Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: FRESH (04/29/21)
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TITLE: Fresh Fingerprints | Previous Challenge Entry
By Holly Westefeld
05/06/21 -
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In January I made discounted airline reservations for April to visit family and friends in four cities in Texas, planning to travel by bus on two of the shorter segments of the trip. In early March, one of my intended stops was canceled due to ongoing concern about the coronavirus, so I reapportioned my time in the three remaining locations. Shortly after that, just a couple of hours before the conclusion of another airfare sale, a news report made me realize that replacing the remaining bus trip with a flight might cost a bit more, but would be much faster and more secure than weaving through every little town for six hours. I was able to secure a midday nonstop flight, avoiding peak traffic times in both cities for only $50!
In the meantime, my husband and I had been planning a road trip to visit our three children and their families. Unfortunately, long hours driving combined with varied sleeping arrangements left my husband with significant low back pain. It just so happened, though, that there was a chiropractic clinic offering steeply discounted care to military personnel and their families. A couple of treatments had him up to enjoying a day at the aquarium.
Our daughter was doing the ninety minute drive to the aquarium. After we were already to a rural area, she realized that she had not filled up the gas tank as she had intended, so she pulled off once we got to an exit with a gas station. Naturally, the kids both needed the restroom, so it was at least fifteen minutes before we got back on the highway. Before long, what had been light intermittent rain became a nearly blinding deluge. We came across not one, but two recent accidents. There was no doubt in my spirit that the timing of that pit stop had been no coincidence, that we might well have been in harm's way had she remembered to gas up ahead of time.
After several hours walking at the aquarium, another half day of travel, followed with a day at the zoo, my husband's back was in need of more TLC. The first challenge was finding a chiropractor both open and having availability on the Saturday before Easter. Not only did we find one, but upon entering the office we were delighted to find Christian music playing. The ultimate blessing, though, was the doctor opting to wave the first visit cost for evaluating a new patient, only charging us for a regular office visit. A second visit had my husband prepared for the trip home.
The day after we returned, I left for Texas. My first stop was to celebrate a dear friend's 92nd birthday. I had noticed, chatting on the phone, that her memory was not what it used to be, but being with her for several days made me realize what a blessing it was to have extended my visit with her when the one stop had been dropped from my itinerary. I learned that much of her mindset is stalled ten to twelve years ago.
The day after I traveled to my second stop, my third stop asked me to postpone time there as well. I could simply have returned home early, but opted to extend my stay in city two, where I was able to be of some additional help, and had more time to get acquainted with some brothers and sisters in Christ, whose significance in one another's lives has yet to be seen.
Prior to our road trip, my husband had placed an online order for a Christian/superhero T-shirt, but didn't notice that two had processed in the cart. When we returned, he gave the extra one to our youth pastor. A couple of weeks later, our pastor arrived for a memorial service and realized he had missed the detail that many people would be wearing superhero shirts. He placed an urgent call to the youth pastor to ask if he had one he could borrow. He did, right on his desk, the "extra" one my husband had ordered by "mistake".
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