One of the first things you must do, and I learned this lesson well years ago is to be prepared for any kind of weather.

The next thing anyone who travels must do is plan how they are going to get to their intended destination. Are you going to fly? Take an automobile? Train perhaps? or a combination of any of the three? In some cases, you make be planning a hiking trip into the mountains or near the seashore and will need extra things like bedding and food supplies. Of course, some longer car or truck trips may need the same thing, but it is not a remote as hiking and camping.

The next item that must be considered is time. Is there a specific time that you want to get to your destination? If not, you still need to consider how long you will stay at your destination and your travel back to home. If time is a consideration, then the mode of travel may change, and the routes of travel will certainly change. Weather may be another factor to consider especially in the storm seasons and winter depending on where you are traveling.

If you love to travel as much as I do, please consider these things that I have said before you start out and it will save you many problems. Some of these considerations are very basic to travel and some are not. Don't get stuck in a blizzard and freeze to death because you forgot to pack winter clothes. I have traveled many miles, especially road miles in a truck, and I learned some of these lessons the hard way.

What does it mean to be a trucker forever. To me I think it means that when you love something as much as trucking you hope that it lasts forever. So far in my life I have been a trucker for over 40 years. Why might you ask? Because I love it. It is not all good times out there on the roads. The people that you deal with in the process of moving down the roads and delivering goods sometimes get in the way of your journey. All in all, it is what I love because I love the traveling across the country in various weather conditions and road conditions. It is challenging for me, and I love the freedom that it provides me in making these deliveries happen. The freedom of moving fast down a road and taking in all the sights. The joys of meeting new people as well inspire me to be friendly.

This trucking occupation started with a desire that would not give up on me and that desire was to drive. It did not matter to where I drove, I just love the process of getting there and all that is involved in it. I started driving at fifteen and a half and bought me first car at sixteen and drove the wheels off it. I even had to upgrade the engine of that little 65 VW bug to fifty horsepower before I finally sold it.

When I finally got into a semi-truck, I was eighteen and working for a truck dealership. I went with the wrecker operators to the scenes they were responding to and helped in the cleanup process. I rode in the cab or R-190’s and watched them drive. One day I asked one of them to teach me and he did on a three-stick transmission. I then graduated to the knob shifter and learned to use the clutch as I needed it. I also got to drive new trucks to LA and back.

The next time I got to get into a truck was in the Army as I learned to work on them. It was good to learn more about them from the mechanical aspect on how they went down the road. After the Army I received more education on diesel and gasoline engines and their systems of operation. When the education ended by divine providence, I would up be working on a fleet of eight trucks and eleven trailers. I took care of all of the drivers’ write ups and did my part in servicing all of the vehicles. After a time of looking for other work because of the economy at the time again divine providence led me into a driving position. Something I had always wanted to do. As I worked for a truck rental company it turned into the forty years of trucking that I mentioned earlier. I had a few breaks in it because of health reasons but always desired to get back into a truck and deliver freight, many food items.

Driving and especially trucking is one of the few occupations that requires everyone to work together. If they do not work together and watch out for each other that is when accidents happen. This occupation can get dangerous but if you are careful and I have learned to pray a lot you can remain safe. I have been in four major accidents while driving, three in a car and one in a truck. It is no fun either and it all happens so fast that you don’t realize it until it is over and sometimes not even then. God is good and that is why I always pray for others when I drive, and God has taken care of me because I am still alive to tell my story.

There is nothing like being in what is known as a big truck and seeing how small you are. By saying that I mean when you are out there alone on a stretch of road that goes on for many miles and you are near mountains that stand tall around you or drive through them. Or an open stretch of road across a prairie and see nothing but grass and shrubs for miles. When you go over a large river like the Mississippi and watch the waters and the boat traffic beneath you. How about when you stare at the white puffy clouds above you as they make their way to wherever they are going. In a storm of thunder and beating down rain or near a hurricane or tornado. Things in this world are just larger than life and our little semi-trucks are so small in this big world around us.

I love driving because it keeps you on the ground while you are moving, and you can get as close to flying without doing it. I have flown in an airplane before, but I would rather be on the ground looking up than in the air looking down. I love to stay moving and have stayed moving most of my life. I think I know why God keeps moving because it is enjoyable, I don’t know what eternity will bring me as far as what I will be doing; but I hope it fits with all the training I have had in this life. I think it will, otherwise why all the training? It is not work for me to be a truck driver it is a pleasure and I want to be a trucker forever!

