I'm late to post this, but I just want to say: We made it! Over the course of traveling to Houston and back a couple of weeks ago, we logged 35+ hours of driving, +2,124 miles, 2 big-city rush hours, 4 stops at Buc-ee's, lots of glazed pecans, my second ever 24-hour day, and one successful surgery.

We left on Monday (7/14) at 8:00 p.m. and made it home at 10:00 a.m. on Friday (7/18). We were gone for 80 hours.

After so much time in the camper van, it seemed only right to christen it with a name. Inspired by reading The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C. S. Lewis with Martha, I’ve decided to call our sturdy vessel The Dawn Trodder. (It may not be grammatically correct, but it does the job.)

It's a fitting name. Not only because we’re landlubbers or because we trod the early morning hours. It’s fitting because I was the Eustace Scrubb of our journey.

It’s humbling to recognize that you’re a Eustace. No one wants to be him—beastly and dragonish. In all honesty, I was hoping that his bad example would teach Martha what to avoid. I thought that our reading was for her sake. But as is often the Lord's way, our reading was really for my sake.

Our trip was for business, not pleasure, and tensions were high as we traveled into the unknown. But I was especially and exceptionally out of sorts. The closer we came to Houston, TX, the more stressed and depressed I felt. And it showed; I was irritable, frustrated, and short-tempered.

Thankfully, even Eustace Scrubb is not beyond the power of redemption, but only God can do it. We were over halfway through our trip when God started to soften my hard heart, in answer to prayer, by reminding me of His faithfulness through so many more answered prayers.

As we sing regularly in our home: Thank You Jesus for the Blood (by Charity Gayle).

There is no doubt that this trip was covered in prayer, and there is ample evidence that God heard and answered these prayers.

The evidence for this was first seen in the progress we made traveling after a slow start. We were covered in travel mercies. It's one thing to drive an oversized vehicle on a wide-open interstate. It's another thing entirely to drive an oversized vehicle through a major city's downtown. But God went before us, came after us, and was always with us. He got us there, and He even provided the parking that we needed. All in answer to prayer.

But He didn't stop there. For months now we've prayed Ephesians 3:20 over Ruth and trusting that God is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think. It's awe-inspiring when God answers this prayer, and He did it again when we found out the morning of Ruth's surgery that she wouldn't need to be intubated. This was a main concern for us, because the first intubation attempt for Ruth's G-tube surgery failed (back in October) and required a “subsequent attempt”, leaving her intubated an additional 24 hours because of trauma and swelling to her airway. So we praised the Lord when He provided an option for anesthesia we weren't expecting: the Laryngeal Mask Airway (LMA).

Lauren was stunned when the anesthesiologist shared this. Through teary eyes, she took the opportunity to share Ephesians 3:20 with him. Later, he said that as Ruth went back for surgery, the team noted that she had her hands folded on her chest like she was praying. Realizing that they were being prayed for made them even more determined to do their best work.

And they really did. While we cried when we removed Ruth's eye patches 24-hours post surgery, and we had our initial doubts when we saw her altered face and inability to close her eyes, we have come to really appreciate that Ruth had the opportunity to have this operation. God paved the way for it all. We love seeing Ruth's big, beautiful, blue eyes unhindered! 

Our tough, little girl has done so well. She seemed to have little pain, and she's healed quickly! She looks great (pun intended), and we're already seeing significant improvement in her movement. She still has some bad habits to unlearn, but we're confident she will get there. She wants to move!

The most difficult part of all of this has been relearning her sleepy signs. We missed them on the first day post surgery, which led to an extremely-tired and extra-sad baby (not to mention frazzled parents). But we're getting it now, and Ruth is sleeping just fine with her eyes open.

After all God's done for Ruth, we are confident that He will make her eyes close again for sleep and blinking in His good timing. Until then, good luck trying to beat her in a staring contest!

Before we had even started our journey home, it felt like we were leaving nothing but answered prayers in our wake. What a blessing!

I shouldn’t be surprised by God’s faithfulness, yet I am. Like the disciples panicking in the storm, my faith is often small. And like the disciples rebuked by the words and miracles of Jesus, I have countless reasons to trust the Lord. That list only continues to grow. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!