I was driving to Sioux City this morning and, as I usually do when I make my turn towards Hwy 20, I thought of one of the Morningside families. And somehow, I thought of a trip I made in November 2004...there was a group of us that was to go for a weekend to help a church plant with one of their Sunday services. It was a very loooong trip but promised lots of laughter with the group that was scheduled. Somehow, more than half of the group dropped out due to conflicts. The night before, I was on the phone crying to the leader (who had also needed to back out) telling him why I thought we needed to stay home. I was leaving my church family--on one of the hardest weekends ever...they were to be getting some news that would rock the congregation to the core--and thought I needed to be home, much less at my husband's side. "If you don't go, Megan, nobody's going," he said. "And Brent's already out there, getting things ready." Great, thanks for the pressure!
I very reluctantly, and near sobbing, got into the car with my two companions that day and prayed that God would make the trip fast. He didn't, of course. I spent the entire trip out reading and intermittently praying..."Praying without ceasing" to be exact. It was the hardest trip of my life, to be honest. BUT! God still did something good for my heart. When we reached our destination, we met the fourth and final member of our group who had gone before us to prepare a cabin for our stay. For dinner that night, we drove into one of the nearby towns and the drive is what I remember most. There were two men in the car that day who knew each other probably only by casual acquaintance in the church. In just those few minutes in the car, somehow they had started sharing stories of past mistakes, but more importantly how God had blessed them since. Very, very cool.
Anywho, that was a long story to say what I set out to say. No, I didn't enjoy the trip really. It was ok but I still felt like I should have been at home. But God showed me how He can work to bring people together who love the Lord and share their lives in order to bless each other (and those around them). Yay for the family of God!
