THE BIBLE & THE FLASHLIGHT

I loved making trips to my grandmother's house in Arkansas, and so did my friends. Depending on what friend would be with me, would determine what kind of trip I was going to have. Example, with one friend, we could usually expect paranormal events to take place from the spiritual world. With another friend, we would take outrageous and almost unbelievable and hilarious unbelievable adventures . Our Arkansas trips ALWAYS turned into good stories to share with others later on. God does have an awesome sense of humor. He even chooses my friends for me...all so different but lovable.

When my funds and business calendar would allow, I along with a friend or sister would plan a trip to the lighthouse in Arkansas for some good rest and relaxation time. We always looked forward to a visit with my grandmother and of course hear her repeated stories of her youth. It was NORMALLY an 8 hour drive from my home in Louisiana to Arkansas at that time. There were no interstates then, just two lane winding roads with lots of slow moving traffic. We started out around 3pm on this Friday.

I was a pro at packing and so it only it took me maybe a total of 20 minutes to pack and be ready to leave. I also encouraged everyone to pack light also. I was ready to go to the car...WHEN the Holy Spirit instructed me "Take your bible and a flashlight." Now these were two items that were always in my car on any given trip. However, I decided to go get new batteries for the flashlight, JUST IN CASE. I knew that something unusual was going to happen during this trip because of the extra reminder from The Holy Spirit.

Leaving earlier than our usual time would let us get to Arkansas sooner than we normally would. I called grandmother and told her the approximate time to expect us. She would be waiting for our arrival. The friend with me was partially blind and loved to ride and take in all of the scenery. The 8 hour trip was usually filled with laughter and listening to our gospel music or tapes. It always went by fast, and before you knew it, we were at our destination...NOT THIS TIME.

Before I started letting friends go with me, I had never gotten lost. I had my route and usually stuck with that plan. There was no need for maps, but I was a just in case person. With that said, maps of the different states could be found in my car.

Into a now 4 hour trip, NOTHING looked familiar. We were getting alot of detours to roads that weren't even on our maps because of road construction. We should have been in Shreveport Louisiana by now, but we were not. I had this gut feeling that we were lost and in trouble. That friend took out a map. I assumed that she was a pro at reading one, but later to my surprise, I would find out it to be the opposite. During these long hours of driving, there weren't any road signs to be seen to let us know where we were, or where we might want to go. Just pitch black darkness. Nothing was lit up with lights. It looked like my friend and I were also the only vehicle on the road. Worry started to kick in. It was now around 11 hours and we were no way where we needed to be. We were definitely lost, but where?

We were extremely low on gas and also in desperate need to find a restroom. It was now Saturday morning around 2 am ,no longer Friday. I knew by this time, that grandmother was probably was real worried by now. She could always depend on me like clockwork on my arrival time. I just said a simple prayer for her not to call our homes because of her concern. Finally, we found this old gas station. I pulled up, and naturally it was closed for the rest of the week. A sign was posted "Wolf puppies for Sale". With our plan to stop and relieve ourselves, this was not a good thing to read. Sure enough, here comes a pack of dogs...or were they? That's when the Holy Spirit reminded me to get out my bible and the flashlight, but they were both in the rear trunk of the car. I definitey needed extreme faith to get out with those dogs roaming nearby. We began to pray "Lord blind the eyes of those dogs and not let them see us." We were going to have to get out for this bathroom break. We did, and it was done fast. It seemed like a bright light just flooded over us during this private time. I thought great, "Now the dogs will definitely see us". They didn't and then I hurriedly got the the bible and the flashlight afterwards. Together we began to pray and wait on the Lord to give us scripture to read and guide us. Only God knew where we were, and only God could get us to the next gas station that would be open in his timing. The following scripture was given to us, and by flashlight we read it together.

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Proverbs 3-6 (KJV)

We were definitely waiting and depending on God to help us. It was now around 6 am and finally a car was scene passing on the highway in front of us. At 7 am we took a giant leap of faith believing that we would have enough gas to get us to the nearest open station. We prayed and then started the car. Within maybe 1 block, from where we had been parked for several hours, t was ta brightly lit up gas station. A welcomed aroma of freshly baked biscuits was in the air as I pulled up to the gas pump. Before turning off the motor, I then noticed that the fuel gauge showed 1/4 registered. I just laughed...it had shown empty with the flashing red warning lights earlier. I was sure God had something to do with that. (smile)

We purchased some biscuits along with the needed gas. We also found out that we were now in Jasper Arkansas. I might add the top of the map of Arkansas, too many miles north of where we needed to be. We shared our story with the worker, and she laughed along with us. We also got accurate directions to get to grandmother's house from there. 21 hours later we drove up to that lighthouse. I was going to let my friend tell grandmother WHY we were so late. She said that she didn't know what to say. As my friend entered ahead of me, grandmother could be heard saying "I don't know where those girls are!" My friend replied "We are the girls, we are finally here" I asked the Lord what my explanation was going to be. Out of my mouth I said "Little Mother, all I can say is that it is getting harder and harder to get to grandmaw's house." We would go rest for a little while. When we would get up, we would then tell her the whole story. Like always, it did end up being an interesting adventure..

My grandmother had an interesting saying "Something good can always come out of something bad, but nothing bad can ever come out of something good."

The revelation to me from thise trip was, without God and His word, we would probably be still driving blindly trying to find our way home. His word and that flashlight gave us hope when nothing but darkness surrounded us.

On the flip side, my friend turned out to be dyslexic, blind and couldn't read a map any better than I did. She got to ride a long..............ride and I got tested on my patience level...........We both passed the test and are still friends. Two years later, I pulled out that map to see EXACTLY what our course had been...Yes, we still laugh today about it. We had made a complete circle from the bottom of Louisiana to the tree tops of Jasper Arkansas. I still have that map .. Enjoy...

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