The Great American Journey

GAP WALK JOURNALS - III

Monday, May 26, 2008    Day 81    7.9  miles

Total North Carolina miles - 118.9    Walking Days - 40

Accumulative miles 590.9

The ten miles above is just an estimate, and I will check the mileage the next time I walk, which right now I’m not sure when that will be.

Becky, my hostess, had offered to drive for me this week so that I could finish up the gap in my walking.  We drove out and got started at a very reasonable time. It was good to be walking again.

People were a little bit slow in starting to wave, but after an hour or so they began to wave quite vigorously. Being that it was Memorial Day I think many were excited to see someone walking and carrying a flag. They probably figured it was quite the patriotic thing to do.

Becky met me after a few miles, and I got some things I had forgotten from the car. It was quite strange starting out after two weeks off. I couldn’t remember my routine, or what I usually carried with me. Some stuff I had left at the house, so I would have to do without those for today - nothing drastic.

Then as I began walking again I had to make a right turn. As I crossed the street in front of a car that was stopped, the driver made a comment about having a nice day. There was no traffic so I stopped and talked with him for a bit. It turned out he was a bit weird - actually quite strange - and I was only too happy to turn and walk away.

Becky had waited while I was talking with the man, then when I walked on she drove on. Becky was about to embark on an adventure of her own that we all would have preferred wouldn’t have happened.

As I continued walking and waving people were getting pretty excited with their waving and honking at me. I was beginning to feel like I was where I belonged again, and so happy to be on the road walking. As I walked up an overpass on the 117-bypass just after Wal-Mart in Mount Olive, I saw a tow truck coming my way. The driver pulled into the  median, and I thought he was curious about what I was doing. But to my surprise, sitting in the seat beside him was Becky.

She just looked at me and said something like, “Oh, Lyn, I’ve totaled your van.” I walked over to the tow truck then, and looked at her and asked if she was ok. Other than feeling sick at her stomach she was ok. My heart just broke for her as she told me what happened. Ray, the tow truck driver made room for me in the truck, then took us over to the home of a lady he knew. She took us into her home to wait for Becky’s husband, Bob, to come. Her name was Lynn.

Inside we met Greg - I’m pretty sure that was his name. They were very kind to us, got us something to drink and sat and chatted with us, and blessed us.

It was awhile before Bob got there (it’s a forty-minute drive). Becky was so glad to see him, and I imagine he was glad to see her and know that she really was not injured. We said good-bye to Greg  and Lynn, and went with Bob to the towing place.

There I saw Snow White sitting on another tow truck. She was a sad sight indeed, with one wheel off and the whole back driver’s side smashed in where the other car hit, and the other side was also smashed in where she had been pushed into a light pole. The back bumper was off, and one window had popped out.

Another thing I had noticed right away was that the main hit was where the gas tank was located. While I believe that the enemy is trying to stop me from doing this walk, I also believe that God is setting limits on what he can and cannot do, and God did not allow the gas tank to explode.

Ray moved the tow truck with Snow White on it around back in the shade, and lowered her down, and we began to unload stuff from Snow White to Bob and Becky’s van, which Bob had emptied out before he came.

Before we left, the couple in the other car came over to the towing place to make sure we were all ok. They, too, were very sweet.  In spite of all that has happened today, we were very blessed by all the wonderful people that watched over us in Mount Olive, NC.

Back at Bob and Becky’s we unloaded the stuff from their van to tables in the garage. I did some sorting, and Becky and I went for a short walk out by their creek. Tomorrow we’ll be calling our insurance companies, and start the process of coming up with another vehicle.

While it’s been hard, especially for Becky, we did have times of laughter as well. Please pray for Becky and her husband, Bob at this time, as well as the other couple in the accident, they had no injuries either.

Please pray for Dave also since he is far away from all this, but would like to be here by my side at this time - and I would love to have him here by my side.

Praise God with us for all the wonderful people who took us in, and were so kind to us in this little town. In the midst of disaster there were many blessings - and Greg did remind us today to “Count Your Many Blessings.”

So thank you, Lord, that we are all ok; that the only things lost were material things; that no one was really injured; and that You had Your people there to take care of us.

God is good - all the time. All the time - God is good!

(It’s a year later now, and today I am celebrating life - Becky’s life in particular as she was spared in this accident last year.  And for the others who were spared as well. It could have been so much worse. God truly is good all the time!)