Trying To Make My Aunt’s Funeral
Welcome to the next daily installment of this true story, which you can find posted here each afternoon until it comes to an end.
Chapter 76: “Buy Don Breakfast”
I felt urged to buy my neighbor Don breakfast in the dining car. It was an uncommonly strong urge. It was not of me. I know what it feels like when I want to do something. This was the Holy Spirit. The words echoed through my head loud and clear, “Buy Don Breakfast.”
I am fasting so we had to figure out a way to do that, since the railroad only lets people eating sit in the dining car. After a little negotiating with one of the folks in the dining car, it finally worked out.
We had breakfast with a third man. Don gave the blessing over the food. We all talked about quite a bit. The man next to us had been crossing the country by car to drop off his daughter in Fort Collins, Colorado I believe.
The man from Fort Collins was not very excited about God. That did not stop Don and I from talking to him and sharing little details about God operating in our lives. Before we were done, I believe we had said a few things that grabbed his attention. He wasn’t as disinterested as he had been when we began the meal. In fact, he seemed excited about some of the stories. One story I shared was the time I crossed the country for my godmother’s funeral, and found God’s fingerprints everywhere I turned, which is something I did not expect to find when I set out on that trip.
Chapter 77: Trying To Make The Funeral
I told Don and the man from Fort Collins something like this:
In June or July 2021, my godmother died and I had to get back to Chicago for the funeral. I got to give the eulogy. I didn’t want to go through all the nonsense of flying during that time, so I drove from San Francisco to Chicago. The only problem is that I didn't have enough time to make it there in time for the funeral, at least not at the pace I drive.
I can’t drive long distances unless I have someone in the car with me. I asked around a little and nobody wanted to take a road trip. Well, I made it to Wyoming, hoping. would get the rest of the way, but after the first day, there was not chance. I exhausted by the end of the first day.
The hotel I found myself in was a little Christian-owned place. Wonderful people, just a small little thing. I went to bed that night, asking for two things 1.) A proper midwestern storm — I was sick of the boring weather in San Francisco. It was always 58 degrees. I wanted to see a proper downpour on my trip. I missed the way a downpour like that cleaned the air too, and how wonderful it felt outside when the storm was over. And I asked for a second thing that night 2.) For God to send me a copilot, so that I could stay awake this whole trip, because if I couldn’t squeeze an extra twelve hours of travel in the next two days, there was no way I was going to make it to that funeral.
That was before the time when I believed in the power of prayer. I was still wrestling with the idea. Well, anyway, I hit the road, and stopped after a while for some snacks at a Walmart. The goal was to have enough to keep me going the entire way to Chicago.
I pulled into the parking lot and got out of the car. There, I saw a very skinny homeless man in his twenties wearing a backpack and covered in a big blue tarp. It had rained, and I suppose the tarp made some sense. I greeted him. He came back shortly after and asked me for a ride East. I asked how far east was he going. A long way he told me. I told him I was going a long way. How far was he going? To Indiana. The place he specifically was headed was down the exact same road that I had to go, and about 15 minutes further. I was in Wyoming, clear across the country, and this guy was going to go the entire way. What are the odds?
I told him I was going to Chicago and to give me ten minutes to get back out. I bought enough food for two and we loaded into my car. We talked on the way. He was a little wacky, but a joy to talk to. He looked a little like Charles Manson and spoke of his worship of Satan. We talked about a lot of stuff on the trip. At some point, he even confessed to me things that he had done and wanted to stop doing.
By the time we reached Nebraska, a storm had been moving just out of reach of us, but we ended up in the thickest part of it. There was hail bigger and more plentiful than had ever seen. It covered the highway for miles. I had to pull off and find somewhere to get cover. The hail was beating down. When I finally found a spot to pull over, the storm kept beating like there was no end in sight.
The end eventually came, but as I sat there, I looked at the weather, realized this was the mightiest midwestern storm I had seen in years, maybe my whole life. I looked over at my passenger staring out his window at the storm. Here I was in Nebraska, pulled over with monster hail with this Charles Manson looking dude sitting next to me. What an unusual situation. And then I realized something.
The night before, I prayed for a co-pilot and a mighty midwestern storm. There I was, with a co-pilot right next to me, and stranded in the middle of a mighty midwestern storm. I now had no excuse. I got everything that I wanted. God had answered my prayer. He gave me something I adored that showed His might — a massive storm. And He gave me something I asked for to help get me to the funeral, where I would get to say a few words about my aunt, God, and death.
The next morning, I dropped off my co-pilot on the road headed toward Indiana and got myself northbound toward Chicago. I arrived about 45 minutes before the service began. It would not have been possible before that co-pilot showed up. I was once an atheist. I today believe in the Bible, every word, and I believe in the power of prayer.
* * *
Don went next with a story. I threw another one in. Then Don did too. The guy from Fort Collins could have done without the prayer part before we started eating our meals, at least based on his reaction. But this part of our time at the table, I think really struck the guy from Fort Collins.
I don't think he seemed used to guys just siting around telling jaw dropping stories of how deeply and truly they believe in God, and how deeply and truly they know that God is not only real, but that He shows up in our lives. No, I don’t think guy from Fort Collins was used to that kind of story time.
In fact, I do not know if I know many Christian men who are used to that kind of thing. We tell stories to each other about all kinds of other stupid things, all day long, over and over again, the same stories half the time. How many of them are stories about God? Maybe 1 in 10? Maybe 1 in 100? This breakfast table was bro time, two guys were bro-ing out about how awesome it is to be on Team God. Fort Collins guy never saw anything like it, I’m sure. Pretty sure I’ve never seen anything like it either.
-Allan Stevo
This is a selection from my forthcoming book, “The Amtrak Vignettes.” A neat story began with the writing of “The Amtrak Vignettes” in October 2023. Every day until that story comes to an end, I intend to share a part of it here. It is a part of my faith journey as a Christian, a faith journey that has been deepened since the Ides of March 2020. Some of it gets pretty wild and nothing that a “reasonable” person would find himself in the midst of. Few will be scared off by it. Instead, many will grow deeper in their faith. I know that, because I know my readers well, and I know that few come here expecting me to give a milquetoast version of anything. Come here to be challenged. Stay here to have your life changed. That, I believe, is what will come of this work. You can support that work by signing up below.