I don't know exactly what inspires a new post, but you just hope that they have some rhyme or reason and that it speaks to someone. I was just remembering some amazing miracles of provision on the road, you know, when God showed up to protect or provide while traveling.
One is that I was taking a trip to Colorado in December late 2004 (gas price $1.66) for a week or so, and was driving all the way from Iowa to Colorado in one stretch. It was very late, around 3 AM, and I needed to stop and find a hotel. I was near a town called Merino so I turned in but got lost and ended up in another small town instead, named Hillrose. I was traveling with two cats and one of them was getting crazy from the long trek, so I let her out. She always stayed near the car, but this time strayed from the car to a junkyard nearby. I was stuck until I got her back in the car!!!
The little town had nothing. It had no stores, no hotels, not even a gas station, just a few houses. I wondered how people could live in a town like this. It seemed so isolated.
I looked down the street and saw a church. It seemed to be God's sense of humor because it was Lutheran and I was raised Lutheran. It was only a block from the junkyard so I figured if I could get in there I could still find my cat after resting in the church. Why did I just sense that I could into that church? See, I was raised in a small town church as my dad is a pastor. It was indeed open. There was one little door open in the small side door in the very front of the church, next to the altar. It seemed symbolic, being able to enter right into the "holiest" part of the church. God has allowed us into the "holy of holies."
I put my sleeping bag down on the carpeted floor but then realized that there was a kitchen area in back that was more cheerful and carpeted as well. There was also a bathroom. There was also food in the refrigerator so I could get a snack - some ice cream in the freezer, and some water in bottles. There were some chips in bags. I was so hungry I didn't think I could fall asleep.
After setting up my sleeping bag I opened a can of tuna I had and went back to lure my cat out of the junkyard which was successful. Now I had both my cats in the church with me, and they were very harmless to the surroundings. I felt God telling me to check to see if there was a downstairs, but I thought, "nah, there's probably no downstairs."
I finally fell asleep and was aware that someone had come during the morning and saw my cats and left. I was awakened at 1:00 PM by the minister. He was a nice, young, rather roly-poly man, who seemed only slightly miffed, but not that alarmed. I explained my situation and that I was a minister's daughter, and that we had often had bums come to our church and sleep on the pews at night. He told me that there was no problem. He handed me his business card and told me there was a guest room in the basement and if I was ever in the area again to look them up.
I was passing through Colorado again on another trip coming from Arizona and I did indeed look them up. A pipe had broken in their guest room at the time, so they couldn't put me up there, so they offered to put me up in a nearby motel for free. Isn't that the sweetest thing you ever heard? That, my friends is the love of the body of Christ. The pastor and his wife did it for me because they recognized that I am a sister in Christ. I suppose they would do it for a stranger under other circumstances as well. It is the love of Christ. Believe in it. Let it sink in.
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