Road Warrior Widow Tips for Living with No Regrets

Phew! I gasp even as I type this blog today. My sweet ride (my trusty 2010 Buick Enclave – now at 130,000 miles) has been road tested to the nth degree over the last few weeks. Up to Tulsa for a funeral, back to Tulsa for another funeral, down to South Texas for two funerals, down to Austin to catch my grandson’s football game, back to Dallas for the Red River Rivalry of Texas vs Oklahoma and back to Frisco for a few days only to go back to Austin next week. People are amazed at my adventurous take-to-the-road spirit. I call myself a road warrior. I refuse to be bound by fear or concern. Goodness, how stale I could get if I just hung out at home all the time.

I was amused when my best friend called and asked “Where are you now?” I have to even ask myself that question when I wake up some mornings and I have to double-check to see what bed I’m in now. Some of my friends express amazement that I could be so brave to travel like I do – but it’s common-place for me. Just in case you may want to venture out and take to the road and be a road warrior, too, here are some of my “road warrior” tips.

~ #1 – I make sure my car is road worthy – tires’ air pressure where they need to be; being sure my car is serviced properly (oil changes and other fluids intact); being sure my AAA road service is up to date just in case of a towing need (I pray for my sweet ride and thank God for it every time I get behind the wheel!)
~ #2 -- I pack up my little food basket with all kinds of munchies -- nuts, fruits, pop-corn, crackers, and a big mug of iced water or tea, plus another mug of coffee. All of that “fuel” intake for the road helps keep me wide awake. I even make a plan for a little treat along the way – like a small, chocolate dipped ice cream cone from Dairy Queen or a pit stop at a rest area or truck stop to stretch or to grab my pillow and shut my eyes for 10 minutes or so. That’s all it takes to refresh and keep going.
~ #3 – I make sure I have great music to praise the Lord to or tap my fingers to and sing along with. Another road warrior stay-awake tip is listening to audiobooks – my favs are fiction Christian romance (I’m a hopeless romantic) or Christian action audiobooks. They keep me awake with anticipation about what’s going to happen next.
~ #4 – One of my favorite road warrior tips is to keep my eyes, ears and heart open in case God gives me a little nudge about what my next blog might be about. When that happens, I tap my cell phone voice memo button and record what that message might be.

The attached photos are from recent road trips and family outings. Brennan attends Regents School of Austin. I just had to see him play on Thursday. He is #7 and an amazing receiver. I loved seeing his team praying together after the game. The next day it was back to Dallas for the Red River Rivalry of Oklahoma Sooners vs Texas Longhorns. We were blessed with an amazing Longhorn family’s generosity to the eight of us! So no problem sitting with Longhorn fans. Our family may live in Texas but Oklahoma is in our hearts. Great family fun cheering our Sooners on to victory! Boomer Soone!

~ #5 -- My last road warrior tip is not just on the road but in every place and every season of life, this widow warrior has come to “live on the edge with accepting the thrills that await me – taking on opportunities to share the love, embrace the precious people in my life and be fully confident in my trust in God”. He becomes our safety and our security. Because of Him, we can risk living life to the fullest and be all that we were created to be. He keeps us secure, even though life is often insecure, even though we get disappointed, even though the bottom falls out. We embrace the highs and we wait patiently for the lessons learned in the lows. Really – THAT is my #1 and most highly recommended Road and Life Warrior tip – for God to be your Road and Life security and ultimate confidence, too!

“For the Lord will be your confidence…” - Proverbs 3:26

A 2+ Ton Birthday Surprise

Day 234 of Photo Inspirations -- A 2+ Ton Birthday Surprise!!
Five years ago today, I and my sweet husband, who had just been in the hospital for several days, were getting to go home.  It was my birthday and it would be my sweetheart’s birthday in two weeks. Lots of reasons to celebrate.  He made it through 5 surgeries and lots of complications, but this day he was still here to celebrate another one of my birthdays and here to celebrate another one of his birthdays.   God was so good to us. We knew that a little birthday/coming home party awaited us at home.  Ron’s sister and brother-in-law and our dearest friends, “The Michie’s”, had dinner and the party waiting for us there.  But we weren't aware of the 2+ ton gift that awaited us.

