Sept 11, 2010

Honoring and remembering  those we lost!

Having never ridden a greyhound bus before I had no idea what to expect. We were taken by cab into Memphis past Biehl Street.The lighted buildings created a glow in the darkness of night as people scurried from club to club. Arriving to the bus station which was small but filled with people from all walks of life I observed children laying on the dirty floor, heads propped up on backpacks, parents standing besides them as we made our way to and empty bench to wait for the ticket window to open. The place was filthy and unfortunately I had to use the bathroom and I wont even share the filth that was in there. Finally with our tickets in hand we waiting in line for our bus to arrive. Behind us in line was a very young couple ( who looked to be about 14 or 15 years old) carrying backpacks that held bedrolls and a tiny tent.  They were friendly and we soon struck up a conversation with then and discovered they were in their 20's and we just taking an adventure for about three weeks before college started. They shared with us how nice people had been to them and how when they felt dismayed things always seemed to work out. It was our opportunity to share our faith with them. The young girl shared with me that when she left home she wasn't sure whether she believed or not but as she was traveling and things began happening she realized these were not coincidences but something great than that and then she showed me a gold ring that bore a cross that someone had given her at the truck stop she was at earlier in the day. She then proclaimed she  knew that there was a GOD.. I shared with her the things that God had provided us with over the last few  months and how faithful his love is everyday. What an overwhelming feeling to see someone accept Jesus and what and awesome God we have. We then boarded our bus and she sat across the isle from me trying to get comfortable by using her backpack as a pillow. Knowing she hadn't rested her head on a pillow for a few weeks I tossed her mine to use and with in minutes she was sound asleep.  Unfortunately I was never able to get myself comfortable and thought the bus ride would never end. We finally arrived in Van Buren 5 hours later. A shuttle took us to the terminal and we couldn't wait to get our truck and start rolling again but that was not to be the plan as we soon out- the truck we were there to pick up was in the shop and wouldnt be ready until Monday at 9 pm  We were then shuttled to Meadors Hotel for the weekend.