We were dealing with the van air conditioner not working
correctly at this point so we left Newburgh early one Saturday morning to try
and beat the 100+ degree heat forcasted for that day. Things
were going well and we made good time.
In Mount Vernon, Illinois there is a stretch of construction and as I
was going through it Brad called to check on us. At this moment I stopped watching the green
signs and started watching the GPS. Long
story short….we went 40 miles round trip off course and I arrived an hour later
than originally planned.
We settled into a family’s home that night who had invited
us to stay there while they were on vacation.
In the morning we are up getting ready for church and Neil informs me he
had a bloody nose in the middle of the night and now we had sheets to deal
with.
On our way out the door to load up for breakfast before church Madeline
gets caught in this purple princess canopy and hook and all come flying out of
the ceiling. We head
to Mello Cream Donuts, the Donut Bank of Springfield. I have the children get seated and order our
breakfast only to hear a huge commotion behind me. I turn to see Neil holding the centerpiece of the table high
over his head and the other three lunging quite loudly trying to
get it away from him. I had to leave the
counter to hiss at them through clenched teeth to put it down, sit down, and be
quiet. It was at this point I could have
sold them all to the gypsies.
After breakfast we make one last bathroom break before going
to Rochester Christian for worship. The
zipper on Sarah’s only church outfit broke.
Sarah is our tomboy and so imagine with me if you will this little one
doing her best to hold her skirt together so her pink panties didn’t flash the
world. We leave there and go to Wal-mart
where again she had to hold it together so we could buy her a new church
outfit. Finally with a dress in hand we
make it to RCC’s bathroom and got her decent.
With everyone in their places, I finally made it to a chair in the Great
Room for worship and still had three minutes on the countdown. For those of you who know me well, please don’t
pass out at this point because, yes, I was on time even after all that!!! I was on time and I was exhausted. I don’t remember much about the service I
hate to say but we made it.
The last few days of our trip, after dealing with a broken CPAP machine, Samuel comes to me and says,
“Mom, my ear is broken!” WHAT?! He was having an allergic reaction to some
mosquito bites he had gotten the night before.
They were blistering and the bite on his ear caused it to swell to twice its normal size. So off we went to the Dr. and after some medications, all is healed and the ear is its normal size.Flashback with me now 12 ½ years ago to when Brad and I moved to Newburgh in October of 1999. I remember those first few weeks as being just as frustrating. Our first weekend at FCCN, I ran a 102 fever. Our rental house in Chandler had mice sneaking in where the dryer vent was. Chandlers 1-3 are now in that great cheese wheel in the sky but they did create some good memories. Neil fell off our bed and hit his head on the handle of my dresser removing a small chunk of scalp. Brad crunched the fender of the Lumina. Then the utility man came to shut off the power at the rental house. So there I was in a strange place with a two year old and no power. I remember calling the church office for Brad but he wasn’t there. Donna Rhoades, the office administrator at that time, answered the phone. I can’t remember the exact wording but I expressed to her that I wish I still had boxes because I wanted to pack up and go home to Olathe. Later that day, there was a knock at the door and there stood Cindy Claypool with this little pitiful plant with a sad little ribbon tied around it. Honestly, it was the most beautiful sight I’d seen and a friendship was born that day and with it came hope and a change in my attitude.
I knew this journey wouldn’t be easy, but I can tell you truthfully, I didn’t know it would be so difficult. The bottom line though hasn’t changed. The Ferris family had two choices many months ago. Are we going to be comfortable or are we going to be obedient to Christ? We decided we were going to follow Christ and that hasn’t changed today. So I have to stay focused on that. I remind myself how grateful I should be that my husband has a job when so many others don’t. I remind myself how grateful I should be that I and my family have their health as a good friend of ours is battling for her life in a second bone marrow transplant for leukemia. I remind myself how grateful I should be because I am God’s child and he loves me and even though I can’t see Him, He is working right now for our good to give us a hope and a future.
On the way home from that crazy Springfield trip, Neil shared a new CD he purchased from his Big Stuff trip with the RCC youth group to Panama City, Florida. It was my "knock at the door" experience from 12 1/2 years prior. One of the songs was full of praise and adoration for God and who He is. It talked about how His grace is always enough. It drove Neil crazy, but I bet I replayed that song three times. I claimed it that day and when I start to feel frustration and pressure inside, I listen to it. It is a tool God has given me to help me refocus on who He is and on His power and it gives me hope and helps to change my attitude. It reminds me that even with detours and broken ears, He is in control and that is enough.
Here is a link to the song, No One Higher from the album No
One Higher by North Point InsideOut. I you enjoy
it as much as I have and that it helps you to refocus this day! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFCBhTe-WYg
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