Farmgirl

Iowa

Illinois

Indiana

Ohio

 

Beautiful territory! Lots of rolling hills, cornfields, and as the sun was starting to set, sooooo many deer!

 

Zoom in on the church sign. I had to go back and take a pic of the name of the church. In all fairness, that was the name of the town I was driving thru, but still so funny.

 

I was pretty beat when I pulled into my hotel for the night in Ohio. The poor clerk at the check in desk was the only employee on duty. She checked me in, and I went to my room and started getting ready for bed….. really looking forward to hitting the pillow….. pulled all my nighttime stuff out of the suitcase, and then changed into my pj’s in the bathroom. I came out of the bathroom barefoot and step onto the carpet in the bedroom part, only to find it soaking wet. . So, had to put my clothes back on, repack my suitcase and go back to the front desk to ask for a non-flooded room. Bless the clerk’s heart. The hotel was full, and the only empty room was one that hadn’t yet been cleaned from a late checkout guest. So, she went down to clean the room ( now it’s about 10:30pm). She is checking people in and then running back to clean and prep the room I am getting moved into. This goes on for about 30 minutes, and so I go down to the room and see if she needs help…. she is doing a very thorough job… I can just see she is stretched thin.

 

We start talking while I help her put sheets and pillowcases on my bed. I could tell she didn’t feel great (thinking she had a cold), which got us talking. This sweet gal tells me she has been diagnosed with MS for about 10 years, and we start talking about the medical side of it all, and how she found out she had MS to begin with. She tells me this story about visiting her mom in prison, being raised by her grandparents, the diagnosis of MS after she had massive nerves misfiring causing her to stumble repeatedly, and how her neighbors had called CPS because they assumed she was drunk.

 

My heart just melted as she was telling me her story while we worked on my hotel room together. It wasn’t a story to garner pity… we were just talking like friends, and dang I admire her grit and work ethic.

 

I did leave her a little Jesus (and a tip) before I left this morning. She told me she knows Jesus (that made me happy!).

 

If you have an extra moment in your prayer time, please give a quick word over Sami from Ohio.

~ liz