Wednesday, June 8, 2011

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

6 comments:

Alice said...

Farm sitting, sounds wonderful~

Alpha Male said...

You might want to have an auto electrician check your wiring for a loose connection. I'm not a mechanic, just been around awhile. If nothing happened when you turned the key those times "it didn't start", then it may be a battery connection. That may be why it started later.
PS: LOVE OREGON, don't like the politics.
sonny

Marshall said...

I know that no matter where I am, I am at home with the Lord.

so freeing is His assurance toward our provision and protection from the weather. Your willing heart to go where need, directed by the Lord of Hosts, to bless His heart and encourage ours.

curious timing to read your post, as I here lighten my own load of material things in preparation for traveling forward.

wendyworn said...

Thank you all for commenting!

Ma - Farmsitting is wonderful and it is always just an oasis of peace when I am here.

Alpha Male - Thank you for reading my blog. I am having a professional look at my van - but I'm still going to sell it. I will probably advertise it on Craigslist under the RV section and tout the fact that you can live out of this van. I did.

Marshall - It is amazing how we get attached to stuff. I have a little frame that doesn't even have a picture in it that has ivy around it. I was saving it for someone special along with my white bridesmaid dress that I thought could be used as a wedding dress in a pinch. But the Lord can provide those things should they be needed. Sigh.

Blessings in Christ!
Linda

Anonymous said...

Yes, it seems very peaceful.

I so understand how you feel Sis. There were so many things I had to give away that sometimes I even think about. It is always the 'small' things to, none of the 'big' stuff I think about.

I remember I had this very old iron from the 18oo's that was just so 'precious' to me. I actually had a friend to hold it for me who lived nearby where I lived at the time.We no longer talk and I have no clue where she is. I think that was the Lord's way of keeping me form getting it back. SIGH!

I feel ya, that is actually one of the few things I still wish I had. It was such an antique and classic iron.

He has made sure to keep me without a car, totally!

The truth is, had I had a car I would have jumped out of his will and left every situation I did not like being in. I would have easily just drove away to another town or state, and this has been his way to keep me in his 'will'.

Not to mention he has had me to be dependent on others in a way I 'never' would have if left up to me. I am so naturally ultra-independent and these five years really brought me down from that place...

Talk about God being in control.

He sure is!

wendyworn said...

Alicia

I am glad God is in control because I have a tendency to screw up almost everything I touch. I was shocked the first time that I realized that the Lord has left me at my parents! A place that for most of my life I had avoided like the plague. Now I am so very thankful that he did. I have never had such a good relationship with my mom as I do now and so much healing has taken place. Plus, it is good to be under my father's authority and to understand why biblically.

take care!
Linda