Picture of our new home in TX pictures put together to form panoramic view by Fran Meservy
"Take Me Home Country Roads" by John Denver from CD "Greatest Hits"
Home At Last
Beginning November 2005 we started trying to move back to TX. We gave up in April 2006 after we ran out of money. No matter what we tried, it would not come together.
We really wanted to live in Livingston but there was never anything that suited us available to rent.
If we wanted to own, we wanted to put it on our land just south of Dallas that was already paid for. All the utilities were there. When we tried to put something on it, the cost that was supposed to be $48,000 kept going up. After 3 months, the cost was up to $75,000 and still rising. We pulled the plug and only lost $500. The company we were dealing with were obviously not reputable.
We were so close to moving that time that I had the whole house packed except the necessities in the Kitchen and bathroom. I already had the utilities scheduled to be turned off and a temporary place to live while we waited for our house. I had to call everyone to stop the turn offs and unpack everything.
We decided God did not want us to move yet. We had no idea why but the door was obviously closed and we could not open it. We decided to wait on the Lord. He would let us know when and where to move.
My Mom was so ticked off that we were not moving that it was unreal. I tried to explain it to her but I don't think I ever could get her to understand. All she knew was that she wanted us to live close enough to visit her often. False expectations are usually the biggest cause for anger. Since I had packed, she expected the move to happen.
My health had been declining since I had the stroke in Feb 1999. I could only drive myself to the store about once or twice a month because I felt light headed or the earth felt like it was moving under my feet or something. I was in pain more and more because there was no cartilage in my knees and there was not pain in my shoulders that was as bad as my knees.
I was slowing down more and more because of the pain and earthquakes (felt like the earth was moving). Al started paying someone to clean our house twice a month. It looked like we were going to live in MS the rest of our lives and we might as well just accept it. Our family was scattered between Houston and Dallas. We wanted to be closer but accepted that we were not going to be. My health and Al's health made it so we would have to hire someone to move us if we ever had enough money to go look for a place.
On top of everything else, there were never any ads in the Livingston paper for anything to rent. In fact there were no ads at all in the on line paper.
If God ever wanted us to move again, he would have to also provide the way.
On August 13th I woke up with the urge to go to TX and see my Mom. Her birthday was on the 15th. I wanted to go alone and just visit for a couple of weeks and then come back home. I just felt energized like I could do it. Al said OK if you really think you can do it. It was 10 to 11 hours (according to how many stops I made) to my Mom's house. I promised Al I would stop and get a motel if I got tired.
On the 14th of Aug. I loaded the car and left for TX.
It was 104 deg. by the time I got into LA. I saw three men beside the road. One was throwing up. Their car hood was up and the other two were trying to take care of the man who was sick. It looked like he was into heat exhaustion. I stopped at the next exit and borrowed a phone at the truck stop to call 911. I told them where the men were and they sent someone to help.
I had to go to the ladies room several miles later and pulled off at a Citgo station. They did not have a bathroom but said the El Chico across the street did. I went across the street and ordered a diet coke to go. I used their ladies room and when I came out to get the soda, they would not let me pay for it. It was on the house.
I started to feel really tired just past Shreveport and was thinking about getting a room when I realized I had not eaten since I left home. I am diabetic and that is a big no no. I stopped at a loves truck stop and bought a sandwich at Arby's.
While I was eating I overheard a conversation a woman was having with someone. She told them her husband had just gotten out of the hospital in Tyler TX from a stroke against his doctor's orders. He had to be in DE in two days or he would lose his job and they did not know how to get there. It was 104 degrees, the car in their AC was broke and they were going into heat exhaustion. Evidently whoever she was talking to could not help them.
I motioned them to come over to the seats next to me and told them about a trick that I had learned about putting ice in a neckerchief and tying it so it would keep the carotid arteries cool. That would keep the blood going to their brains cool. They could also take a cloth hat put ice in it and then put another cloth hat into that. The ice in the caps would cool their heads down quickly. I learned those tricks when we were sailing in Galveston bay and it was really hot.
