Off to Carlsbad!....Or not?

For weeks now, our family has been planning to go with some friends of ours to Carlsbad to see the caverns. Excitement built as the time came closer. The date was marked on the calender: September 24 and we were to come back Saturday evening.

The day arrived and we were all very busy getting ready to leave that afternoon. As Mom and I were doing some last minute cleaning, Jonathan walked in from outside and stated bluntly, "the van won't start." "What?" exclaimed Mom. "Your joking, right?" Jonathan wasn't. Dad had started our van and it refused to start for him.

This presented a huge problem for us. Yes, we had our Suburban (one seat short) and Dad's little car, which seated two, but this was our family vacation! Did we really want to drive four hours out there separately, get there only to split up in different rooms (the hotel didn't have a room for ten) :) and drive back in separate cars. That is not to mention the gas it would take, and the money that it looked like we would have to spend on our van!

We were all discouraged, and upon finding out we could not go, some tears were shed, as others tried to find a way to go anyways. Mom and Dad began calling our friends to let them know that we would not be meeting up with them. It was a disappointment for all of us to say the least. We decided to try renting a van, although the cost was something we didn't really want to spend now. Well, we looked but nobody had a 15 passenger van except for one company who charged $130 dollars a day. That would be a bit much because we would have to keep the van until Moday. So that wasn't happening.

Dad called the tow truck company to come get our van. Then we discovered that the garage could not even take a look at the car, much less fix it, until Monday. It began to really settle in that the Hoppman family would not be going to Carlsbad.

Something that came to mind was, God was probably either protecting us from something, on the trip, keeping us at our home for some reason or maybe we would never know, but Mom and Dad, plus some others, were ready to give up the vacation if it meant God had a bigger, better plan for us. Disappointing? Yes, but we were willing to stay. (I guess we didn't have a choice anyways!)

Seeing that some of the younger ones were not ready to give up the fact that we could not go on this trip Dad and Mom said, "OK, if it is God's will that we go on this trip, why don't we pray that He will find a way to make it happen." (With God, all things are possible!) To take a greater step in faith, Dad decided to take our Suburban and go to the store to buy those few flashlights we still needed for the trip. Josh, Mom, Dad, and I prayed that God's will would happen no matter what we thought should come to pass.

Surprisingly, the tow truck arrived in about a half hour and towed our broken-down-van away.

A short while later, Dad called the tow truck company again, just to let them know the guy was on his way with our van. Apparently, he had already arrived and they were actually able to work on the car that very day, but they mentioned that there was no way they would get it fixed today. Right away they began to work on our big family van. But time was ticking and it was getting further into the day. Dad left to buy our needed flashlights, and Mom and I got some things ready, just in case. While Dad was gone, the repair man called and told us that our van was DONE, and we could come pick it up anytime that was convenient. The house was sent in a flurry of excitement. We were going to Carlsbad after all! God had answered ours, and my younger siblings prayers! There was a funny thing I noticed though. Early that morning, all of us kids, excited to leave, had place our knapsacks and bags by the front door. When we all found out we were not going, all of the bags disappeared back into our rooms. Mom's and Dad's bags however, were put down, ready to go, by the front door, after we found out we were not going. It was a step of faith and they took it! Everyone else, on the other hand , (including myself) quietly slipped our bags back into our rooms and then prayed that the trip would still happen.

What about you? When the time comes that might require you to trust God, will you hide in the back round hoping for the best, or act upon your faith? Yes, sometimes God does not choose to supply our every whim, but sometimes there is a place for this type of childlike faith.



Go on, put those bags by the door.