The next morning Kris and Kell woke up in their hotel room in Sandusky, Ohio. They were both stiff and sore from riding all the roller coasters all day long at the Cedar Point Amusement Park. They wanted to stay in bed all day and rest, but that was not what was going to happen!
Kell got a text on her phone that said that they were supposed to go to the nearby car rental agency, and a rental car would be ready for them. They were supposed to start immediately and drive to Riverside, Iowa. Kell groaned and said, “I can hardly move, and I still have a headache! If we must go today, I will end up sleeping in the car, I will not be able to help drive!” Kris felt compassion for his wife and told her that he would do all the driving, and she could stretch out and sleep on the back seat.
They got the rental car, and it was an SUV! Kris put down the back seats and made a nice bed for Kell so that she could lay down and completely stretch out while she slept. Kris knew that they would travel west on I-90 for a long way, so he turned off his phone and the GPS system on the SUV. He wanted everything to be quiet so that Kell could get the rest that she needed (Kris is such a helpful husband!). Kris figured that Kell would wake up long before they had to worry about changing highways.
Kell fell asleep right away and she did not wake up until Kris stopped at a rest area about four hours later. Kell used the bathroom, got back in the car and promptly fell asleep again! Kris enjoyed the scenery while he drove through Indiana, and then he drove through Chicago! The traffic was intense, but there was so much to see as the city skyline came into view. He wished that Kell was awake to see this city, but she was still sleeping peacefully!
About an hour and a half later Kris saw something that surprised him! There was a sign by the road that said, ‘Welcome to Wisconsin’! Kris was not an expert on geography, but he was sure that if a person was driving from Ohio to Iowa, they did not have to go through Wisconsin! Kris got off at the first exit in Wisconsin and woke up Kell.
Kell was still sleepy when Kris woke her up, and it took her a while to understand what he was trying to tell her. When she finally understood what he was saying, she agreed that they should not be in Wisconsin. They turned on their tablets and found that they were in Beloit, Wisconsin! They did not know what to do! They had never been this lost before! Kris said, “This has really turned into a misadventure! We are completely in the wrong state!”
After thinking for a while Kell suggested that they call the Misadventures….Plus Travel Agency and ask them what they should do, so they looked up the phone number and called the travel agency.
When the woman at the travel agency answered the phone Kris explained that he had turned off all their electronics so that Kell could sleep, and they had missed their road and now they were in Beloit, Wisconsin! When the woman at the travel agency finally quit laughing, she told them that she would make a few phone calls and find a place for them to stay that night, and then she would call them back.
About a half hour later the woman at the travel agency called Kris and Kell and said that she had found a place for them to stay that night! The city’s historical society had graciously offered to let Kris and Kell sleep in a historic one-room schoolhouse that was preserved on the west side of Beloit. The woman told them to follow the road into the city, first they would go around a curve, then they would pass the old water tower.
After the water tower, they would cross the river and continue to follow the same road up the hill and at the 2nd stop sign they would turn left, and they would see the schoolhouse to their left.
Unbelievably Kris and Kell managed to find the historic one-room schoolhouse and found that the door was unlocked for them. Once they got inside the schoolhouse, they could not believe their eyes! There was no furniture except for desks! There was a teacher’s desk and student desks, and that is all! There were no beds, there was no kitchen, and most importantly, there was no bathroom! Just then Kell noticed a piece of paper on the teacher’s desk; the note said, “You can use the bathroom in the main building”, and there were some blankets on the floor behind the teacher’s desk.
Kris said, “This is the worst misadventure we have ever had! What are we going to eat?” Kell answered, “I remember seeing a pizza place between the river bridge and the hill, we can go back there to eat. We still have some money left over from our other adventures.”
So, they went back to the pizza place and had a good meal, but then they had to go back to that schoolhouse and spend the night trying to sleep on the hard wooden floor with only a few blankets! They somehow managed to get through that night, and the next morning they felt worse than ever! They were more stiff, sore, cold, and tired than they ever been before! They had some cold, leftover pizza for breakfast, and then they headed for Riverside, Iowa. This time they turned on every piece of electronics that they had; they were not about to get lost again!
While they traveled, they talked about the terrible night they had just experienced. At first, they just grumbled and complained about everything (except the pizza). At this moment they wished that they had never gone on these adventures! After a while, they started talking about all the great experiences that they had had on these trips, and they realized that one terrible night was not so bad, compared with the awesome things they had experienced.
