So big, so Mighty

Last week, Mom (as my travel buddy) and I had the opportunity to go to Colorado for a few days visit. It had been two years since I have been back in the home state–I needed to see mountains. I needed to see friends. When I first presented the idea to my parents a few months ago, the first thought was to go in August after the art show and MRI. But around the time in early March when my body started rapidly changing, different plans came to mind.

“Should we go earlier?” Mom asked me one night as I stood crying in the kitchen. Thus, the plans changed, but as I now see, for the better and in the goodness of God’s timing.

Living towards the more eastern half of the states, car travel is different. From my house, a 7-8 hour drive can land me at least two or three states over in any direction. When one is in Colorado, even a 5 hour drive from Denver will only get you to the San Luis Valley (if headed south)–and that is where I grew up. On the previous trip in 2012, we did a full circle from north to south seeing friends, my sister and brother-in-law, and I was in two weddings. This trip, I had to cut the state in half, so to speak. This trip was seeing friends in the Denver and Estes Park areas. The physical traveling was a challenge, but ever so worth it!

One of the friends visited was my former roommate from college. We were roommates all but one year, when housing filled fast and the option for a room didn’t work as we had hoped; it didn’t really matter anyway, as she just lived the floor above mine. It gave me the opportunity to get to know others on campus from being with new roommates and I grew deeper in my faith from experiences that year as well.

Freshman year at CCU is where my name “Mel” first started. To “decorate” our bedroom door, we made a sign that read, “Cal and Mel’s Room.” The name stuck, and as I started to use it, it just fit. I was eating lunch in the cafeteria with Cal the day she met the new basketball transfer student, who is now her husband. Now parents, I get to be Auntie Mel to her boys.

Before the trip, I was Facebook messaging with Cal and told her that I was sad Auntie Mel would not be able to get on the floor to play with their 2-year-old son. That aspect didn’t even matter as when I got there, my walker was more interesting! The best part too was that this little man loves books! Auntie Mel can read books. 🙂

After reading Harry the Dirty Dog, a book about firetrucks and an I Spy book a few times, one of the books he picked had words and pictures for kid songs such as, “Jesus Loves the Little Children.” A two-year old must not think much of a deaf girl’s singing pitch, because he didn’t seem to give any weird glances in my direction when we started singing. Cal and Mom joined in and we sang, “He’s got the Whole World in His Hands” with motions. It was then that I asked if he knew the song “My God is so Big” and sang it with the motions.

Sometimes the best reminders of God’s mightiness is in the simple truths, in child-like faith. Trusting God in this trip was the biggest lesson, challenge and visual confirmation of answered prayers that I have ever experienced in such a short period of time. Truly, “The mountains are His, the rivers are His, the stars are His handiwork too.”

So strong, so mighty–“There’s nothing my God cannot do!”