If you know me, there is one thing you should know about me. I hate to drive. Loathe it. I was never fascinated with driving like some people are and then when I was 12ish my sister who was 16ish had three pretty serious wrecks, 2 of which I was in the passenger seat for. Not anything to send anyone to the hospital for (although the one without me involved rolling the vehicle), but enough for me to be like Ugh! I don't like cars. I also don't like speed. I ride my brakes when I bike, I was terrified of going downhill skiing etc and while I normally am able to separate that from driving, if I let it, it can get to me.. I have said repeatedly that if we ever win the lotto one thing I truly want is a driver so that I never have to drive again. While I am not a city person and could never be a city person I do envy their mass transit. If I lived in the city I would never need to drive and that would be alright by me. Do you get that I cannot stand driving? It's a fact of life in the country so I do it and I wouldn't say I'm a menace to the roads or anything it's just something I wish wasn't part of my daily life.
All that said, I willingly drove 6 hours today for my kids. I had hoped by scheduling on a Saturday my Josh would not have to work but trying to save money for adoption means saying yes to overtime. Josh got home at about 7:30 this morning, ate his dinner, took his shower, and got back in the car at 8:45. But when he got in the car it was to sleep because he had to leave for work tonight at 6. So I took my coffee, my Sanctus Real, David Crowder Band, Lady Antebellum and Zac Brown Band cds and off we went. One of the things that I think does make driving tolerable is being able to chat. I like getting into deep conversations with the person sitting beside me or if I'm alone talking on the phone. But if the person next to you is trying to sleep in the comfy-for-riding-not-for-sleeping seat next to you, you can't do either. You keep your music low, your eyes on the road and just drive. So drive I did.
All the way to Leo, Indiana. It's up north of Fort Wayne. There we had our first interview with Gateway Woods for our home-study. It was pretty basic, signing paperwork, discussing adoption basics and paying our down payment. We got a giant list of questions to answer individually and email back before we have our home visit. All in all it was a good meeting, I learned a few things, feel even more secure in the choice of GW, and after about an hour drove another 3 hours home while Josh snored beside me. After all of that driving, I can still firmly say I hate driving but I will also say that I would drive by myself without even the radio for company across the world if it meant I could bring my kids home sooner or safer. I am so glad that we are making progress! I know waiting will be difficult but at least I'll be waiting, currently I'm waiting to wait!
Life is full of trials such as going to work on sleep in the passenger seat of the car or buckling up in the driver's seat even though it's the last place you want to be, but with God directing our ways, I know someday soon I will be unable to imagine a time before my children came home. May God drive away all of your troubles today and may you feel His mighty strength. God bless!
2 Corinthians 4:8 We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair.
