Part Two: The Fall

As you can see in the title, this is Part Two of a three part story!! You can catch Part One: I Will Give You Safe Passage here! I highly recommend starting there, but if you’d rather begin here, you’re more than welcome to!! 

None of us were dressed for the occasion, so we did our best to swap and share pieces until everyone was decently covered up. Stepping out into the storm and leaving our very kind taxi driver behind, the snow fell soft and thick, an unassuming danger. It felt dystopian weaving between all of these vehicles parked on the freeway, fellow travelers walking alongside us with suitcases or grocery bags or boxes or backpacks. Parents and little ones and Grandma’s and everyone in between. Several people were giving out hot drinks along the way. I was doing my best to keep my eye on each of our little crew. My emergency box was checked and I felt that ‘mode’ turn definitively on. I was singing quietly to myself: 

“Jesus, Jesus. You make the darkness tremble. Jesus, Jesus. You silience fear.” 

One foot in front of the other. Claran was sliding all over the place, plastic bags as makeshift boots not working out the way we’d hoped and expected. Let us note that she also had plastic bags on as socks to compensate for her running shoes that weren’t made for spending several hours walking through snow by any stretch of the imagination. 

Anthony played out the Bankruptcy episode of the Office to a Tee, replacing “There’s been a murder in Savannah,” with, “You look like a BUNCHA girls out there. Pick it up!!!” I laughed deeply and felt some relief. I did my best to play with Claran who was feeling silly and keep an eye out for April, who looked more bewildered and unwell than my heart could stand. My hair was covered in snow before long and I did my best to not touch it, hoping that it would take a substantial amount of time before it melted down enough for me to notice the cold of it. 

As we walked I began to weigh out our situation. “It’s taking us about x amount of time to cover x amount of distance, which our navigation says is supposed to take x minutes, so what does that mean realistically about when we’ll make it home?” Horrified at what the math was working out to be, I began to ponder other solutions. I was also unsettled because we’d turned off the main road and both the foot traffic, car traffic, and opportunities to duck into buildings were growing smaller and smaller by the step. I was also stacking up some realities of the group of people I was with. “April couldn’t be trusted at the moment to ask for what she needs, so we’ve gotta keep an eye on her and be stubborn about taking care of her. Anthony is going to plunge forward, probably without needing or wanting to pause very much, if at all, Claran is still riding it out well for now, but her pants and shoes are going to become a problem eventually.”

“MY GOD IS AN ALL CONSUMING FIRE!!!!” I yelled as loud as I could.

We came up on a gas station and I said calmly: ‘We’re going to stop here.” Stopping behind the team to push one more car out of the snow, I stepped over the threshold relieved by the warm waiting inside. 

Two women were sitting near the window, adorable and lavishly bundled. Not a hair out of place. The three of us, on the other hand had more of ‘You will never bring your family honor’ lewks happening.

Mulan (1998)

God is so good at lightening the mood when I need it. Worry for nothing He says!!

We surveyed a nice sitting corner for April. I poked around for anything that would help us warm up, ducked into the bathroom and hatched a plan. “I wanna try to hitchhike.” I said quietly. 

“Anthony, will you ask around and see if anyone speaks English and can try to help us? I’m gonna see if I can find us a ride by hitchhiking.” 

He turned and said: “Does anyone speak English?”

To which someone replied: “I’M TOO NERVOUS!!!!” in English. I snorted a laugh as I walked back out into the cold and snow, plowing our own little path through the snowbanks to the other side of the street. Worry for nothing. I stuck my thumb out and got an immediate taker for the direction we were going. I went back inside, fetched them and we were in the car and then out of the car at another gas station. 

Checking the map, we were further from our final destination than we’d been at the last gas station. 

Oh no…My mind began to swirl with thoughts of failure and frustration at myself. Greeaattt, I got us further away from our final destination. What have I done??? They would be so much better off without me here. 

I immediately rebuked the thoughts as they amped up, not wanting to waste the time or energy on self beratement. I BELONG TO YOU FATHER. YOU STILL HAVE A WAY FOR US THROUGH THIS! 

We started calling around to ask for help a bit. This gas station was less warm and friendly and full. Help was not on the way. Anthony and I poked our heads out to see if we could shave some time off our walk. We discovered we could, reupped our warm wear, and began walking again. The snow in my hair had finally all melted and it clung to my face and neck stubbornly. My coat was completely soaked through, along with my jeans. We were walking down a very cute, teeny tiny hill when I slipped and lost my balance, landing hard on my butt. Hands open and head bowed, I thanked God, recalling that I had prayed earlier in the night that if anyone was going to fall, it would be me. 

My eyes began to fill with tears. “Am I about to cry about this pain right now?” I asked myself. 

I began mentally listing all the injuries I’d gotten over the years without crying and decided: no, no you’re not. Before I knew it hands were lifting me back to my feet and voices were asking if I was okay sounding worried and remorseful.

“Oh, Ari…”

“I’m okay. I just fell hard and landed pretty squarely on my butt.” 

Little did I know, I had just broken my butt. That’s right folks, yours truly fractured her tail feathers. 

It would seem that these four weary, wet travelers have not yet reached their destination, which means that you have not yet reached the end of this blog series. 

Click here for Part Three: Jerusalem, Jerusalem!!