Part 2
After 23 nights of our holiday in the Western Cape I landed up doing something I promised my husband I would not do on day 1 of the 23 days. When I agreed to this on day 19 I couldn’t believe the words left my mouth! I was going to drive on the N2 from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth by myself with four kids only four days before Christmas. Again it was one of those moments where I took a step back and decided to be obedient and honor God.
This might sound funny but I believe God did wonderful things for my husband during this time and although I can’t pin point it now, I know I will see the fruits of our sacrifices.
Back to the road trip. I decided to do the trip over two days due to the time of year and I decided to take the scenic route instead of the N2.
Seriously???? What was I thinking? The scenery was nice for the first 30km and after that I didn’t even care where I was I just wanted to get out of there. That road was so busy, a trip that usually takes us an hour to Hermanus took me 2 hours and 30 minutes. The trip from Cape Town to George, where I decided to spend the night would normally take around four hours and it took us seven hours! Bumper to bumper all the way. After I reached Hermanus I decided to head back to the N2 in hope that it will be better but it wasn’t! I was irritated, my kids were irritated and so was all my co drivers in front and behind me. I won’t share my thoughts and feelings towards my husband that day, but it wasn’t all good and supportive 😁
Once we got to George I was stiff and tired. I really had to concentrate on the road! The kids wanted Burger King for supper and I quickly found one on Google Maps. Too tired to remove the trailer, I decided to go there with it.
BIG MISTAKE!
I misjudged the curb stone and took the turn a little wide, only to drive over it and brake the black plastic protector (sorry I’m a girl, I have no clue what it’s called) on the inside around the tyre as well as chipped my tyre down to the wires sticking out! I got such a fright, as did my kids. I left the black piece of my car on the side of the road and just parked the car. I wanted to cry...... but I didn’t. We went inside to get the food and I’m sure there were people looking at me thinking “shame, this poor woman with four little kids running around like they’ve got ants in their pants, where is the husband?” I couldn’t wait to get out of there.... I didn’t really blame the kids, they spent 7 hours in the car and we were not prepared for that! I have to prepare my kids mentally for what’s to come. Anyway so we left and two of my kids ran into each other and the baby fell face first in the road! Again all these people staring at me, the crazy driver with four kids, me not knowing where to take and where to let go. Standing there with 5 packets of food, 5 soda’s, a child lying in the road.... I just want to scream and run at the same time. When we finally got to the car I just placed my hands on the wheel and before I could stop myself ranted on the kids on how their behavior was so bad. After my little screaming session I got every ounce of courage to call my husband and tell him I lost a perfectly fine tyre.
Again, I wanted to cry but I didn’t. I straightened myself out and made the call. Now while explaining to him what had happened I felt a little bit of guilt for carrying on the way I did 5 minutes earlier with the kids. My husband made me go back and collect the big black plastic part that broke off, his words: “just Incase we need it” and I’ve never felt so embarrassed in my life. Again me in front of what seemed like the entire George climbing over plants, four kids hanging out the windows and doors, picking up my piece of car I broke while driving over a pavement! I mean really? 🙈
When we finally got back to the Lodge I just wanted to take a long bath and forget about the day. Once we were all clean and had full bellies we were lying on the bed and the kids were watching a movie. I was having conversations with God in my mind.
It went a little like this:
Me: “Why God? I’ve been patient, I’ve been supportive, I’ve been obedient to everything You have asked me, why couldn’t the day just go smooth?” So I was ranting and raving in my mind, making a million little statements that were all valid. I closed with this - “So God, where is my silver lining in today? “
As always God is so patient and so gentle. He did not rant and rave and He did not give me a million answers for my million questions. Instead he only gave me one sentence. He said: “look to your left.”
Oh my goodness, when I looked to my left all four my kids were lying there, probably the most beautiful picture I have ever seen and I realized how incredibly blessed I was. I saw how God took us through so many difficult circumstances in just that one day and He kept us safe! He placed us in a bubble and no matter what happened we were always together and always safe. My silver lining!!!! Wow, God is good! I cried, this time I really couldn’t help myself. I was in awe of this gift from God.
No matter what we go through, no matter what we face, if God is with you who can be against you? He has my back and He never leaves me. The world carries on and yes we will have good days and bad days, we will have long days but He is always there, the one consistent thing that remains.
I once again went to bed with peace and joy in my heart ❤️
To be continued.....
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