Driving can be wearisome after hours of doing it pass by and you begin to wonder if you are making progress? One time I was coming from Laredo Texas with a load of empty beer bottles from Mexico going to the Bay Area in California. I had done this trip several times and wanted to go a different way up to Interstate 10 this time. I had the time so I took the slow way or off the interstate route. Instead of going up to San Antonio I went west on State Road 83 to SR 90 to SR 285 and found I-10 in Fort Stockton. I had not been this way before and I like to explore new ways once in a while for a change of scenery. This route was dotted with small towns along it and it kept me awake better and had different scenery than the faster interstate highway. I usually have to get in my miles before I stop and it was no exception this time. Maybe a quick bathroom stop if there was a place to park my rig along these two lane roads, but that would be it. There was not much of anything out this way except dry prairie land and a few trees and passerby's to look at once in a while and the few small towns.

I had been driving for a few hours and as I turned to go north on SR 285 it did not take long to find my first steep mountain with a grade of 5 or 6%. When I got towards the top of this grade I saw a big elk following his mate across the road. As his mate went to the side of the road he stood there in the middle of it and watched my 2006 Peterbuilt convention cab get closer to him. This elk waited on me to get to him and stood in my lane or the fast lane of the two lanes going uphill of the three lane road that I was on. I did not see any one coming traffic going down the hill so I decided to move over into oncoming traffic lane to get out of the way of this obstinate beast. This elk would not move and kept starring at my truck as I approached him. I believe he was almost as tall as the hood of my conventional cab truck or over 6 feet and weighed several hundred pounds I guessed. The last thing I wanted to do was to hit this big guy or have him charge my truck and be stuck out in the middle of this desolate mountain with this elk.

I found out that this elk was very protective of his mate when I was parallel with him. He lowered his head and took a swipe of my right front tire and fender with his large antlers, eight point or larger I think. I did not hear anything different so I passed him slowly about twenty-five miles per hour. I decided I would check things out at the top of this grade and be clear of this huge beast before I ever got out of my cab. When my trailer passed him he did not try to take a swipe at it and instead went walking off towards his mate. When I got to the top of this mountain grade I stopped and checked things out to see if there was any damage I would have to contend with or get repaired.

My fender had a new crease in the center of it and some blood stains too. I could see the several marks on my tire but he did not penetrate the sidewall of it. The elk was king of that mountain which I planned to never see again if I could help it. I learned that the interstate is the best place to be in that rural part of Texas.

Why is it when you get older that you think your glory days or your past were the best days of your life. I was there and at the time I did not think those days were full of glory at all, in fact just the opposite. Sometimes I did not think I would get through some of those days. Here is an example of what I mean. I watched my only son go through an experience I will remember for the rest of my life. He got what is known as spinal meningitis at two and a half years of age from a day care facility. I watched him get a shot in his back and from where I stood it was a large needle and looked like he was in pain getting that shot. On top of that I never saw him again for twenty-seven years.

Another example is from my semi-truck driving days and I remember looking across the median strip in front of me, at night, on a long stretch of hiway. This hiway had two lanes in each direction and I saw headlights in that median strip from the other side of the hiway coming right at me and my truck. This other set of headlights belonged to another truck that apparently fell asleep at the wheel and was on a path to hit me. The only reason he did not hit me was a dip in the median that turned the truck on its side. But he came close enough for me to put on my brakes to avoid him and his truck which was too close for any comfort.

Maybe we think those days were better because they are behind us and we got through them somehow and lived to fight again. I tell you one thing life is hard and the quicker you get used to that fact the better you will do in it. I know looking back at my life at one point in it when I was very young I thought I would not live past thirty years old. But in fact I did because I will be seventy soon and can hardly believe it. I could go on to list so many examples of the perils of life that I have been through but it would be foolish to do so at this point. I am sure that many who read what I have said can relate in some way to it even if you are not a senior in life yet.

So I ask this question of myself when I reflect on those days of the past, “Anything good in it? I have to answer that I am still here and for the most part enjoying life very much. A scripture comes to mind too, it is found in Romans 8 verse 28 and says, “And we know that God cause all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” (NASV) What an outlook on life! It comes from Paul one of the authors of the New Testament and he had many battles in this life too. In fact, he was beheaded at the end of it. There was a time in my life that I never understood what the word of God said, let alone read it. But for the last several years I have read it diligently and I understand it much better since I gave all lordship of my life to Christ Jesus. Everyday I and my Lord walk together and He continues to show me what He wants me to do next. This is so much easier than trying to walk alone in life. Romans eight throughly explains the context of the verse I mentioned if you are interested in more on the subject.

As I look forward to this new year coming up I will say, “Is there anything good in what has passed?” I will answer yes wholeheartedly! Although, I am not out on the road like I was I made it through driving on it thirty years safely. I have had my relationship restored with my only son and now have six grandchildren and three great grandchildren. I have been married four times and my last wife is my last wife, now for seventeen years. I have lived a difficult but very full life and for that I am thankful.

I now look forward to what is ahead as Paul put it. “Brothers and sisters, I do not regard myself as having taken hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14) I think this is the right perspective towards my past. I never thought in a million years that I would have this much of a past to look back on or have a God given prospective. I am still a sinner but one who has been saved from eternal damnation by the grace of God by putting my faith in Christ Jesus. To those who have not yet made this decision to give their life over to the lordship of Christ Jesus I for one implore you to do so you will never be sorry you did. I have been walking with Him now for thirty-five years and even though life is still hard you have someone who walks with you everyday and knows exactly all the things you need in each and everyday of life. He has created us all for His glorious purposes.

A long time ago I was driving a lonely stretch of road in New Mexico and heading south on state route 54. I was in the middle of the night, and I had a full moon to illuminate my surroundings. This stretch of road is a mostly two lane roads with a few small towns scattered along its path. Truckers use this road quite a bit in all seasons as a short cut from I-10 to I-40 or visa versa. When you take this way from I-10 you also have to take state route 70 and go through White Sands Missile Range out of Las Cruces. Don’t forget to turn left on 54 in Alamogordo or you will wind up in Rosewell New Mexico.

As I said, the night was lit up by the full moon and it was about 50 degrees which made for great night driving. I was driving south on SR 54 out of Vaughn and not quite into Carrizozo when I felt something strange. Like something was inside the cab with me. Something spiritual. I had been driving several hours at that point, but I was used to the long hours at that point. I had been an OTR truck driver for nearly thirty years. As I looked up to the sky with its full moon, I could see a mountain range to my left and it was beautiful. On another trip I discovered what was in that mountain range by taking SR 70 through the Mescalero Indian Reservation.

It was a strange feeling in the cab for a little while that night in fact at one point the hair on the back of my neck stood up. I do not frighten easily and have seen many strange things in my life and felt strange things too. So, as I drove south, I wondered if it was a lost spirit of one of those Indian tribes up there on those mountains. I started to ponder what if I try talking to it? I did just that and said to whatever was in the cab with me, “Who are you? I did not get a response at first. So by this point thinking I was a little crazy to be talking to something I cannot see I said “What the Hell I will try another question. I asked, “are you an Indian from up there on the mountain? If you are make a noise one rap yes two raps no.” I immediately got a strong rap like someone hitting my dashboard. I guessed I was not crazy at this point but wondered why the hair on the back of my neck had not calmed down any. I thought now that I know this spirit was of an Indian tribe up on those mountains, now what should I ask it? I know what I will ask, I said, “Why are you riding in my cab tonight? What do you want to tell me? I had a long period of silence about 5 minutes or so that seemed like an eternity, so I asked another question and asked in the same format, yes one rap no two raps. I said, “Is there something ahead that I should know while I am driving tonight?” Again, no answer but this presence of evil or what I perceived to be pure evil would not leave.

So I kept trucking south and turned onto SR 70 to get to Las Cruces and as soon as I made the right turn the hair on the back of my neck went down. I felt comfortable again inside my truck again and wondered what all that meant. I guess that is a story for another day. That only happened once, and I have been through that area of New Mexico many times. But I never felt such a presence of evil before that time in my life and maybe that was all there was too it.

Pure driving is the sweetest thing that any driver can do. It is obeying all the rules of the road in whatever state or country that you find yourself in and just cruising along watching the world go by as you maintain your correctness in driving. No swerving, going over any dotted lines, moving from center to right and back again. It is unconsciously compensating for the inconsistencies in the road and not be surprised by it. It is peace between man and machine and God. Do not get my wrong here I am not advocating for transhumanism, anything but, because it is God who controls our peace, our emotions, our reflexes, and many other things when we are driving.

I can still remember the many routes that I drove in my mind’s eye even though I am not currently driving them. One of my favorite ways to get to Interstate 80 from Idaho going south on I-15 is to take US 30. What a beautiful drive and you are able to see many mountains, wildlife, small towns, curves, and avoid some treacherous hills on I-80 by doing so. Even in the wintertime it is usually open even though it is a little icy the road crews still maintain the road.

There are so many beautiful drives that I have taken to many to name. I used to drive Interstate 5 from Seattle to Los Angeles on a regular basis and there are many mountains to cross and weave through, but you get to go by Mt. Shasta and other beautiful canyons and open places as well and go over Shasta Lake.

I love the north country for its beauty but have to live in the south these days because my body is rebelling the cold weather. When I worked out of Spokane Washington it does on a regular basis in the wintertime get into the negative numbers on temperatures such as -30, -60. It is a beautiful place to work out of and return to though and I did for seven years. Speaking of the Spokane area another great drive that I used to make on a fairly regular basis is from Spokane to Calgary Alberta Canada using the hwy I-90 to US 95 north to hwy 3 to hwy 2. Sometimes I would get all the way up to Edmonton, Alberta. I also got to drive from Spokane to Gary Indiana on a pretty regular basis and got to see a lot of Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconcin and Indiana. Sometimes I would drop down to I-80 but is was usually more congested and sometimes more snow on the roads.

All driving gives me peace because I need to constantly stay moving or in motion. Have you ever experienced the peace that comes from pure driving on a wide open road with no one around you except the machine and God? It is beautiful.

As I sit here today and study the map of the places that I have been and by doing that it brings back many remembrances both good and bad of the times and some people that I encountered. Sometimes I wonder will I ever stop moving? By the way, life moves much to quickly anyway without moving too fast through it and only later be able to smell the roses so to speak.

So I starting thinking what is all this traveling and moving about anyway? What was I searching for? Did I find it? What I come up with is this: Peace and yes I found it but not the way I thought. I found real peace when I made Jesus Christ my Lord and He is my savior from all the stuff I have done. Now I have peace especially when I travel or wonder about which I am still able to do from time to time. My job as a truck driver affords me daily travel and I have peace even in driving in the rush hour traffic. I did not have that peace before and what I was searching for then I did not know that I even needed it. Imagine that I don't know everything and still wonderfully and fearfully made by God for this life for His purpose not mine. It's perfectly okay to wonder and travel even in the wrong direction, as I have done, as long as you finish well.

In this world there may be many important things that grab your attention but would it be worthwhile if you heard from a person who changed history on what is important in life? Life comes with challenges that we all face as persons with our own autonomy, but what is wisdom for this age and ages of the past regarding what is important? Is who said it important too? If so the greatest thing that was every said is found in "Mark 1:1-8, where John the Baptist is calling from the desert and saying "Repent!"

I would say that in today’s age and troubles with “corona virus,” and so many other things that are distractions are not of the same importance. The most important point in this life is what Jesus said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God."(John 3:5a,b)

I would say that this would be the starting point for all eternity, but it is what Jesus said to Nicodemus in his search for the truth. Nicodemus was a very religious man but missed the most important truth about being born of the flesh through our first birth and of the Holy Spirit in our second birth to help us live this life for God's glory not our own.

I lived without knowing this truth for thirty-three years of my life and now have lived with knowing this truth for thirty-four years of my life. I can testify that knowing Jesus through the Holy Spirit that lives within me by making Him Lord in your life is the most important point in living this life on earth. It is His will to be done on earth, not ours!

Please don't just take my word and witness of this truth please seek the truth or Him on your own and discover it for yourself.

I had driven this stretch of road many many times and could almost do it in my sleep, thank God I was not sleepy this day. The stretch of road I am referring to is Interstate 90 about ten miles before the Interstate 90/94 split. As you come into the Billings Montana area the road changes in elevation and drops down into a valley. As you leave the Billings area and head towards the split in the two interstates it drops down again and rises up on the right like you're on the side of a hill as you enter the split. To stay on I-90 you must stay to the right and go up a ramp because you will be on I-94 if you go straight ahead and wind up in Eastern Montana and North Dakota. When you stay to the right and take the ramp I-90 cuts to the south through the Crow Indian reservation and travels into Wyoming and South Dakota.

This day was especially cold and although the snow plows were out and about I had not seen on for quite awhile because the roads were cleared of snow and beginning to ice up, even though they had put salt and gravel on the roads earlier when they cleared the roads of snow. As I came into this valley of ice I was very aware of the greasiness of the roadway so I slowed down more in my 2000 Peterbuilt conventional tractor pulling a fifty-three foot trailer behind it. I had some weight on the trailer so it helped to anchor me to the ground. The roadway instantly had iced up from what I was driving on just a few minutes earlier and I looked over into the median strip to my left about a 100 yards out, I saw a salt shaker/plow upside down in it. So, I slowed down more but only using the lightest of braking motion because I did not want to wind up jack knifed in the median which could happen very quickly if I applied to much brake. Instead of using my foot pedal bake I pulled down on the T-bar for the trailer only brakes ever so slightly.

I still had to get onto the I-90 ramp and as I looked down the road to where it was about a half a mile or so, I could see some equipment sitting right where I wanted to go at the bottom of the ramp. In dry conditions as I remembered this ramp elevates pretty quickly at a 5% and curves to the right at about 30 angle while rising to the elevation of the connecting road. There is also a bridge right after the I-90 ramp connecting the westerly bound traffic from I-94 to merge into to I-90 east traffic at the top of the ramp. As I got closer to the ramp I could plainly make out two snow plows sitting side by side to clear the ramp. It looked like the ramp was effectively blocked by them and if I stopped I would surely jack knife right into them. I saw a patrol car sitting on top of the bridge at the connector watch me come closer and closer to the ramp. He might have been there for many reasons such as the upside down snow plow/salt shaker or monitoring the road conditions.

There was only one thing that came to mind in this Christian man and I knew how to ask for help so I called out, "Help Me Jesus!" I was directed by Him to stay to the left of the plows and I did so with his help. AS they saw me approach they ducked out of site and away from their plows as I passed by them doing at least 50 mph with their eyes wide open in amazement. Thank you Lord that problem was solved now to get up the ramp. As I attempted to downshift into a lower gear because of the incline I stalled the motor, something that does not usually happen. Instead of panicking I simply rolled the key off and restarted the engine and put it into gear I had selected when it stalled, but I had to use a lower gear because of the loss of road speed.

As I traveled up the ramp with success and merged onto I-90 and proceeded to the top of that incline there was a truck parking area there off to the right and I took it. I stopped there for a few minutes to say thank you to the Lord again and I wondered if it was Him holding up the semi and trailer as we went up that ramp because I didn't remember the road being that wide. I got outside of my truck and did a walk around inspection and assessed the situation and it was very cold and wind at the top of that mountain. So I got back into the truck just in time to hear another trucker on the CB radio say, "Let's Go (company name)" and I said. "I'll be right behind you." We traveled together for a few miles through some wintery roads into Wyoming. I pulled off for coffee in Buffalo and we parted company as the other trucker went on toward South Dakota. I found a parking spot and instead of coffee I rested. Thank you Lord Jesus for miracles that still happen today when nothing else will do. I am reminded by something my uncle Walt said to me, who lived in that area and traveled to South Dakota on a regular basis. He said, " You cannot be a trucker for very long and not experience the grace of God and the power of God when running down the road into all the things that we encounter. I definitely agree with him.

I first heard these words in a rock & roll song by the Byrds back in the sixties, yes I am telling on myself here. The words that I am speaking of are:

There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven-

A time to give birth and a time to die;

A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.

A time to kill and a time to heal;

A time to tear down and a time to build up.

A time to weep and a time to laugh;

A time to mourn and a time to dance.

A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones;

A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing.

A time to search and a time to give up as lost;

A time to keep and a time to throw away.

A time to tear apart and a time to sew together;

A time to be silent and a time to speak.

A time to love and a time to hate;

A time for war and a time for peace. (Ecc. 3:1-8) NASV

When I first heard these words I sang them and had no idea that they came from the Bible. When you hear the truth you know it, and when you sing the truth it stays with you. These words are still with me to this day as I go through yet another season of my life.

I am realizing that before I can start a new season I must put the old season in the rear view mirror so to speak. That is a driver's interpretation anyway and that is what I have recently had to do. Has anyone else had to do this? I would love to hear how this happened in your life. As we look at the words above they fit to every season I have gone through in life. I think all of us can relate to these words in some way.

The point is that these words are true and there is no way of escaping that fact no matter what you do, because the truth is the truth! But today we are led to believe that everything is relative to us even the truth. If we hold onto to the truth we will see the untruth or lie in that statement. Just like in the words above once I was a kid and now I am a grown up, even more than that I am a grandpa and even a great grandpa now. When we live by the words of truth we begin to gain God's wisdom and not just the world's wisdom. We must then apply the truth we find in our lives or it is of no use to us to just have knowledge we must walk it out in this life we are given and we only live once.

In life there are the season's above and we must learn to put the old or the past in the rear view mirror and continue on our journey in this life into the plan or purpose that God has made for just us and no one else. I wish you well my friends and neighbors and keep up with the pursuit of truth.