George Burns Relays a Message

When I was in the fifth grade my parents traded the farm we owned in the eastern part of Nebraska for a ranch in the Sandhills – three hours west.  I knew they had been looking for a ranch, but I doubted that it would ever happen that they would find the right one for us. Now that I’ve studied such things, I suppose I was in “denial”. I couldn’t imagine moving away from my friends and extended family, so I just didn’t think about  it. I hadn’t put it on the back burner as we say, because it hadn’t even made it to the stove in my mind.  The day I was told we’d be moving was the day I thought the sun would never shine again.

Of course, the sun did shine again. Grandparents promised they’d visit, and friends promised to write. Within a few weeks I was well adjusted to the ranch and everything that went with it.

Fast forward a few years and I’m thirty years old. Now I have two preschoolers and a strong-willed husband that has dreams of living near the mountains – a state or two away. Before I know it, we are on a trip to check out appealing areas in Wyoming and Montana. My husband was finding several possibilities, I was finding none. You see, my heart was still in Nebraska. I couldn’t imagine living so far from family and leaving my friends again. Up until now I had coped with the idea of moving just as I had in fifth grade – by passing through the door with “Denial” written on the doorpost.

As we traveled to more and more areas and gathered more and more applications it was beginning to sink in that this could really  happen. As we traveled down the highways, my heart raced and my palms sweat, knowing that “RN” behind a name was usually synonymous with “hired.” I had little, if any, peace about it. I was a real homebody and as I looked out and saw dozens of antelope and bluish gray sagebrush, it felt like anything but home.  Under my breath, I repeated the same prayer over and over. “Lord, if this is Your will please give me peace.” My only consolation came from one reasonable thought- surely God wouldn’t send us to Wyoming or Montana – we didn’t know a soul in either state!

From western Montana we dropped down into Idaho. Our trip wouldn’t be complete without visiting my husband’s youngest brother enrolled in naval training in Pocatello. In true bachelor style, my brother-in-law ordered pizza and sodas to be delivered for dinner. The plan had been discussed – we would eat and watch a movie – one suitable for our five year old son who had made the trip with us.

“Oh God” starring George Burns and John Denver had been released several years prior to our visit, but none of us had seen it. I loved George Burns and I settled into one of the two beanbag chairs for a fun evening.  We laughed as God (George Burns) tries to persuade Jerry Landers (John Denver) that he really is God and then we laugh some more as Jerry tries to convince others that he has seen God.

And then it happened. A scene caught me off guard. I don’t remember exactly what was happening in the scene but I remember the words that jumped out of that screen and into my heart. God looked at Jerry and said, “I will be with you wherever you go.”

For the first time since my husband had voiced the cockamamie idea of leaving everything we knew to move to the mountains, I finally felt peace. Now that God had used George Burns to speak to me I imagined it was only a matter of time before we pulled up stakes and moved on.

We had been home less than a week when I received a phone call from the administrator of a small hospital in Wyoming where I had left an application. I remembered that the town of Buffalo was comparable in size to Cozad, NE where we currently lived. Buffalo sat at the foot of the beautiful Bighorn Mountains.  I could remember thinking as we walked out of the hospital that day that maybe I could live here if only I knew someone.

As the man spoke, it took me but a few seconds to recognize the voice.

“DeLila, I have your application here in front of me.”

“Oh my gosh.” I had no idea that Jerry Jurena  – the lab/xray tech I worked with for years was now living in Buffalo, WY! He was now a hospital administrator.  Although my husband and Jerry had been hunting buds and his wife had babysat my sons when they were newborns, we had lost track of them in their many moves.

“When can you start?” Jerry asked.

I paused and took a deep breath, but I knew it would be okay. God had given me a promise…He would be with me wherever I went.  (Joshua 1:9) Little did I know that Wyoming would be my home for thirty-one years.

Until next month, keep on readin’ and I’ll keep on writin’.

 

(If this type of writing appeals to you, check out my book page on this same site.)