All we were planning to do yesterday was drive three hours to see my Dad in Conway. How difficult is that? Jill, baby Vivian, and I were taking one car. Jim has meetings during the two days we are in central Arkansas so he was taking another car. By the time we got the pack-and-play, activity center, tot gym, Jim’s business stuff and clothes for a couple of days in two cars we looked like we were on a cross country move instead of a road trip to see Paw Paw.

Our original plan was to leave midmorning. I have been working on an upper respiratory something for about four days and it finally nailed me overnight. I woke up feeling like the bottom of someone’s shoe, sounding like a coughing Kermit The Frog. Go time was instantly moved to noon.

I was getting things together when Jill turned white and dashed to the bathroom. Vivian was crying so I coated up to my shoulders in Purell and picked her up. We don’t need her sick too, but comforting a baby held at arms length just doesn’t do any good. Jill came out of the bathroom chanting, “I’m fine, I’m fine, I’m fine,” like she was trying to convince herself. We then decided 1:00 would be a more reasonable time to leave.

On his way home from Springfield Jim called thinking we were probably halfway to Conway. After a short recap of the morning he asked what he could do to help. He agreed to stop by Walgreens and pick up my prescriptions saving us a trip back in to town. Thirty minutes later he called explaining an insurance mix up that sounded like a 500 piece puzzle with one missing piece. I never did understand any of it except that he had the medicine. To be in the car by two o’clock was probably more feasible at this point.

I finally started the car at 3:00 only to remember it was sitting on empty! Vivian was asleep by the time we left the subdivision and Jill was teetering on OK. I still sounded like a coughing Kermit. We drove six miles to the Arkansas/Missouri border and rolled in to Wild Bill’s truck stop to fill up with gas and hopefully pick up some Imodium for Jill. After filling up the tank I parked at the store front to wait for Jill.

After catching my breath from a coughing spell, I sighed thinking maybe we should have just stayed home. Then came the flood of everything negative I could think of, underlining the feeling, I’m just not strong enough. I glanced at the truck stop door. All I saw was: BOLDLY GO EVERYWHERE. I felt like I was in a Jim Carrey movie scene.

Yeah, I can make this trip! I am strong! Good grief, I’ve given birth three times! Jill opened the car door interrupting the rousing pep talk with myself. “Wow Jill, look at that sign on the door. Go see what the ad is for. All I can see is the boldly go everywhere part,” I said.

She walked up to the door and came back grinning, “Perfect, Mom. It’s selling snuff.”

Oh well, it was good enough to crash my pity party. So we pulled out onto 65 south and headed to Conway.

“For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self discipline.”
-2 Timothy 1:7