In the first two parts of this series, I wrote about why as Christians we should be able to find a way to live free of life-crippling worry and doubt…anxiety. I wrote about being in a situation where the drive toward anxiety was very real, very natural, and had potential to negatively impact every day. I explained that as I was preparing for a 5 week international trip, I felt that I needed to be able to do it free of anxiety.
So now is the fun part. How did it work out?
A few weeks before my departure, I had a thought that perhaps I should be flying from my arrival airport to my work’s head office, which would be a 2 hour drive by road. That was not to be. As the day drew nearer, prices for that flight were higher than I could justify. SO I sent out a feeler: “is there anyone coming back from Auckland who could give me a lift?”
YES!
Leg one of the journey dealt with. Now where would I stay? Perhaps on our medical ship, which was currently on its scheduled down time?
YES!
Accommodation for the first week solved.
Next question…I want to go from the city in which our head office resides, to my family home town. Along the way I was hoping to stop in on my sister, whose choice of city was an inconvenient spot in terms of readily available transport.
Of course, living as I do, giving my work time freely, my budget would be considered by many to be impossible.
So the questions were: when do I go, and how can I be in my home town for Christmas Day? Should I take the bus, the train, an aeroplane, hitchhike?
Any and every idea was worth consideration, camper vans included. Every now and again it’s possible to find one-way relocation deals on rental vehicles.
Every option was on the table, and without stressing about them, each day, I would consider various possibilities, dates and times. Cost was a very real factor: which combination of options was going to give me the best balance of economy and quality time?
I’d love to say that I spent hours in deep meditative prayer, interceding with the creator about what His divine plan was for me in this process. That would be untrue.
What I did do though, was take each option, and throw out a quick prayer: “Lord, is this option going to work?” As my time on the ship drew to a close, I felt an agitation that I needed to get moving. In the same few days, I noticed that there was a rental camper to move to my hometown. The relocation gave me 4 days to get there, which was plenty of time to stop in on the aforementioned sister for a couple of days.
I needed to get to a totally different city to pick up the camper; a city where everything happens. The problem is, the city I was in is known for being expensive to get to and from on public transport. But then I hit on an opportunity, which could only be described as a divine one.
A relocation rental car came up…one with a great set of conditions: it was $1, had to go from where I was to where I needed to be, and came with a free tank of fuel. Option? YES!
Next question: “Is this actually going to be cheaper than super expensive flights? Is it really viable in this camper van, to do what I want to without killing my bank account?” A bit of number crunching ensued: fuel prices, insurance, ferry costs, food…all-important details. The verdict? Lets do it.
Peace was not quite there though.
The no anxiety lifestyle is the one rooted in moving forward where peace resounds, despite strange circumstances.
SO this was the litmus test.
The relocation of rental cars isn’t exactly a proven money saver, nor was I completely confident that the timing would come together. I had to overnight in that city where everything happens. I had to get my first rental car to the middle of town, and then get from that depot, to the airport 45 minutes driving away. I needed to get away from the city by mid morning to arrive at my sisters at a decent time. And I had no idea what kind of camper I would get.
So I did what any right-minded nutty person would do…I started the booking process. I’ve learnt over the years that sometimes when things seem almost right, the only way to check if they really are, is to “nudge the door.”
Will it open?
In this case, the door opened. I got my rental car. I got my rental campervan. I got my ferry crossing in the campervan.
As a little aside, it turned out that my preferred sailing day, Christmas Eve, was almost totally booked out. I got a space on the 3am one.
Money spent so far?
Less than $100.
Next step? Put the plan into motion.
A friend dropped me off to pick up my first rental car, and it was better than I imagined. A brand new, top-of-the-line 4×4 in beautiful condition. The drive to the city where everything happens was fantastic.
As if I didn’t have enough bonuses that day, it turned out a friend of mine was flying in from another country, and I had a chance to stop at the airport to be the welcoming party. But then we came to a more entertaining question: where will I sleep tonight?
Though I’d just arrived in a beautiful rental car, I didn’t have any desire to spend hundreds of dollars on hotels and motels, and the idea of sharing a room with backpackers just didn’t appeal that day.
As I try to do in unknown circumstances, I sent a wordless prayer to the Lord: “where am I sleeping tonight?” I felt that I should sit in the airport for a while, which was just fine.
I love airports. I enjoy watching people come and go: returning to loved ones, bidding farewell to fond friends. I love trying to figure out what kind of person someone is by the way they conduct themselves through these great halls of departure and arrival.
In this case, I imagined that some unknown individual would present themselves to me, that I would be given a bed for the night, food in the morning, and help for the onward journey.
After sitting for quite some time, in just the same way I’d felt I should wait, I felt it was time to leave. No such person had appeared, and no great wave of provision had shown itself. Instead, as I walked out the door toward the carpark, I remembered something important. All of the frequent flier points I’ve collected over the years are not only good for flights: airlines also allow them to be used for things like hotels and rental cars.
Arriving back at the vehicle, I checked and discovered a really nice hotel was available just down the road. It was gorgeous, and came with free breakfast!
So things were going well. In the morning I faced the next challenge: get this 4×4 to the central city depot, then head back to the airport. Again, I found divine favour when, asking at the depot about the best way to head back to the airport, the rental agent simply said: “I’ve just transferred this vehicle to the airport depot, so why don’t you just take it right there.”
WOW
So far, this was proving to be an amazing holiday.
As if I hadn’t already received more blessings than I deserved, when I arrived at the camper depot, I discovered not only did I have a great mid-sized camper van, it was literally brand new. It had just 60km on the clock! You can be sure that it was great driving on that sunny day, touring the most beautiful country in the world.
The life of no anxiety does not always come out this well. Sometimes, like not being sure how to pay for a multi-city driving holiday, there is genuine reason for worry, concern, fear, and crippling doubt to make its appearance in our daily lives.
But the ability to live free of anxiety does not rely on lack of concerning circumstances. It relies on understanding that the creator of the universe is sovereign over all, and with us through it all.
In the next instalment, I’m going to consider the challenges of daily trying to live free of anxiety.