I’ve wanted to write a post for months, but life has been so busy I never could sit down with my thoughts. There are numerous things to write about, like Noah’s flood and the current transgender trainwreck/movement.

However, I’ve been on the road with Ryan. We are figuring out our future and what it looks like while being in eachother’s face 24 hours a day in a semi-truck. The most recent event that left me astonished for a long time was worth writing about.

Ryan and I have never had the “lovey-dovey” phase in our relationship as we spent our “courting” days interrogating each other in the long distance. Once we got married, we went from a long-distance relationship where we saw each other on weekends (most of the time) to me riding along in a semi-truck with nowhere to go. I’ve been having a blast hanging out with my best friend listening to sermons, podcasts, and discussing important topics.

Everyone says, “They’re newlyweds,” which would explain why we are still having fun and can handle living in a small box together. Do I know it is naive to think it will always be this way? Kind of. However, treating each other with kindness and patience is also a choice even when you don’t want to. It is a choice not to work together and not put the other first. It is a choice to not serve in little ways like fixing the other coffee or not making a sandwich for lunch. For years before meeting Ryan and leading up to the wedding, I asked everyone for marital advice. Someone told me, “People say marriage is hard, but I find it is only hard when Christ is no longer the center, and you start focusing on yourselves. That’s when it is hard.”

I have been out on the road for three weeks now, and it was not until a few days ago it began taking its toll out of tight space and exhaustion.

I am not sharing the following to overshare about my marriage but to share God’s continuous hand in our lives.

We had been bickering the last few days and got into a huge fight yesterday that could’ve changed some things we had plans for if we let it. There seemed to be no promising way to get back to where we started in this situation.

We were at a truck stop last night and walked a bit (after earlier walking separately…). Again, a semi-truck is like a bigger version of the ‘get-along shirt’.

While at the truck stop, a bird decided to use the bathroom on my arm where there was no sign of birds anywhere, and Ryan graciously cleaned it off with a leaf. We both chuckled at the ridiculous metaphor of the day.

While cleaning my arm in the bathroom, I thought of a sermon by Paul Washer about getting out of God’s way and letting Him do the fighting. I know I posted about it in blog form at some point before ever meeting Ryan.

I walked outside and asked Ryan to hold my hand (while mad), and while walking, a man stopped us and asked if we were married and said how nice it is to see couples holding hands because he never sees it anymore.

I almost burst into tears and simply said, “thank you so much”. If only he knew what was happening.

It lifted us a bit, and we kept walking. On the second lap, we smiled, and he stopped to ask if we were truck drivers and mentioned how nice it was that we spent time together.

Ok. It’s at this point I cannot hold it in anymore. I told him what a blessing it was he said that without saying much more than we both needed it and that he was an angel sent by God.

After I told him this, he said, “Well, you’re going to have your arguments, but you’re holding hands still, and that’s right.” He added that he was a truck driver, and his wife ran off with a guy from the church.

That was sobering to hear for both of us and made our disagreements shrink so fast.
The specific words he used and the fact we ‘happened’ to run into him at the exact time it was needed was God fighting for us.

We got out of the way, and God fixed what we were screwing up.

We both softened the first time we ran into the man, and the second time I burst into tears when we returned to the truck. I almost hugged him but rethought, hugging random men at truck stops.

I am thankful to have found someone with my intensity. However, Ryan mentioned the intensity when we got back in the truck. I responded, “It is fine when we are working together, but when we aren’t …” Ryan added, “It’s Hiroshima”.

I literally just sat and stared for a while after dwelling on how fast God fixed what seemed unfixable. Grace.

Three months down. A lifetime to go.

“Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: For thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” -Hebrews 13:2