So after the party we had a debriefing session with Challenge, and we got to bed late that night. But we still had to get up early on Saturday so that we could come home. I left my house at 6:30 that morning, and we arrived at the last house at about 6:45 to pick up the girls. When we got there, some of the Challenge students had arrived to send us off and give us some breakfast. So we ate with them and they prayed over us before we left. They gave us a Tupperware bowl full of breakfast food and junk food.
So we hit the road about 7:00 in just an inch of snow. We knew that the snow storm that had come through was ahead of us, and we thought we would be able to make it home, even if it was late. So we continued. But the snow only got worse, and the further we went, the harder it was to travel. The interstate was covered in snow and ice. A few times I thought we were ready to run off the road or tip over. Needless to say, our leader who was driving was a little nervous and worried. We began looking for exits, but they were either blocked or there was nothing on the exit, so there was no point in stopping.
We finally found a rest stop, and we pulled over. It was a good thing since we all had to go to the restroom. We then realized that the snow was up to our knees. We got back in the van and sat, waiting to see what we should do next. Our leader realized that the exit was blocked with one truck run off the road and another one struggling to get back on the road. Plus we had a nice pile of snow in front of the van that we could not drive around. We could only go through it. But that was impossible. Some of the girls remembered the Tupperware bowl, and us three guys rotated "shoveling" snow with that and a clipboard that a trucker gave us to use.
The process was slow, and we only moved a few inches each time we tried to move. But with the help of the truckers, we began to make progress. But then, after we pushed the van a little, we got stuck in the pile, not able to go forward or backward. Finally, the truckers said that we needed to push the van. So we got everyone out of the van, and with a few truckers, we all pushed the van through the snow and were finally free! But the truck blocking the exit was still stuck in front of us. So we continued to wait. We were at the rest area for 2 hours, and that truck had already been working on getting out for 3.5 hours. He finally got out, and so did we.
The problem now was deciding where to stay. Should we find a hotel? We knew the next city was 30 miles away. We had to go through the ice if we were going to find a place to stay. Carin, back in Hays, knew of a Christian convention center in Salina that might be able to keep us for the night. Thankfully, they did. So after 5.5 hours, we had gone 100 miles! But we were just grateful to have a place to stay. We spent the rest of the day in Salina. The guys built a fort, and it was awesome! We wanted to make a Fort Hays, since the one we had seen was disappointing. Then we went back inside with the girls and played games the rest of the night.
We got up at 7 the next morning and left by 7:45. We knew that we had to leave later because of the snowstorm ahead of us. So we waited for the sun to come out so that it could melt the snow ahead of us. We started out slow, just to be careful. But we soon realized that the roads were clear, and we gradually made our way across Kansas, seeing snow still piled up everywhere! We were on the road all day Sunday, but once again we were able to keep ourselves occupied with movies, games, and even homework. But we did make it home at 8:30 that night.
God was with us on our way back home. If the students had not given us that bowl, how would we have shoveled the snow? It would have been much harder! If we had not heard about the center in Salina, where would we have stayed and gotten that good of food? We would have been separated in hotel rooms. And if God had not melted the snow on the way home, how much longer would it have taken us to get back? We will never know. What a great experience coming home. Once again, God protected us through a storm, and we have lived to tell about it. This was a memorable trip that I will not soon forget.
Matt
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