We made a quick trip to Bay City yesterday. Had to do some running around related to Chris becoming executor of her mother's estate. It has never been settled even a year and a half after she died. I for one am so ready for all this to be over with.
Our drive home was the exciting part of the journey. We were trying to get to Galveston before the line of thunderstorms that was rapidly approaching. Didn't quite make it. Somewhere on 2004 between Lake Jackson and Hitchcock the bottom dropped out of the sky. Didn't take long before the rain was making just a little bit more noise than it should. We started paying closer attention and pretty soon we could see the hail pellets bouncing off the hood. Most of them were pea-sized, so it wasn't too bad. But some of what was hitting the roof sure sounded larger than that. When Chris was finally able to speed up wee managed to get just ahead of it. In fact by "just ahead" I mean "only just." We got stopped by a red light in Hitchcock at Highway 6 and within seconds the hail was back. That's a long light, too, especially when you're watching the hail accumulate all around you. By the time the light turned green we were right in the middle of the fray. It stayed with us all the way to Interstate 45.
Once we got on the freeway we thought maybe we could outrun it again. Traffic was much slower than usual, but it was still moving pretty well. And the hail was still coming down. At one point it got a little more intense and suddenly we were facing a string of red lights ahead of us. People were pulling over to stop under the overpass we were approaching. Fine. That would give us an opportunity to get around them. But no. By the time we got to the overpass the parking lane was full. Three cars were stopped in the inside lane directly in front of us. We pulled up behind the last car in line, thinking that they would move on. But they didn't. They couldn't because the cars in front of them wouldn't. And then the cars in the middle lane began to stop. And then the outside lane. And then the stopping lane on the outside. Traffic was at a standstill with everyone trying to huddle together under the overpass. I'm all for getting to know your neighbor, you know, being close friends and all. But that was a little ridiculous. We were wondering just how long it would take for someone behind us to blink or glance at the hail for just long enough to crash into the last car, which would start a chain reaction wreck that would keep everyone out in the rain for hours. It didn't take long for the cars that had to stop in the hail to start honking, though. And finally even the cars in front of us started to see the folly of stopping in a lane of traffic on a major freeway, even if there was a hailstorm going on. Slowly the cars began to twist their way back onto the freeway and into the storm, until finally we were able to make a break for it as well. We figured that all we had to do was make it over the causeway and the hail would probably stop. We did. And it did. So good to be back on the island.
1 Peter 4:12-13 says, "Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed."
Father, please somehow communicate to Mom that the end result of her suffering now will allow her to appreciate your glory so much more. I know it's not the same as it was for the folks Peter was talking to, but she could sure use one of your special encouragement hugs. Amen.
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