Then Kell said, “I was just thinking. Instead of grumbling about staying in that old schoolhouse, we should take time to think about how hard life was about ninety years ago during the Great Depression. Back then, many people did have to sleep on the floor with only a few blankets to cover up with. Many people did not have bathrooms in their houses, and many did not have enough food to eat! We only experienced those hardships for one night, back then many people had to live like this all the time! Those were terrible times; we should be very grateful for all the blessings we have in our lives and not complain about one terrible night!” Kris agreed with this, and they spent the rest of that day talking about the old days and the stories they had heard from their parents and grandparents about those hard times.
Finally, they got to Riverside, Iowa! Kell got another text telling them to go to a certain spot in the city, and when they got there, they could not believe their eyes! They saw a bench and a small monument.
The monument said, “Future Birthplace of James T Kirk, March 22, 2226.
The Star Trek television series (and the later movies) featured the adventures of the Starship Enterprise with its commander James T Kirk. In a book about the tv show, it was mentioned that James Kirk would be born in a small town in Iowa on March 22, 2226.
The name of the town was never mentioned, so Riverside, Iowa decided that they would declare their town to be the future birthplace of the famous starship commander! Fans of the tv show and the movies wish that 200 years from now a man really would be born there who would ‘Boldly Go Where None Have Gone Before’.
Lesson Learned about God
That night in their hotel room Kris and Kell could hardly stay awake, but they did spend a little time talking about this crazy misadventure that they had been on.
Kell said, “It is so strange, but in the last two days we have spent time in the past, the present, and the future.”
Kris did not understand what Kell was trying to say, so she explained: We spent last night in a historic one-room schoolhouse with no modern conveniences, and it seemed so hard to live like that in the present time. Today during the drive, we talked about what life was like during the Great Depression and how grateful we should be for all the good things that we have now. This afternoon we visited a monument to a make-believe television character who will not be born for another 200 years! So, we had a couple of hard days in the present, we looked back on some very difficult days in the past, and we dreamed about a very brave man of the future.
We cannot change history, but we can learn from it. Many people turned to God during the Great Depression and depended on God to bring them through it.
In the present time we will have some great days, and some days that are terrible. The only thing we can control about the bad days is our attitude toward those days. We need to trust God to take us through the hard times and be thankful for all the blessings that he had given us today, and in our past.
We can dream about the future, but only God knows what will really happen, and that is as it should be. It has been said, “I don’t know the future, but I know Who holds the future!”
In the Bible in Hebrews 13:8 it says:
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
In the Bible in Revelation 4:8 it says:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty – the One who always was, Who is, and Who is still to come.”
God never changes! We can trust Him completely because He has been there through every moment of history, He is involved in every moment of the present time, and He controls everything in the future! God loves us, and everyone who has believed in Jesus and accepted Him into their life, has been adopted into God’s family! God will bring us through this life and into heaven when this life on earth is over! If you have not given your life to Him, please do it today!
Report to the grandmother:
- At the travel agency – God has a good plan for us. Jeremiah 29:11
- Florida – God is watching over us, we do not need to be fearful. Psalms 23
- Wisconsin – Temptations. I Corinthians 10:13, Proverbs 14:12, I John 1:9
- Minnesota – Never take your eyes off Jesus. Matthew 14:22-33
- Kentucky – God’s Word (the Bible) is the truth! John 17:17
- Louisianna – Choose Heaven and the Tree of Life. Revelation 20:11-15, Revelation 21:27 thru 22:5
- Illinois – God is in control. Jeremiah 29:11, Romans 8:28-30, Proverbs 16:9
- New Mexico – God is our place of safety. Psalms 46:1-3, Psalms 91:1-2, Psalms 18:1-2, John 14:1-3
- Alabama – Training for heaven. I Peter 1:18-21, I John 3:2-3, Ephesians 5:1-2, I Peter 2:21, II Timothy 4:6-8
- Georgia – Sin erodes a person’s life and brings death. Galatians 5:19-21, Romans 3:22-25a
- Texas – Jesus offers abundant life. John 10:10, Mark 12:29-31.
- Kansas – Humans are filled with hatred and evil. Genesis 8:21-22, Romans 3:21-25a.
- South Carolina – Reminder of the Crucifixion. Isaiah 53:3-9
- Arkansas – Jesus is Crowned with Glory and Honor. Hebrews 2:9-10, Revelation 19:16, John 11:25-26
- Idaho – Times of Refreshing. Acts 3:19-20a, Matthew 11:28-30, Isaiah 40:28-31
- Washington State – Obeying God is Important! James 1:22-25, James 4:17
- Oregon – Do not let your first love for Jesus erode. Revelation 2:4-5a, Psalms 51:10-12
- Ohio – We are secure in God’s hands. Isaiah 41:13, Psalms 139:9-10, Psalms 73:23-28.
- Iowa – God is in control: Past, Present, & Future. Hebrews 13:8, Revelation 4:8.