Traveling Mercies

When we pray for our family members who are traveling long distances, we tend to take for granted that everything will go smoothly. For my family this week that has not been the case, and we are reminded that there are bits of life that are hard to swallow.
My brother-in-law, sister, niece, and nephew-in-law of a few days headed from Upland, Indiana to Charlotte, North Carolina with a borrowed pick-up truck loaded with the newly-weds belongings and accompanied by my niece’s Camry. I don’t know the details, but the truck broke down near Beckley, West Virginia. Three of them finally traveled to Charlotte in the car, leaving my brother-in-law behind to arrange for towing and repairs. Poor guy had a grueling time, but he has finally made it to Charlotte.
I checked on the status of the train carrying my mother, sister, and brother-in-law to California on Amtrak’s webpage. According to the status report, they will arrive in Los Angeles about 7 hours later than the 8:15 a.m. official arrival time. Long day yet for them before they get home.
On a brighter note, my husband’s sister called this morning to report that her husband who has Parkinson’s stated yesterday that he wanted to walk. We have not seen him walk more than two steps in over a year. The nursing home aides supported his arms, but he made it to the door of his room, maybe a dozen steps.
We are in no position to help these folks. They have to depend on God to give them the stamina to get thru the hard places. We would like to “help” God fill their bowls, but He is in charge.