow that curve and find wonderful surprises where it lands.
Believe
So here’s where I’m at. Yesterday early morning our family decided it would be best to go to Florida to help a friend who is not physically doing well. We contacted the friend to make sure this was something they would want, which it is, and began planning how to do it.
We had already paid our bills this month so are very very short on funds to drive 1100 miles to get to him. However, I thought our rent wasn’t technically due until the 6th so I thought maybe the campground would refund it. I was wrong. Our rent was due on the 3rd, which I still don’t understand because I swear we got here on the 6th but whatever, so therefore their policy is not to refund. However the owner said he would discuss it with his wife and get back to me.
I also am having an issue with my disability that I NEED to deal with. However, until I figure out if we are going to be able to leave THIS week I cannot even begin that process, basically because I need to make sure of where we are going to be and get that information to the social security office so they can move forward with what needs doing.
So here I sit, waiting for somebody else to tell me what the next step in my journey holds.
Of course that’s not all and the rest is pretty amazing. Yesterday afternoon another friend contacted me to chat. I began telling him what we were trying to do and he offered to help with some of the money to get there, of course that would be next week so we’ll see. I was blown away by this offer. At first I said I wouldn’t take his money, as we are pretty independent and I don’t ever want anyone feeling we took advantage in any way. However a little voice in my head reminded me that when someone makes an offer like this that it is important to accept with thankfulness and not let pride or worry get in the way. At first I didn’t change my answer but then the conversation continued.
It turns out that this friend and I dream the same dream of how we want to live our lives going forward. We have the same ideas of how life works and what we would like to create for ourselves and our friends. The more we talked the more I could understand why this person and I have such a strong connection. The more we talked the more things spiraled into an entirely new path for us all.
I won’t share the details now, both because I don’t want to jinx it and because it’s not entirely my story to tell, but eventually I may share it here within my writings. For now it suffices to say that our family being in Florida not only works out best for my friend who is ill and for our family but also for this generous friend that I was talking to from late afternoon into late evening.
I assisted this friend in finding something he had been looking for, though we don’t yet know if it will pan out, and will continue to help him as time goes forward. To do that in the best way possible he as well needs us either closer to him or in Florida so once again he didn’t just offer to help us get there but almost insisted. This time I agreed with the provision that he will allow me to pay him back over time.
My only issue with this is it may not be until next week and with the very small window of opportunity I have to deal with certain of my own life issues I’m not 100% sure that it will be soon enough.
So not only today am I waiting on 1 other but 2 others to help me determine what and where my next step lies but also I am praying. I believe that the universe or Spirit set this path in front of me. The whole thing spiraled in such an odd way that the only explanation is that this is what my next step is supposed to be. That being the case I have to pray that the Universal Source will find room to help me remain within the time I have in order to accomplish what I need for my own life as well as the ability to help the others that I so want to help.
Sometimes it takes faith. Sometimes you just have to BELIEVE! Trust that Spirit will guide your path the way it is supposed to go. So today is all about faith. Today I must believe.
Arkansas to Florida
Eleven Hundred miles is a lot for anyone when driving but it certainly is a more daunting trip when your vehicle is not at it’s top performance. Any other time I probably wouldn’t have attempted such a trip with my truck in need of some attention but the destination was too important to wait so off we went.
We left Arkansas at about 9pm Central Time. It was a bit later than we had intended but with a few minor details taking longer than we had expected this was how it went and really it was still a very good time to leave.
We all love nighttime travel. The traffic is lighter. The temperature not so hot. It helps keep the stress levels down. Even the truck seems to appreciate night travel more, as it seems to run better when the sun is not out.
The first leg of our trip was getting out of Arkansas. John and I don’t like the roads there for many reasons, one of which is NONE of them seem to have a shoulder which makes things a bit tense in some situations.
