Well, we have now been in Texas for a little over a week. So much has happened this past week, it seems more like a month. We flew out of BWI on Saturday, the 19th, and arrived in Houston about 1:00 in the afternoon.
After grabbing some lunch on the way back from the airport, we headed for Liz and Charles’ house to relax for a little while. They had plans to take us to Kemah and meet up with Charles’ family for dinner. However, once again, God had other plans.
Two days before we left for Houston, Paul had smashed his thumb pretty badly in a car door. By the time we arrived at Liz’s house on Saturday, it was looking pretty nasty, and Liz thought he should get it looked at. Therefore, Paul and Charles and I spent the next 3-4 hours in the emergency room at the VA in downtown Houston. They x-rayed the thumb to make sure it wasn’t broken, but did nothing to treat the swelling. The P.A. said to put ice on it, and that the blood would re-circulate on its own. Although it was frustrating to wait all that time for nothing, it did give us an opportunity to pray for the other people in the emergency room.
The rest of the weekend was pretty uneventful. We had a nice visit with Charles’ family in the afternoon, and had a chance to play Clue with Liz and Charles and Charles’ brother and sister in the evening. Of course, the highlight of the weekend was spending time with our precious patata, Genevieve.
We left Houston about 10:30 Monday morning to drive to Temple. Paul and I went to Mass and breakfast first, in an attempt to avoid rush hour traffic in downtown Houston. However, there was a terrible accident on I-45, and traffic was practically at a standstill for about an hour.
To make matters worse, the air conditioning in the car had gone up and was blowing out hot air. We eventually turned off the AC and opened the windows, but with temperatures in the 90’s and no air moving because of the backup the car quickly became a sauna.
I’m afraid that I was way too focused on how hot I was, and I did a lot of complaining. Paul, on the other hand, had the right idea. As soon as he saw that there was an accident, he started praying the Divine Mercy chaplet for those in the crash. He also led us in the rosary and the chaplet for the sick and dying. As soon as we finished the second chaplet, the traffic cleared (right in front of the St. Joseph Medical Center), and we started moving again. Although the ride through Houston was quite an ordeal, Paul and I both felt that God had placed us there for a reason. We never saw the accident, but I later learned that someone died in it.
Because of the heat, we made several stops, so it was about 5:00 in the evening by the time we arrived in Temple. We were hot and exhausted, but we were very thankful to finally be “home.” We did not have any furniture yet, so we spent the next few days eating meals at the kitchen counter and sleeping on the floor.
On Thursday, we took the car to a local repair shop to get the AC looked at. Unfortunately, it was not going to be a simple job, so we had to leave the car overnight. Thankfully, the owner of the shop lent us a car, so that we could get home and get to anywhere we needed to go.
While we were at the repair shop, the moving company called to say that our stuff would be arriving on either Friday or Saturday, and that the truck driver would call us about 30 minutes prior to arrival. Our delivery window was Sept. 20-Oct. 5, so I was thankful that the actual delivery was going to be earlier rather than later. We had already scheduled an appointment to get our internet hooked up on Friday, plus the car would probably be ready sometime that afternoon, but I trusted God to work out all the details.
The cable technician came about 10:30 Friday morning, and we were finally able to connect to the internet again. Shortly after the technician left, I got another call from the moving company saying that the truck would arrive between 3 and 5 that day.
About 2:30 that afternoon, a thunderstorm popped up out of nowhere, and it started to pour. About 2:45 the truck driver called and said that he was 15 minutes away. When the truck arrived, it was like a monsoon outside our apartment.
The movers decided to wait a few minutes to see if the rain would let up, so I took that opportunity to pray the Divine Mercy chaplet. As soon as I finished praying, the driver knocked on the door, and he and his helper began bringing in our furniture and boxes. By that time, the rain had dwindled to just a drizzle and eventually stopped altogether. God had been merciful once again. Within 2 to 3 hours, the movers had everything unloaded and were on their way.
Almost as soon as the movers left, the owner of the repair shop called to say that the car was ready. I was amazed by how well the day had gone. It was clear to me that God had been with us, perfectly orchestrating every detail of the day.
After the movers left I was a little overwhelmed with the amount of stuff, but we’re slowly working our way through the boxes. Since we will hopefully be moving into a house in about 6 months, I probably won’t bother unpacking some of the stuff, but I still need to figure out a place to put the boxes in the meantime. Please pray for me that I can stay focused and not get overwhelmed.
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