Day 14: God’s provision – again

as written by Jeff

We woke up at one State Forest campground – Lake Milakokia – and ended our day at another one – Hog Island. These campgrounds are rustic – they don’t have electricity or showers, and only pit toilets – but they are in wonderful settings.

It rained last night, and this morning we praised God that we did not experience a repeat of the Day 8 flood. Our tent did great, in fact, and everyone was dry when they woke up. Hooray! Breakfast was a hearty pancakes and eggs, and then on the road at 11am, to meet Jeff’s friends Dan and Debbie Whitmer at our next destination.  Only 27 miles?  No sweat!

On the way I noticed a lot of “For Sale” signs for property in the Upper Peninsula. Makes me wonder if the economy downstate has affected people’s ability to own property here as well, or if property just doesn’t move very quickly here. At any rate, if you’re looking for waterfront property, the Upper Peninsula sure seems to have an abundance available. You may know that I grew up in rural Indiana until I was 12 years old, and a part of me longs for that kind of life again. But one thing that I’ve been contemplating a lot during this trip is the fact that as a follower of Christ, my life is not my own; I belong to Jesus, and therefore I really want to let Him make the decisions for where we will live and what we will do. It really is in surrendering – not claiming – my rights and desires where I will truly experience real life. That’s been my experience so far, and I trust it will continue to be so.

My prayer, in fact, for this entire trip has been that we would experience God in new and fresh ways. And we really have–especially in the case of every mechanical crisis we’ve experienced. First with the front fork, then with the new tire for our trailer; both were cases where just the right people were available, at just the right times. We don’t have a “sag wagon,” so this whole trip is an experience of living by faith; at any moment something can go terribly wrong, and we could just be stuck.

Well, that something happened again today. Just 5 miles from our destination, after leaving a beautiful scenic overlook of Lake Michigan, Angela’s trailer got a flat. No problem, I thought. Just swap an inner tube, and we have plenty. Oops.  I was wrong.

I had failed to check the tread on the tires of her Burley trailer in any recent inspection, and when I saw the state it was in, I went into a bit of a panic.  The tube failed because the tire was worn through!  We had plenty of extra tubes, but we hadn’t thought to bring extra tires… This trailer had been hauling close to 100 pounds of goods, for over 500 miles, and the miles had taken a toll. I tried using duct tape on the inside, but I knew that might not last at all, so I was really in a pickle. Can’t tow a trailer with only one tire!

Here's the tire... can't believe we didn't notice how worn it was

Here’s the tire… can’t believe we didn’t notice how worn it was

It was around 3:00, and the Whitmers were coming to bring us dinner at 4:00. So, I texted them, asking if they knew of any bike shops around. Yeah, right, I thought. This is about as remote a place in the U.P. as you can get. There’s no way there is a bike shop within miles of here.

Miraculously, they texted back immediately and said there was a bike shop near their town of Newberry! So I gave them the tire specs, and they were able to pick up a couple! Later we found out some interesting particulars to this story:

  • If I had texted them 5 minutes later, they would not have been able to help. They were driving into an area with poor coverage, and by the time they came out of it, there would not have been time to make it to the store.
  • The store owner thought at first he did not have any tires that size, except for a used one that barely had any more tread than the one that just failed. But then on their way out, he glanced over at some heavy-duty Kenda 20″ tires and realized they would do the trick. These tires were more expensive, but they also seem practically bullet-proof. Dan and Debbie took them immediately and were on their way.  These were the last two 20″ tires in the store!

So, God showed up again. Once we knew that they could get the tires, I went to the campsite with the kids and started to set up camp. Dan and Debbie picked up Angela and Lydia, with their bikes and gear, in their Tacoma pickup. And they brought us a feast of hamburgers, watermelon, ice cream with strawberries, and chips. We couldn’t wipe the grins from our faces, not only because our bellies were full of awesome food, but also because we knew we had once again dodged a bullet thanks to God’s provision.

It was so great catching up with Dan and Debbie–I knew Debbie when I first joined staff with Cru back in 1992 and lived in Marquette to raise my initial support. She was part of a single’s bible study group that I became quite attached to. She eventually served in overseas missions for 14 years, and on one of her trips home she met Dan, and they married. She is a physical therapist, and Dan works at the Newberry Prison. Anyway, they now have 5 acres in the middle of the U.P. where they raise chickens, ducks, bees, and a large garden that sounds absolutely amazing. The kids were enthralled with the stories about the things they grow and raise, and it’s now a bucket list item for all of us to stop and visit them at their home.

The evening ended with a time to thank God for His provision, some time at the beach, and a gorgeous sunset to remind us of His marvelous beauty.

David, writing his name in the sand

David, writing his name in the sand

Sunset at Hog Island Campground

Sunset at Hog Island Campground

 

 

One thought on “Day 14: God’s provision – again

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *