7 Hour Traffic Jam – Patience part 3

Today began as an ordinary Tuesday. For me that includes a seven minute drive to morning Bible study and then back home for lunch. This was one of those mornings, though, when I felt like staying home. I had company in the back yard and was enjoying watching them snack and rest.

I do appreciate our teacher’s lessons and the time with other women, so I took a picture and headed for the church. I had some trouble turning on to the state route that runs through our little town. Thankfully, I was going west. The eastbound lane was full of diverted interstate traffic.

People were talking about an accident involving semi trucks when I entered the church. Our teacher and most of the class arrived, and we opened to 1 Peter for study, hoping traffic would be normal when we finished. Instead, it was bumper to bumper and stopped.

I remembered hoping to write about PATIENCE this afternoon and, not having any other commitments, could appreciate the presentation of a situation that would require PATIENCE. My experiences of watching the sun rise and of planting garlic had led up to this less rewarding situation. This would require PATIENCE for patience’s sake.

As other women were working out alternate routes home, I considered sitting in my car in the parking lot to write while the traffic cleared. It had been three hours since the accident. How much longer could it be? We had heard there might be injuries and prayed for all involved, including delayed travelers. I took my time getting out of the building and chatted with a few ladies until another hour had passed..

With home only a couple of miles away and lunch time approaching, I decided to set out. A considerate truck driver left space for me to get onto the road to join the stopped vehicles.  Ongoing construction on the two-lane, along with today’s utility work, made matters even more trying for all involved.

They needed to move their truck up the road, but were blocked by a car.

She was working – and stuck. I was only trying to get home.

I was still feeling patient and enjoying some praise songs on the radio as I used my phone to take pictures. When it took ten minutes to creep up to the next driveway of the church, I decided I’d rather sit in my car and write than sit still on the road. I put my windows down and filled a couple of pages with notes about this experience. It was now 2:00 p.m. – five hours since the traffic jam began. I decided to leave the parking lot again with plenty of PATIENCE left to get home in, say, thirty minutes.

After more than an hour, I was feeling hungry and tired. It was now 3:15 – eight hours since breakfast. Within my reach was a bag of donated items for our Bible study group’s ministry project. I found a snack to make the wait more tolerable.

 

Thankful for plenty of gas and some Buddy Bars.

After school travel was going to be a challenge for so many!

At last I crossed the closed interstate  and crept into town. The traffic was still stop and go when I reached the turn into my neighborhood. My seven minute straight shot home had taken 105 minutes. Not confident on the back roads, I had chosen the straight and narrow path home and did not turn off to the right or to the left (Proverbs 4:27).  Patient endurance was required.

A Few Takeaways:

  1. I know that many other people experienced worse discomfort and frustration.
  2. Patience has a time limit. I didn’t quite reach mine thanks to the Buddy Bars.
  3. Having a cell phone with me was comforting.
  4. Finding reasons to be thankful helps.
  5. I should take my neighbor’s advice and learn the back roads.