The drive out of Arkansas seemed to take forever. It certainly was a very long part of this journey. Fortunately though the truck did amazing. It seemed the "reading" I had done prior to the trip might be right and the truck was going to run well for us.
John hadn’t had much sleep the night before, as I thought we would be leaving Friday, but he was a champion and kept driving as long as he could. Finally we stopped out of a need for gas and a need for rest. Of course the gas station wasn’t open, it was 6am, but this was ok because we simply pulled into a quiet, out of the way area, and went to sleep for a few hours.
Four hours later I was awoken to "I’m ready!". I wasn’t lol but then I didn’t have to drive. So up we got and off we went.
Now of course the sun was out and the traffic much thicker. This meant a lot of speed up, slow down, and the occasional traffic crawl. The truck was beginning to run a bit rough. As usual we were burning oil, which we always seem to do when hauling the camper, and I hadn’t planed oil prices into our travel money so I was feeling stressed about that as well as having little sleep.
Everyone was getting a bit crabby, including the truck.
Six hours later John began to feel that driving exhaustion once again and we sought out a place to rest. Finally finding such a place we once again managed four more hours of sleep before the heat simply would allow no more.
The whole trip was kind of like that after the first stretch. Four hours of sleep, six hours of driving. Just before nightfall we stopped for gas and the truck began spewing water everywhere. We were very concerned, with still another 600 miles to go, so we pulled into a mall and let it cool down for about an hour and then moved on our way.
After that the truck seemed to do a bit better, I guess it was just tired and nauseous and after it’s little water vomit it seemed better.
Around 8pm Eastern on Friday we arrived in our old home of Perry Georgia. We decided to stop at the Walmart there, as we know the area well, and eat and get some rest. Johnny and I went in to the store and got some food and supplies. We then went to the camper and had some food and a good rest.
It is now almost 2am as I sit here in Perry writing this. Everyone has just woken up and we are preparing to make the final leg of this very long journey. There are about 450 miles left to go. We are all pretty well rested and we want to get there before it gets to be too late morning so the hot of the day doesn’t affect the truck negatively again.
I’ll finish this up when we arrive and post it all up when we get settled.
The last leg of the trip is always the most exciting and wakes us up no matter how tired we are. This last leg was like that but it was also the most nerve wracking.
Getting toward the end of the money and looking at the amount of miles left to go, I began to become nervous and concerned. Of course my family always teases me about being a "math wiz" said in the MOST sarcastic tone. However I am usually very good at planning out our travel money and knowing how much we need. What I failed to take into account was the rate at which our truck burns oil when we are hauling the camper.
I failed to include the $150 that we spent in oil and I failed to take into account the $30 spent in food along the way. When funds are as tight as what we were traveling on these are very big details to miss.
However somehow we pulled it out of our….. ear and managed to arrive at our destination. We were exhausted and completely broke but we got here.
During our travels I did come upon one lesson that I’ll share with you. I once thought I hated Maine and then more recently Georgia. For many years I tried to get out of Maine and succeeded several times but always went back because it felt safe to be there somehow. Of course then I would return and begin to hate it again.
The same thing happened with Georgia. We were there and hated it. We left and went to a different part of the country but when things didn’t work out we ended up right back in Perry Georgia. Once John got his disability we couldn’t leave Georgia fast enough.
During the trip we were fortunate enough to travel back through Perry Georgia. We stopped in at the Walmart to sleep for a bit. While we were there I felt safe and secure. I felt better than I had in a while. I realized it was never the places themselves I hated but the situations that made me think I hated the place.
There are certainly places that I don’t want to live and that does have to do with the place but not always is it the place, sometimes it is quite simply the situation that you are living in that makes the place itself seem unpleasant. The trick is to reflect upon the difference.
That’s it for now. I have lots of new writing ideas hiding in my mind. I will be writing some towards a couple of books I am working on but some of it I plan to be sharing here as well. Thank you all for being interested enough to continue reading and I hope you will enjoy my future posts.
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