We packed up everything out of the hospital room and we headed out of the hospital -- the nurse wheeled Ron down to the vehicle waiting area where we thought Ron's sister and brother-in-law were picking us up.  But what to our wandering eyes should appear but a gorgeous silver Buick Enclave – with a big red bow on top.  It was a magnanimous birthday gift for both of us from Ryan and Shawntel.    We were overwhelmed to say the least.  It was our dream-come-true car and it was incomprehensible that a gift of this magnitude was given to us by our kids.  I can't begin to explain how, even though my sweetheart could not drive then because of the high dosage of pain meds, he could sure sit in the driver’s seat and play with all the incredible high tech "bells and whistles" of the car.  Of all the surgeries, treatments, and other intervention methods to bring him to a place of comfort during the last 8 months, there was none like the mental and emotional therapy he received with this gift.  No words could have adequately expressed our gratitude.

As I’ve stated many times over, our faith ALWAYS said, “Nothing is impossible with God”.  We fully expected that his healing would come and he'd be able to drive that car everywhere. We just believed he would.  But, he drove it only one time before his graduation to heaven.

That time was when I needed to run into the grocery store for a few items.  He waited in the car for me.  As I was checking out my groceries, I received a phone call from him.  He said,  “What are you doing?”  I said, “I’m just checking out!”  He said, “I just wanted you to know I’m driving around the parking lot and I’ll pick you up at the South door.”  He had always been the best of drivers, but I gulped because he hadn't been able to drive for obvious reasons, but this day, God protected him and everybody else in that parking lot so that he could have one chance to drive his dream car. It was so precious.  My BOY had a new TOY -- and he LOVED it.

A few months ago, when I was at the 62,000 mile warranty expiration on the car, I called Ryan and asked his opinion about me buying an Extended Warranty.  He said, “We may need to consider trading it in on a new car!”  And to that, I said, “Oh no – that car will continue with me as long as it can.  There are just too many sweet memories of dreams coming true and Dad's joy attached to it.”  I bought the Extended Warranty.

On this day, I'm celebrating another year of God's blessings to me.  I'm still here so I'm not done.  My sweet ride, "Silver",  is still here so it's not done either.  We have lots of assignments to take care of.....and we'll continue to go many more miles on this amazing journey toward heaven.....and, might I add.....the journey gets sweeter and sweeter every day!

And the Blessings Just Keep Rolling In

So I'm not bragging, I am just thanking God for His blessings to me and sharing what a blessing it was yesterday -- the last day of my car warranty, to be able to pay $2,265 for an extended warranty that will give me another three years of peace of mind.

Four years ago in late August, my Sweetheart had yet another surgery, and we were getting to finally go home from the hospital. It was my birthday and his would be on Sept 12th. We thought we were being picked up by Ron's sister and husband, but when we got down to the patient pick-up area, there was a silver Buick Enclave with a big red bow on top. Our precious son and wife gave us the car of our dreams for our birthdays. There are no adequate words to convey what that amazing gift meant to us. My sweetheart never got to drive the car, but he sure got to be a passenger in it and I became his chauffeur. And, having memories of him in our garage, sitting in the driver's seat, just playing with all the bells and whistles, still brings me such sweet joy, and even more love and appreciation for my car.

And, not only did our son bless us then, but after his Dad went to heaven, he created Solavei, and for me, the blessings just continued. Ryan didn't have to take care of me like he told his Dad he would, but God using him to create Solavei, and me being able to share with and have thousands of people join me on my team, has given me the financial freedom to do what I did yesterday -- buy an extended warranty on this beautiful car that I love so much.

It's because I believed, I wanted to make a difference in people's lives. I worked hard, and I've been oh so blessed -- free cell phone service, monthly income, amazing trips and experiences. I'd love to tell you how you, too, could be blessed by Solavei. It starts with believing!
www.solavei.com/donnawuerch