Well I’m up at thc cottage enjoying all the sunshine that the sky can muster. It is wonderful. We have some friends here with us and the place is full, which always makes for a more enjoyable holiday. But let me tell you about my adventures since I’ve been here.
Apparently, it is becoming known in my family that I’m a bit of a nomad and wanderer (which I see no major issues with). So I found myself running from here to there all the way on my trip.
I left Vancouver Island last week on tuesday (july 26th) after stopping by my sister’s work to get a quick haircut and say hi. She’s a hairdresser so I enjoy the added benefit that this provides to my fashion. And I couldn’t hand a trip to ontario with my hair being annoyingly long in the heat. From there I hopped on the ferry to the mainland and managed to catch an hour earlier ferry. This meant that I wasn’t showing up at my friend’s in Abbotsford at 11pm. So I actually got to do more than just crash their place.
My plan was to leave Abby by 7:30am, but it seems like there are always little things that delay me. Like breakfast, good conversation, etc. And what I’ve begun to notice is that in my life I am either REALLY early, or running late. I finally got thru the Abbotsford border at 8:30 and headed south towards seattle. I had been running around and hadn’t had any time to get my car’s oil changed so I decided to do that in bellingham at the walmart since my car was screaming “CHANGE OIL SOON” at me.
That took 2 hours and then I was on the road again. Fortunately my walmart detour wasn’t a complete waste as I was able to get some supplies and food to last me my three day adventure across the continent. On a side note: Canada’s prices for food are way higher than the US.
Now what you need to know, is that I usually travel with someone and with the sole purpose of getting to my destination as quickly as possible. In this case, I had a tight schedule but I was alone, so I had more freedom within the boundaries of time.
Well, my first day I made fairly good time. But I decided that instead of stopping for the night, I would drive as far as I could, pull over and sleep and then keep on going. This was for 2 reasons, 1) I was budget travelling and wanted to reduce the costs of the trip and 2) I wanted to make some time up.
So I drove, I drove and I drove and I drove. I made it through Idaho, Montana, and North Dakota. I had just crossed into Minnesota when I passed a state trooper and realized that I was going too fast and that He had caught me. No arguing, I just took the ticket and continued on my journey.
Thursday night, I made it out of minnesota and into wisconsin. I had planned on making it all the way to madison, but that just wasn’t going to happen. So about 2 hours outside of St. Paul I stopped at a hotel for which I had a coupon.
The next morning, bright and early I headed on my way. Fortunately for my caffeine addiction I was able to find a starbucks every day. Before Long I was in Illinois. And I was getting frustrated by the toll highways and the amount of construction. So, when I reached chicago, I pulled into an “oasis” and looked at a map.
I said to myself, “It won’t be that much longer if I take the non-toll route, and besides I’ve always wanted a closer look at chicago.”
Lesson #1: Stick to the plan and go with the GPS. The GPS knows Best.
About 2 min’s onto the non-toll route (I94?) I hit traffic.
But what was I to do now? I was stuck in it, so I continued on. Stuck in bumper to bumper traffic. Now, this is where I started to get annoyed. Why? Because people weren’t driving nicely. They were literally bumper to bumper and not letting people in. Which means that traffic slows to a stand still. So I was getting fed up. Then I started to pray. I asked God for patience, because it’s a fruit of the spirit. And that helped for about 4.5 seconds. Then I started to pray for Favour. I said to God, “God, you’ve called me to walk in favour, well in this case drive, and this isn’t favour. Waiting in traffic isn’t favour!”
Apparently God listened, because traffic moved. And That was ok for about 30 seconds. Then I prayed again, “God I need more favour, in fact I don’t just want favour for me. I want favour for all of them. Because when I walk (or drive) in your favour those around me get blessed to. So God, give all these other people stuck in traffic your spirit and your favour too.”
Well one thing led to another, and my time in traffic became a time or prayer and intercession for the city of chicago. At first it was selfish, but then it became more than that. And as I continued to drive, I felt like God was revealing to me his heart for the city of Chicago. There was lots that I prayed, mostly that God’s spirit of repentance would be poured out, because the Father’s heart is for his kids to come home.
But as I continued I found myself finally out of traffic and it was like the Holy Spirit whispered, “Get off the Highway” So i kept on driving.
Then I heard the nudge “Caleb, take the next exit”, really??? “CALEB… TAKE THE NEXT EXIT”. So I did. I came to a stop light and thought I should turn right. But I felt the need to turn left, so I did. I saw in my mind a picture of a church on the corner of an intersection on the right hand side, and there on my right hand side was a church.
So I found parking and went to look for the pastor.
When I got in, i found three people inside the building. One turns and looks at me and says “Can I help you?”. My response is: “I’m looking for the pastor.” The Lady says, “that’s me.”
I start explaining why I’m there, and she’s got the look of: Great another whack job. One thing leads to another, and I start sharing with her my adventure into traffic and to Her church’s door. I find out that the things that I’m praying were accurate and that I’ve landed in the worst area of Chicago, and probably the United States (for murders that is).
I end up praying with her, and find it hard to leave. But in the end, Because I followed the leading of the Holy Spirit, listened to God. I got stuck in traffic and got to meet an incredible person with a heart for Jesus.
And I finally ended up at my destination in ontario at 2:30 am.