She said she was just going to drive to the ocean and then go north to DE. I told her that was the long hot way and there was no way they could make it in 3 day must less 2. I got my atlas out of the car and showed her that if she went north from Birmingham AL to Chattanooga TN then east on 40 that it would take her into DE in half the time and it would be a much cooler route. It would still be touchy about getting there in 2 days. I said a little prayer for them as they left.
I wanted to take the short cut to 59 S but when I tried I ended up back on I 20 again. God must have known something I did not know. That only added 30 minutes to my drive. I arrived at my Mom's at 9 PM that night. I was only an hour late (12 hours on the road) and even though I felt tired, I did not feel exhausted or like I had over done.
I had only been there a few days when Al called and said there was an ad in the Livingston paper about a duplex for rent. He could not believe it (remember no ads) and gave me the address to go look at them and see what I thought. They were 10 minutes from Mom's house.
I was just about to leave and go to the beauty-shop with Mom. We were going to get hair cuts and then give each other perms. My brother Sam was there visiting. His 3 year old and wife had just laid down for a nap. I did not want Mom to get her hopes up so Sam and I dropped Mom off at the beauty-shop and we drove to the duplexes. They were really nice and located on a cal-d-sac. We went back to pick Mom up and had our hair cuts.
When I got back to Mom's I called Al. He called the number to see if I could see inside. Two minutes later the landlord called me and said I could look at them if I could be there in 10 minutes. I just went out the door and met him. When I stepped into the apartment I felt like I was at home. It was a little smaller than the duplex we were in but the way it was laid out it looked like all our stuff would just fall in place.
I told Don we had no money to give him until the 1st and that we would have to pay the deposit $300 in 3 payments in order to take it.
He said he had 5 other applicants that wanted to move in now and he usually didn't do things that way but he would do it for us.
I asked him if we could sleep in the house on the 30th and move in on the 31st because if we could get the U-haul back by Friday, we would save several hundred dollars. He said he didn't usually do that but he would do that for us.
No matter what I asked him I got the same answer. God had opened a door and no one could close it. I called Al and asked him to count the cost to see if we could do it. He scheduled a U-haul trailer, men to load and figured everything out. We could afford it.
The next day (20th of Aug.) I loaded the car; signed the lease; got the keys to the house; took pictures of the outside and inside for Al; went by the Utility Companies and set up a turn on for the 30th of Aug. I did not have to pay any deposits because we had a good pay record for utilities from when we lived here 3 years ago. I grabbed a breakfast jack & I left to go home at Noon. The trip was totally uneventful and I arrived home at 10 PM.
Al had half the house packed by the time I got home. He had everything set up to be turned off and all the boxes we needed to finish packing. Wanda had just cleaned the house for us but we paid her to do it again on the 29th (Wed.) after we left in the truck.
I drove the car and Al drove the truck. We spent the night at a Best Western about 30 minutes East of Shreveport. We spent the night on air mattresses in our new house. We paid two men to unload the truck for us and we started unpacking. I was right. Everything just fell in place.
We were slower than we used to be after a move but I am amazed at the energy I have had. This is the most stamina I have had in about 8 years. I don't hurt as much so I can do more also.
We have been here 3 weeks and I am having a hard time keeping my sugar count up. I am eating right but the extra energy level is really keeping the sugar down. I am taking one pill a day less. Al has lost 8 pounds and I have lost 15. We both feel healthier.
A couple of days before we left MS Louise and Rusty came over. Rusty whispered "Thank you," when he hugged me goodbye. Now we knew why we were in MS. God used us to help them put their marriage together. He may have used us in other ways but we don't know what they were.
It's not important. It is only important to be where God wants you to be. If you are where He wants you to be, he will use you even if you don't know it.
Our daughter said she was so glad we were back. She wanted us buried in TX when we die because "you can only go to heaven if you are buried in TX." LOL
My Mom asked if we were here to stay and I told her we were here to stay unless God told us to move. She said, "I have to hang up now so I can talk to 'the Man'." My Mom is 87 years old and in good standing with "the Man". I think we will be here at least as long as she is.
But that'll be another book.