A Bad Feeling

Have you ever just had a really

bad feeling

about something

with no real evidence to tell you

why you have that feeling?

I can remember two very specific times

in my life when this has happened.

The first time happened quite a few years ago.

My little family (it was little, that's how long ago it was)

was returning home from a trip to Disneyland

via San Diego and Sea World.

It was getting rather late at night

when we arrived in Gila Bend

and decided to drive toward Buckeye

and connect up with the East bound I-10.

As my hubby drove

I started to get a bad feeling.

The further he drove the worse I felt.

I could hardly sit still in the car

the feeling was so strong.

We needed to not go that way.

Finally I told my husband

we needed to turn around and

drive toward Casa Grande

and hit the freeway there.

I told him I didn't know why

but that was the feeling I had.

To his credit,

he didn't question me

and immediately turned around

even though it meant we would be

extending our trip by quite a bit.

I never found out why I had that feeling.

I don't know what might have happened

if we had continued down the road we were on.

The second time occurred a few years ago.

My oldest daughter had been away to college

but was home for the holidays.

Early New Year's Eve she decided she wanted

to drive to St. George to celebrate

the arrival of the new year with some friends there.

I am always up for an adventure and

decided our whole family should go.

However, as we began to prepare,

once again, I got a very bad feeling

about this decision.

I shared the feeling with my daughter

and told her I didn't think we should go.

She let me know that she thought

I was being unreasonable

and a party-pooper to boot

and declared that she was going by herself

if no one else would go with her.

This didn't help the feeling at all.

I asked her to try to understand

and to pray before she made her final decision.

After what felt like a long half hour

she informed me

that she had decided not to go.

I never found out why I had that feeling.

I don't know what would have happened

if we (or she) had driven to St. George that day.

Tonight I am experiencing one of those feelings.

I'm not totally sure why

and I don't really know how to turn around

and change direction to alleviate this feeling.

Like the experience with my daughter

the decision is pretty much out of my control

and I just have to pray

that everything will turn out o.k.

I hope I never find out why I had this feeling.

Today I am thankful for

family members who understand the importance of voting.

a new vacuum cleaner belt.

no more political commercials.