Farm Break

I am farmsitting for the next couple days while my sister and her family go to the beach for a mini vacation. My aunt still hasn't heard whether or not she has gotten that job, but we are still thinking that if she gets the job, I may still go out there to help her move. There is some loose ends I need to attend to here before I can really go out there. Mainly, my van.

Several months ago as I went to move my van, I was driving it around the block and it just died. It wouldn't start again. Almost a week later, I again attempted to start it and it wouldn't start. I called AAA and they came with a special tow truck for one ton vehicles like mine and towed it up to my parents house where it has been sitting ever since.

When we were coming back from Wyoming we had an opportunity to stop and see my son who is stationed in Spokane. I told him I really felt like it was time to have someone else come look at the van since he was not going to be able to make it down to Oregon to work on it. But my son was not very happy about that so he made me promise that we would do a phone inspection before someone else looked at it. He wanted me to listen for the fuel pump and if I didn't hear it then I was to switch tanks and try again and if I didn't hear the fuel pump again then it was an electrical problem.

So the day after I got home, he called me on the phone and I took the phone out to the van and went to start it. It started right up! My son started launghing and said, "I fixed your van!" Of course, I don't yet want to drive it without someone taking a look at it. My dad said, "Well, I wonder why it wouldn't start when we were trying a couple months ago." I said, "I think it was supernatural." My van not running meant that I didn't pick up and start driving to the other side of the country. There was a couple times when situations came up that, had my van been running, I would have gone places I do not believe the Lord wanted me to go. The fact that my van has started now, kindof shows me that it is time to deal with it.

So it is looking like it is time to get rid of my van. Even if my van was fixed, it is so expensive to drive it anywhere with the gas prices the way they are, that it is just not worth it for me to keep. If I go to Casper to help my aunt, then I can fly, and if I don't go to Casper, I can drive my parents vehicles which is what I have been doing anyway. I am feeling now is the time to deal with the van. Of course, that also means all the stuff I have been keeping in my van has to be dealt with.

I am going to give my tent and air mattress and all my camping (survivalist) gear to my son so that he can use it to camp with his friends. I've already gone through my clothes and I didn't have a lot before but I went from two roller suitcases down to one. But I've been feeling for a couple months now that I was going to go down to just a roller suitcase, my laptop, my guitar, my bedroll and my backpack. Even that seems like a lot for a plane trip, but that will be all my possessions when I am done sorting stuff out.

I may have my mom mail my quilting stuff to my aunt's later, but for now, I am sewing the binding on my current quilt and will probably try to plan my next one to take with. Last year when I didnt have a van I had this overwhelming sense of homelessness. Now, I am a different person and I know that no matter where I am, I am at home with the Lord. Whether that is at my parents house or the start of a new adventure in Wyoming. We shall see.

Blessings in Christ
Linda