God Does Speak

Sometimes things happen and you wonder, "Is God trying to tell me something?" After the events of the last 12 days, I know God was telling us NOT to drive to Kentucky for the new goat kidd. We bought a goat kidd from a farm in Minnesota. Sam, my brother Andrew, and Nathalie were all going to rent a car and drive to KY to meet them at the Dairy Goat National Competition.

Twelve days ago I emailed the seller and told them what our travel plans were: Down on Friday, leave early Saturday with goat, back in CT by very late Saturday night. They contacted me back and stated that they wouldn't even be leaving Minnesota until 8AM on Saturday and certainly wouldn't be in KY before 8PM on Saturday.

Sam was able to talk to her on the phone and loosely outlined a plan of meeting them in Chicago on Saturday at 1PM. Then he would drive home to CT, arriving about 4AM on Sunday. The owner needed to talk to her daughter to be sure this plan would work and said she would get back to us.

During the course of this conversation the woman explained that the goat we wanted and paid for had had a case of ringworm. It had been treated and was now ringworm free; the vet had cleared it for transport, etc. but, it had hairloss. She offered us a different goat; sister to the one we had picked. This goat had not had the ringworm but had been treated for it. We agreed to take that goat.

We waited. We emailed. We left messages on voice mail. No response. Finally yesterday at 1PM they called to let us know everything was all set for a transfer in Chicago. Sam called my brother to confirm times etc. for him to be at our house. He informed us that he couldn't go! So now Sam had no second driver. This means he would be driving 15+ hours straight with no relief. I was less than thrilled.

We called several friends and relatives but, being that it was such short notice no one was available to drive with Sam. I started to mention that perhaps God was trying to tell us something. Sam said that sometimes God puts obstacles in our way to see how committed we are. I looked at Sam funny but said, "Okay, we'll keep pushing on."

We went to rent the car. The car we had ordered wasn't available. The car they had for us was smaller. Sam agreed to it, figuring we could borrow a samller crate from someone.

We were out doing errands last night when we got a voicemail message on Sam's cell phone. The farm, where we were getting the goat, was hit by a tornado! All the animals are fine but the damage is extensive and they were not sure if they would be able to leave for Nationals when they had planned. Sam agreed with me that a tornado, in Minnesota, at the town the goat lived, on the eve that Sam was to leave, was probably God saying, "DON'T GO!"

So Sam's not going. He'll return the car, and beg with Priceline to refund us our hotel fees. Once things in Minnesota calm down we will try to work out other arrangments to get the goat to CT.