Driving the width of Texas is very similar to several things, not the least of which being waiting at the RMV (registry of Motor Vehicles) for someone to call your name, expecting that it will happen at any minute, but it never does, and hours later you find yourself trying to be entertained by some random circumstance like trying to guess the language of the people around  you or attempting to count the number of those whose name have been called before yours.   Thankfully the RMV now has the internet, but Scotty has not actually  invented a usable transporter quite yet.  So  you just wait but it never happens.

It was my turn to drive and the long night nestled over Texas for what seemed like forever.  Around 4 pm it started raining and then raining and then raining.  Soon the rain hit the car so hard that I thought someone had jumped on the car.  Other cars began to move to the side of the road, but not me.  I wouldn’t be stopping.  Texas was already a long enough state to drive through, plus my expert driving skills would help me out.  For over an hour the rain crashed down on us, and I just kept praying for it to stop.  Driving 10 mph had started to get on my nerves.  I sang and prayed and thought about the fact that I didn’t have a girlfriend yet,and I was already 18 years old (What was wrong with me anyway?)  By the time it stopped raining, I remember being a mess mentally, almost shedding a tear because I was so tired of the concentration it took to stay on the road through the storm.  Sweat poured down my forehead, a result of the fear I experienced in the last hour.  Finally it did stop, and all was quiet, and I thanked God for bringing us out safe.

Then one by one, my fellow passengers woke up, each asking me in their own way if I was doing all right driving.  They know how boring the drive through Texas can be. Then I turned on the radio where a news weather report was hitting the airwaves.  Apparently Texas had just come through its worst thunderstorm in 50 years (rainfall in an hour).  Kim and John and Allison all laughed and one quipped…

“Thank God it didn’t rain here in this part of Texas.”

It hardly seems fair sometimes, this life we lead.  As I’ve mentioned before, this last month has been so crazy, I almost can’t believe it.
It’s been 3 days since I’ve been able to find a place to go online, 3 days since I’ve eaten anything, and approximately 3,000 miles of driving.

When I last blogged, I mentioned how I was going to watch part of our service online when Carie and I arrived into Birmingham, Michigan (a suburb of Detroit) from Fremont, Ohio.  We were attending church at my grandfather’s church and had about 15 minutes of viewing time before I had to pack it up and head to service.

So I looked up all the Panera Breads on our route and found that there was one on our path.  This good news brightened my day.  And as I drove toward my destination, I noticed that there was a section ahead on Southfield Rd. in Southfield, Michigan without power.  “Poor peeps,” I thought to myself, knowing the horrendous nature of being without power in these wintrous days.

And then I realized that the Panera Bread I needed to use was also devoid of electricity.  We had to drive another 10 minutes out of our way to join Fellowship for about 8 minutes.

After service and a delightful lunch with my grandparents, Carie and I headed back to Indiana where my parents live.  Another 5 hour drive that turned into 6 because of an accident on the freeway.

On Monday, Carie and I developed two different kinds of sicknesses.  This was hard because we couldn’t really take care of each other, though we tried.  Almost the entire day was spent on the couch attempting to not get more sick than we had been.  “Please God.  Please?”

Tuesday marked our travel day home from Indiana to Massachusetts.  Carie’s health improved, and mine grew worse, keeping me from eating anything except seven french fries to test my future.  We arrived home at 11:00pm on Tuesday night, making our trip about 13.5 hours long.  We were overjoyed to be home in Massachusetts.

And this morning, I awoke cheerful and ready for the day, with only a bit of hunger panes, and …alone.

Carie awoke about 2 hours earlier and she could hardly talk or walk and had been hit hard with the flu bug that she’d been flirting with for the last several days.  Currently I’m trying to take good care of her, but I’m not a good cook, and my own hunger is pretty ravenous.

I say all this to share with you two things:

First, our open invitation New Years Eve Party we are having tonight has been cancelled.  Carie and I have hosted a party every year since 2002-2003, but the sickness this year, compounded by the snow, has devastated the party plans, and we just cannot have it this year.  My apologies to those who were attending, and I hope you have a safe and happy New years!

Second, despite all the stuff that has happened, and despite my focusing on all the negative stuff via my posts (really just because they make for better stories), I am quite confident that God is amazing, and that in 2009 in my life and in the life of the Holmans and Fellowship Church, He is going to use us to bring in His Kingdom!

“Thank You God!  Thank You!”

Hola!  I hope you’re having an amazing Columbus Day.  You can read why we celebrate this explorer/adventurer here.

I have recently returned from the Catalyst Conference in Atlanta and here was my schedule for the weekend:

Friday, 5:30 pm – Catalyst Conference ends.  Begin drive home of 1100 miles.
Saturday, 12:00 pm – Arrive home from long drive with Steve, Al, Billy, and Steve Bramlett.
Saturday, 1:00 pm – After unpacking and chatting with Carie for a bit, I began preparing for a 6:00 pm wedding I was officiating.
Saturday, 2:00 pm – Began searching for my message for Sunday morning @ Fellowship.  It was nowhere to be found on my computer.  So I wrote down a few thoughts I had and prayed a lot.
Saturday, 4:00 pm – began to prepare for the wedding (ironing clothes, polishing shoes, etc…)
Saturday, 4:30 pm – Nap time.
Saturday, 5:15 pm – wake up and finish dressing.
Saturday, 5:20 pm – drive to the wedding.
Saturday, 6:00 pm – Wedding time!
Saturday, 10:00 pm – Leaving the wedding reception.
Saturday, 10:30 pm – Sweet sleep.  I was about to drop.
Sunday, 4:14 am – Wakie, wakie, eggs and bacie!  And immediately begin preparing for Sunday morning @ Fellowship.
Sunday, 10:30 am – Sunday Morning @ Fellowship!
Sunday, 1:30 pm – Drive to Malta, NY to celebrate Tina’s Birthday
Sunday, 4:30 pm – Party with Carie, Jessica, Tom, Tina, Ray, Joanna, Steve, Amy, and several others.
Sunday, 8:00 pm – Watched The Patriots get their world rocked.
Sunday, 12:00 am – Finally get to go to bed!

It’s been such a crazy last several days.  I love it!  And today is relax day, enjoying my wife and a few friends in New York!  Tomorrow I have a great idea I’ll be blogging about. At least to me it’s a great idea.  You can judge for yourself.

What are you doing to celebrate Christipher?

If I was tired before, now I have a short term case of insomnia.  I have just arrived into Albany and am about to lay down my weary head at the home of my friend Ray.

One of the coolest things about this trip was the time I got to spend with Ray.  Ray and I have been friends since January of 2003 and even lived together for a short time before he got married to Joanna in October 2004.  He is the man,and I totally appreciate his willingness to go with me. Maybe he’s travelling at the speed of love too, who knows. (no smart comments please)

So I should probably go to bed, even though I’m a bit wired and totally tired.  After attending Lonnie’s dad’s funeral, we spent a short, but quality amount of time with the Snells (pictures coming tomorrow [or today actually]), and then after that time, we took off again, driving through rain much of the time, but other than that, it was quite uneventful.  But if you want to find out any of those unevents, you can always check out my updates on Twitter.By the way, Jeff posted a comment in my last post that you should read.  It’s a nice take on travelling at the speed of love.

I’ll write more and post pictures tomorrow!  Good night.